Febreeze. Febreze febreze febreze. Just put in an obscure location first, just to make sure it won't stain it, or do something weird to the fabric.

Is it sunny and dry where you are? Because airing stuff outside, depending on the source of the odor, can really do wonders, even if it is just out for an afternoon or two.

You might try Bac-Out but I don't think you'll get the smell out. Old smelly furniture from CL remains old smelly furniture from CL unless you recover and replace the foam. There are many AT to that effect.

I'll echo surfjack and amp it up a bit. Generously spritz the whole chair with white vinegar or liberally sprinkle it with baking soda before putting it outside in the hot, bright sun.

If you go the vinegar route, get a spray bottle (like for Windex or whatever) and fill it up with undiluted white vinegar, go nuts. You really want to dampen every bit of the chair. The vinegar smell won't linger once it's dry.

If you opt for baking soda, open a box and sprinkle a generous, even layer over the entire chair, maybe even rub it in a bit. Let it sit for several hours up to a day even. Vacuum, repeat as necessary.

Either way, take off any loose cushions, arm covers what have you, and treat them separately.

Definitely leave it out in the sun if you are able to. Besides deodorizing it, I would also make sure to disinfect it and kill any germs that might be on/in it, especially if it is going into a nursery room.

Don't febreez it, you'll just cover up sour smell with chemical smell.

ick. that rocker has nice bones and looks crazy comfy, but if it is financially feasible i'd just get it recovered/restuffed.

I got some mid-century chairs at Goodwill once for $20 each, partly because of the smell.

I won't say this is the "best" way to handle it, but it worked well enough for me that I still use the chairs maybe 20 years later!

First, vacuum then upholstery shampoo thoroughly. (No point in trying to salvage fabric that can't be made clean.) Assuming you still have odor, in the days before Febreze I liberally coated the chairs with carpet deodorizer. (Which stank in a perfumey way, but was intended to neutralize odor.) I left the chairs outside in the sunlight, covering them at night so dew wouldn't settle on them, and eventually vacuumed them again. I believe I also tried the baking soda approach -- used a whole box between the two chairs, let it sit, vacuumed it off.

Nowadays, I'd probably look for unscented odor neutralizing products in a powder form which seems to sit on the fabric and do it's work a bit better than sprays. I always have Febreze around, so I'd undoubtedly use that as well. If the odors seem like they might be biological (pet odor, urine, anything like that) I'd use Simple Solution, maybe in the upholstery cleaning step. (I have a Spot Bot with an upholstery attachment, and I add Simple Solution, an enzyme pet accident cleaner, to the cleaning liquid.)

Clean the living daylights out of it, neutralize however you can, and use sunlight which also helps kill things that need to die! Just make sure your final step is to make sure you clean off the cleaning products before using it around a baby.

I'd skip vinegar (it does leave a smell behind on everything I've tried it on) but febreeze the heck out of it, and when dry, liberally cover it with baking soda and leave that as long as you can before vacuuming it clean.
I know many people who've had luck with, if you have one, a steamer (either a floor steamer or garment kind) and steaming the bajeezus out of it, especially with a bit of some aromatic oil in the steam water to help replace the smell.

I read somewhere that softgoods used around children should not be purchased used. It might be worthwhile to check out rockers specifically made for nursing moms / baby's rooms. Nice safe materials, and you know it's clean.

here is the link :

http://guidetohomefurniture.com/used-furniture-avoid-upholstery-when-possible

and here is the last paragraph of that blog post :

" ... just as we would not purchase a used mattress (illegal in most states) we should consider how closely we will come in contact with used furniture that is upholstered. If you have children take special care and think twice. You do not know what fluids or pests may have penetrated the surface fabric and be hiding out of view. As a safety factor, especially if children will have access to the furniture, it is best to avoid buying used furniture that is upholstered."

I 2nd, 3rd, and 4th the comments about used upholstery, and especially in a baby's room! That sour smell might just be old foam (which any amount of Febreeze won't remove) or worse, cat or omg human pee. I keep thinking about when Poppi peed on Jerry's sofa in the Seinfeld episode.

