When it comes to laundering--laundering--upholstered furniture, up to
and including every piece of a sleeper sofa, I have done it. I have
done it with detergent and a garden hose in 90-degree weather. Never
had a problem with residual damp--*IF* done on a string of 90-degree,
bone-dry days. I've had the same success with carpets. But I'm up
against a thorny problem: a moldy, mildewy, but cosmetically excellent
vinyl Barcalounger, probably from the 70's. (The avocado green vinyl
and french provincial wood--instead of upholstered--recliner base
suggests it's from that era.) I live in the Northeast U.S., where
soaking the living daylights out of the underside of the chair,
throwing Oxyclean on it, and then letting it bake is not currently an
option. I am considering throwing scalding Oxyclean on the underside
of the vinyl, hosing it down, and then sticking it in a room with the
thermostat turned up to 90.

Friends say just take it to a car wash, to which I've replied I don't
think even 70's vinyl (pretty indestructible) could withstand that. So
if anyone here has ever owned a restaurant with vinyl booths, or
commercial minimalist couches--or anything vinyl that became truly
rank but that you did not want to part with--and if you have
suggestions on how to get vinyl upholstery truly clean, I'd appreciate
hearing from you. It goes without saying that I'm not interested in
Febreze. Thanks!

On Nov 23, 5:27*pm, Alls Quiet wrote:
When it comes to laundering--laundering--upholstered furniture, up to
and including every piece of a sleeper sofa, I have done it. I have
done it with detergent and a garden hose in 90-degree weather. Never
had a problem with residual damp--*IF* done on a string of 90-degree,
bone-dry days. I've had the same success with carpets. But I'm up
against a thorny problem: a moldy, mildewy, but cosmetically excellent
vinyl Barcalounger, probably from the 70's. (The avocado green vinyl
and french provincial wood--instead of upholstered--recliner base
suggests it's from that era.) I live in the Northeast U.S., where
soaking the living daylights out of the underside of the chair,
throwing Oxyclean on it, and then letting it bake is not currently an
option. I am considering throwing scalding Oxyclean on the underside
of the vinyl, hosing it down, and then sticking it in a room with the
thermostat turned up to 90.

Friends say just take it to a car wash, to which I've replied I don't
think even 70's vinyl (pretty indestructible) could withstand that. So
if anyone here has ever owned a restaurant with vinyl booths, or
commercial minimalist couches--or anything vinyl that became truly
rank but that you did not want to part with--and if you have
suggestions on how to get vinyl upholstery truly clean, I'd appreciate
hearing from you. It goes without saying that I'm not interested in
Febreze. Thanks!

Vinyl that old is likely to be very fragile because the plasticizers
that were used to process the PVC into flexible sheet material can
evaporate slowly over the years. Consider doing some serious research
into vinyl restoration products. ServPro or other disaster remediation
companies may offer some clues since their business is oriented that
way.
Give Google a go with 'vinyl restoration' and see what leads there
are. Good luck.

Joe

On Nov 23, 6:27*pm, Alls Quiet wrote:
When it comes to laundering--laundering--upholstered furniture, up to
and including every piece of a sleeper sofa, I have done it. I have
done it with detergent and a garden hose in 90-degree weather. Never
had a problem with residual damp--*IF* done on a string of 90-degree,
bone-dry days. I've had the same success with carpets. But I'm up
against a thorny problem: a moldy, mildewy, but cosmetically excellent
vinyl Barcalounger, probably from the 70's. (The avocado green vinyl
and french provincial wood--instead of upholstered--recliner base
suggests it's from that era.) I live in the Northeast U.S., where
soaking the living daylights out of the underside of the chair,
throwing Oxyclean on it, and then letting it bake is not currently an
option. I am considering throwing scalding Oxyclean on the underside
of the vinyl, hosing it down, and then sticking it in a room with the
thermostat turned up to 90.

Friends say just take it to a car wash, to which I've replied I don't
think even 70's vinyl (pretty indestructible) could withstand that. So
if anyone here has ever owned a restaurant with vinyl booths, or
commercial minimalist couches--or anything vinyl that became truly
rank but that you did not want to part with--and if you have
suggestions on how to get vinyl upholstery truly clean, I'd appreciate
hearing from you. It goes without saying that I'm not interested in
Febreze. Thanks!

I don't know if this will actually work in your situation, but I have
had good luck "restoring" old automotive vinyl by getting some
mechanic's hand cleaner with lanolin, and rubbing that in, scrubbing
with old toothbrush, buffing with soft cloth, lather, rinse, repeat.
Not only does it clean the vinyl but it seems to condition it and
restore the original color as well. Now whether or not it will remove
the mold, I don't know.

nate

On Nov 24, 2:09*pm, N8N wrote:

I don't know if this will actually work in your situation, but I have
had good luck "restoring" old automotive vinyl by getting some
mechanic's hand cleaner with lanolin, and rubbing that in, scrubbing
with old toothbrush, buffing with soft cloth, lather, rinse, repeat.
Not only does it clean the vinyl but it seems to condition it and
restore the original color as well. *Now whether or not it will remove
the mold, I don't know.

Joe and Nate, thanks for the suggestions. I came up with a wild idea,
but when it comes to clean upholstery, no idea is too wild for me. I'm
getting a kid's plastic swimming pool and setting it up in my kitchen
(the recliner's too wide to fit through the bathroom door). I'm doing
the scalding Oxy-Clean solution, and then shop vac-ing the dirty
water, and then the rinse water, from the pool. Then, I'll keep the
recliner tilted vinyl-side downward, letting the air dry the washed
"underbelly."

I call this fun with obsessive compulsive disorder At least I have
no bed bugs, though!