Can I Clean A Sofa From A Thrift Stores

I learn a lot of pre-owned piece of furniture to refinish.   Some are from austerity stores.  Some from m and manor sales.  I've even dragged furniture home after picking them upward off the curb.  Let's face up information technology, austerity shop furniture sometimes comes with a little stink; just it'due south actually no problem.  Today I'm sharing with you some piece of cake ways to clean thrift store and other pre-endemic piece of furniture to remove those musty odors.

When I was younger I would never even consider buying from a thrift shop.  The olfactory property of them was overwhelming.   It's understandable though.  People donate old things that have been sitting around in homes for decades.  Get them all together and whooooaaaa – a barage of onetime odors that resemble something like dirty feet!  Yuk!

As I got older, had three kids (in lots of sports), money got tighter, and rooms in my home sat empty, I got creative when it came to furnishing my dwelling (and afterwards flipping furniture for auction).

I learned how to "clean" 2d manus furniture after I brought it home from that thrift store or garage sale.  Here a few ways I "clean" pre-owned furniture and ensure those musty odors become abroad.

STEP 1:  Sand Furniture With an Electric Sander

My #ane way to make clean any piece of article of furniture is to exfoliate it.  Yup!  Only as you scrub off a layer of expressionless skin cells when you shower, furniture needs a practiced scrubbing also.

Much of the odor lingering on a furniture is in the meridian layer.  If you remove that top layer then you lot likewise remove the odors. So how exercise remove a layer?  Sand it.

An electrical rotary sander is my most valued tool in my workshop.I employ this i.

A rotary sander has a circular sanding pad that moves in a round motion.  Orbital sanders are typically square and movement back and forth.  I've tried an orbital sander on one occasion when my rotary sander needed repair, but didn't intendance for it.  The circular motion removed the onetime stop so much easier.

Plus, with the rotary sander the sandpaper just slaps onto the claw & loop (aka Velcro) sanding pad in one second while the orbital sander required menuevering two metallic confined and sliding the sandpaper underneath them (which was supposed to keep information technology from coming loose but didn't always hold well).

Depending on how much piece of furniture yous sand, you will somewhen demand to replace the sanding pad, but they're super inexpensive on Amazon and are only held on by a few small screws.  With all the sanding I practice, I simply have to replace the sanding pad nigh every two years.

You lot need to be cautious when sanding furniture.  I merely sand furniture outside and article of clothing safety gear.  The iii items I always wear when sanding are:

1. Vapor Mask with a P100 rating
2. Safety spectacles
3. Gloves

You should never breath in the dust created from sanding downward a furniture.  Even though the the electric sanders have a dust purse attached to them that captures almost of the dust, there'south nonetheless some grit flying effectually.

Dust masks will keep most dust out of your lungs, merely I'one thousand super cautious and wear a gas and vapor mask because I'one thousand sanding so frequently.   Here's a bully commodity that explains the dissimilar types of dust and vapor masks and their ratings.  Basically, aim for masks with the highest P95 and P100 ratings.

Hither are the masks I use:

1. Vapor Mask, North Mask with thisHoneywell Cartridge – rated P100
2. Paint valved respirator – rated  P95
3. Dust Mask

And then what parts of the furniture need sanding?

If the furniture has just the average thrift store stink, so sanding the exterior wood is commonly sufficient.  I also similar to chop-chop run my sander through the inside and outside of the drawer boxes. This sanding (exfoliation) process usually takes care of 95% of any thrift shop odors.

If at this point, odors linger or if you started with a piece with heavy smoke odors, then you'll need to go on with the adjacent steps.

STEP two:    Wash With Products + Sun & Heat

I no longer bring home furniture with excessive smells or smoke smells;  but in the rare instance that you merely couldn't pass up that gorgeous piece of furniture even though it had a "stronger than your typical austerity store" odor or has fume smells, you demand to resort to some natural and chemical alternatives.

Here are few options:

1. Baking Soda: Set a box of baking soda in the dresser to blot orders overnight. I'm told that kitty litter also works well arresting odors.
2. White Vinegar & Lavander Liquid Detergent:  Create a liquid mix and wash the furniture within and out with a damp rag.
3. Mold Control Spray:  Spray the furniture inside and out.

With each of these methods it's best if you can set the furniture outside and in the sun for a few days to dry out and air out.

STEP 3:  Prime the Article of furniture

Steps 1 and 2 should take taken care of well-nigh odors.   1 more way to ensure thrift store odors are under command is to prime the furniture.   There are several primers, both white and clear that that do the job.

Zinsser 1-2-3 Primer is a great basic primer that offers average stain and odor blocking.  It's what I use if I'm planning to paint a piece of furniture in a dark color.

Zinsser BIN Primer is the primer I utilise if I'm painting article of furniture a white or a lighter color because it'due south the only primer I've found that prevents color bleed through.  BIN primer is a shellac primer with a white colour.  It has a stiff chemic olfactory property, so be certain to wearable a vapor mask when painting it on.

Zinsser Clear Shellac is similar to the BIN only without the white color.   It creates a clear seal between the wood and paint layers.  Like the BIN it has first-class stain blocking power.   So if you're planning to leave the piece of furniture natural (no stain) or even if y'all plan to pigment it, and then articulate shellac is a good stain and odor blocker.

STEP 4:  Paint, Stain, & Clearcoat

Paints, stains, and clear topcoats also help in blocking odors and are the final icing on the block, and then to speak.  Only almost any product will practise the trick and the produc y'all choose will really depend on what you lot want your finished piece to look similar.

Ane matter I practise recommend though is clear-coating (not painting) the drawer boxes.  Once, many years ago, I painted the drawer boxes and it resulted in a rain shower of paint shavings every fourth dimension I opened and closed the drawers.  Instead, use a basic matte or satin clear-glaze.

Hither are a few of my favorites:

1. Benjamin Moore Stays Clear
2. Minwax Matte Polycrylic
3. Minwax Wipe-On Poly

If the inside of the cabinets or drawers need a re-fresh earlier you lot cleat-coat them, use a rag to wipe on a light coat of stain first.

STEP 5:  Clear-coat the Inside

If you've done Steps one through 4 and your seeing sensing some lingering smell, it'due south about likely coming from the inside of the dresser and not the outside that you've sanded, done, primed, and painted.

Only in one very rare case have I needed to take the added step of clear-coating the within of a dresser.    The clear Shellac would be a adept option for this.

At present that yous know that y'all can clearn thrift store furniture, isn't it time to get shopping?!

Disclosure:  This mail contains links to products I use myself and recommend.

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Source: https://entriways.com/proven-ways-to-clean-thrift-store-and-other-pre-owned-furniture/

Posted by: johnsonbigod2001.blogspot.com

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