Does the cushion have a zipper? Wash it with lots of baking soda (avoid the dryer), and see if you still dig the fabric and its color, and consider retaining the seat cushion before proceeding further. I'm certainly no pro (I don't even have--nor would you really need-- a sewing machine) but I just finished recovering a similar chair and it was totally worth it. Google and print a couple of Joann's coupons, get yourself some new foam and fabric, and recover it. There are several bodacious tutorials on AT, and even if you decide to toss out the seat cushion cover, you can definitely restore this little guy. Best of luck!

The only way to have it cleaned properly and rid the odor forever is to call a carpet/fabric professional. Ask for an "ozone" treatment. It runs about $125 depending on your zip code. They will run an ozone machine in a closed room w/ the piece for 24 hours. The machine sweeps in every air molecule into the machine. It splits the molecules and "cleans" them then they re-attach. This process rids any soft good from cigarette smoke, urine(any kind except cat urine), mildew and other odor causing bacteria's.
The odor is not in the fabric but in the cushion. Having the surface cleaned may help but it will never rid it 100%.
Stanley Steemer can do it or any local carpet/fabric specialist.

if you truly love/enjoy it you must definitely look into doing a professional job no matter the cost - they can also advise you if it's worth cleaning at all. used (fabric) furniture must be of good quality in the nursery, especially for baby's health. goodluck.

Looks like the cushion at least is removable - I'll echo a lot of commenters and say you should really try to peek inside at the foam to make sure the smell isn't because the padding is mildewy or decomposing. If it was made in the 70's then it's likely filled with polyurethane foam, which can be somewhat nasty (chemicals wise) when it starts to break down.

Polyurethane foam is super popular so I wouldn't try to get someone to not have any in their nursery or anything, but I'd really think twice if you stick your fingers in the foam and come out with crumbly material.

If the foam seems fine and there's no mildew, only then would I spend any time or money to try and get rid of the smell. No matter what, with used 70's furniture I would definitely make a slip cover out of very thick material to try and keep any contaminants more contained. :)

Best way to get rid of that smell is to leave it out on the curb.

Regina,

I give my deepest empathy. I have a similar story, but much more preposterous. Let me paint a picture.
It was my 3rd year at university, I had just turned 21. I began researching all the different places I could potentially study abroad in my next semester. I sat in my chair. As I narrowed down my search results, one university stuck out in my mind. A nice little uni just south of Sydney. It was perfect—located near the beach between the mountains and the ocean. In my time spent there, I traveled New Zealand and the eastern coast of Australia. For all the fun I was having, sadly, I had to leave behind my old roommates. In my place, they brought In a kid who had just gotten back from German. His Armenian bloodline ran thick. Very thick. Although he should have become the first suspect--he was named third. I’ll explain…
I was away for 5 months. Upon my return to the States I still had another 2-3 months before returning to my home university. You see, I couldn’t bring all of my personal items home from my home university when I studied abroad. They were left behind for the incoming Armenian-American. What I didn’t know was that my fellow roommates were going to sub-let the apartment for the summer.

Suspect #1: Dancing Ryan. Ryan loved to dance. So much, that his nickname became ‘Dancing Ryan’. No one ever knew his last name. Simply, Dancing Ryan. Dancing Ryan loved to dance. Dancing Ryan also sweat like a beast. Dancing Ryan was also arm-pit deep turned around the back of my chair one hot summer day when I visited in the summer. I didn’t think much of it then. I didn’t think much of it when they were trying to save on electricity and didn’t turn on the A/C.

Suspect #2: Crandal. ‘The Golden Boy’. I would sound like a horrible person if I went into detail about The Golden Boy. All you need to know is that he left a stench after sitting down. The other thing that you need to know is that he once asked for a pair of pants to borrow. Small chance I was going to give up a pair. When I asked why, he said he pee’d. When I said it looked dry—he turned around. Still amazes me how a full grown man manages to pee on the backside of his britches.

Suspect #3. He led me to this site, as his subconscious tells him that he is in fact the main contributor of this stench left behind in my chair.

For 7 months, my chair was left to sit, soak, and simmer in the body odor of these 3 people.

I have absolutely no recommendation of how to get the smell out. I when through Fabreeze, detergent, and the ol’fashion hose-down. Everything unlocked this smell exponentially. It went untouched at a garage sale. It still remains in my garage. I don’t know why. ‘Pickers pass it by.

Leave it at the end of the block in the middle of the night.

I should preface my comments with the fact that I'm pretty cavalier about cleaning resale furnishings. I would rather lose an item in cleaning than house an item that is suspect.

First, thoroughly vacuum it. When you vacuum under the seat cushion, use your knees and body weight to open any crevices as much as possible.

Second, if the cushion has a zipper- by all means- pull of the cover and see if the foam is the culprit. Sometimes decaying plastics smell atrocious. If the cushion is degrading, bag it in a trash bag and look for a local upholstery shop or (even better) mattress maker who can cut a new insert from the old one's dimensions. (~$25 here).

Use an upright carpet cleaner with a hand attachment (like a Hoover SteamVacc). Instead of the carpet cleaning solution- use white vinegar and very hot water.

Work in small areas: wash, scrub, dry. The goal is to pull the liquid back out before it can work its way into the foam. Using only light to moderate liquid dampen the fabric (damp NOT dripping). The goal is to clean without getting much liquid into the foam.

Scrub as needed. Then vacuum until dry (or very close to it). Dry entirely in sunlight or in a room with a dehumidifier. Repeat washing process if necessary.

...the stench is a slap in the neck.

Just get rid of it. Trust me, thanks to all the comments here about chemicals, pee, and killer 70s foam, you will never be able to peacefully nurse your baby in that chair.

I bought a used (supposedly) Ikea Gulliver crib off Craigslist. It was disassembled, but once we got it home and put it together, we realized that unlike all other Gullivers, this one had a weird gap between the railings and the mattress. I spent a sleepless night tossing and turning and getting up every 20 minutes to check on my baby before I wised up and threw that thing in the Dumpster.

$80 and a new Ikea crib later, both me and my baby are sleeping through the night. We have bought lots of baby things off Craigslist but some items just aren't suitable around a baby.

Dont listen to all the naysayers. For godsakes you kid isnt eating off the chair you are sitting down in it.

If you like the fabric and the foam seems in ok condition then I am with the people who say use a combination of sunlight and steam cleaning. If the foam is moldy investigate the cost of reupholsterey or making a slip cover. Enjoy your chair.

Holy smokes, paranoid people! Between roommate horror stories and ridiculous articles about killer 70's foam, what's a new mom to do??!!

Relaaaax...try a few of the suggestions above (baking soda, sunlight, vinegar, i've had success with them all. i've also had success with vodka diluted by half with water). If they don't work, consider reupholstering, either yourself if you are in the mood for a project, or professionally if you aren't.

"Never buy used upholstered furniture" my FOOT! So alarmist...

Just to clarify, I would never say don't buy upholstered used - I realize for a lot of people, it's their only option! Believe me, I've used my fair share of ancient second hand furniture or stuff pulled off sidewalks.

That being said, once the foam starts to go, there's only so much you can do to salvage it, especially if it has enough mildew or is decomposing enough to smell really bad. Of course folks have to make do with older furniture, but probably no one wants to rock their baby on a chair if they open up the foam and find a mass of black mold. Hopefully the foam is just fine, and then it's just a matter of getting rid of funk that has gotten on the fabric. But it's still better to check before you use a lot of elbow grease and time, or go out to buy a bunch of cleaning fabrics. :)

I know you can clean microfiber with alcohol. like that you clean wounds with and it doesnt stain because it dries quickly. I have a puppy and have had to use it on my couch a few times when he gets too excited to hold it. I say spray the chair until its soaked and hope for the best. It doesnt leave a smell like vinegar or fabreeze, it stinks at first but it dries neutral. try that first then worry about the next steps.

Hi Nicole,

The most fail-safe solution is to reupholster it. You will not only rid the chair of it's smell but will reinvigorate it completely! You could have fun deciding on a new fabric too!

I recently inherited a musty smelling love seat. The only thing that kills must and mold is the sun (or one of those expensive uv treatments). I took it out side in the bright sun on a very dry day. Actually I did this for 4 days rotating it so all the parts got sun. I also took the dust cover off the bottom so the sun could get inside. Then On one of the days I spritzed the hell out of it with vinegar water until the whole thing was damp. Then the following days I dumped boxes of baking soda on it and rubbed it into the fabric, later vacuuming it. I wouldn't say the musty smell is 100 % gone, but it made a HUGE difference. We also have a slip cover on it which helps I think.

Protorio is right.

Baby deserves better.

I would want to sprinkle powder all over it.Then vaccume perhaps carpet powder? Baby powder? I assume the sour smell is body oil? Like from oils in the hair??? I agree with letting it get some sun but not for a day or two. A few hrs. I left some black shirts out to dry and they are now that weird black red color. The sun bleaches out the smell but also the color. Love the chair btw. Best thing you can do is call a reupholstery store and ask if they have anything. Often they have the best answers . Good luck and congrats on the baby

Thanks to all of you for your comments. I thoroughly inspected the chair before I bought it and it's definitely not moldy/peed on, etc. The smell is barely noticeable and my husband thinks I can only smell it because I am pregnant and hyper-sensitive to odors! The chair had one owner and came from a smoke-free, pet-free home, so I am not really worried about terribly dangerous fluids/carcinogens, but the chair definitely needs to be freshened up.
I will try some of your suggestions and see how things go, and if it's still smelly and deemed dangerous, I definitely won't be using it around my baby.
Thanks again!

The people freaking out over a used chair have either never had a baby, or else never really had a good look at their baby crawling over "used" carpet. Babies nose dive into the carpet and frequently take a good lick or two at the rug. Yep, the same rug that has had a multitude of feet all over it. Puhleeze peeps, our parents didn't coddle us and we all made it into adulthood now didn't we? LOL.

I've seen (and used) the advice before of putting stuffed animals in the freezer to kill any bugs (bed bugs, dust mites, etc.), followed with a good vacuuming. We do the same with mattresses, pillows, etc, but use the great Wisconsin outdoors in the winter (in a plastic bag to keep other things off of it). It sounds like this might work well for you, along with the baking soda trick others mention above.

Yes, vinegar. Spray it liberally, as another reviewer recommended, and let it dry. Do it outside if you can, or in the garage if it's too cold/snowy.

Once it's completely dry, you could also sprinkle it with some baking soda (I like to mix a few drops of lavender essential oil in mine), let that sit, maybe overnight, then vacuum.

It'll be fine. I have a very, very similar chair that we grabbed from curb (in front of our neighbor's house--they're very clean. Cleaner than we are) in my 2 year old's room. Love it.

Don't try to get the smell out without damaging the fabric. Go ahead, damage the fabric, and get it reupholstered. That way you can be sure the smell won't linger. Febreeze can't save this one.

trishdom - you're right, our son chewed on our sofa arms whilst teething.

nicole - when i was pregnant i wouldn't leave my bedroom. somehow i convinced myself it was the ONLY room that was clean enough! lol.

I don't know how this would work, but here's the context for my suggestion. When I worked at a theatre, I wandered into the dressing room shop, the one that was offstage, and took care of costumes for shows in production. The head of the shop had a HUGE bottle of cheap vodka, real rotgut stuff. She was spraying the inside of a particularly heavy costume with it. Seeing me staring, she laughed and told me that they did 11 shows a week, and couldn't clean the costumes in between shows, but spraying vodka on the inside of the sweaty costume killed the sweat bacteria that cause the costume to reek, and the vodka evaporates with absolutely no odor itself. Genius!

For your chair, I'd take the cover off the seat cushion & treat them both with a vodka spray. Let them air dry & see if that helps. It works on costumes that are freshly sweated upon, so old odors may not respond. If not, I guess a party is next, with some good mixers!

I concur, Cleogrrl, I believe I recently read that the costume designers on Mad Men use vodka to get the "vintage" smell out of the authentic clothing they use on the show. Good luck!

Did you try Room Shocker? I have been hearing a lot of good things about it. I just looked it up at http://www.biocidesystems.com/roomshocker1.html. If you try it out let me know what you think!