Mould in a sofa

Why mould matters more in upholstered furniture than on a wall

A sofa is a porous piece of furniture. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) says that porous materials that have gone mouldy may need to be thrown away, because mould can fill their empty spaces and may be hard or impossible to remove completely. The fabric is only the top layer. Beneath it are foam and other upholstery that you cannot see from the outside.

The second reason is drying. The EPA adds that it may be difficult to dry upholstered furniture completely within 48 hours. If a sofa has been wet for longer, there may be something inside that can be neither seen nor cleaned. Floods have a separate page: furniture cleaning after a flood.

Surface cleaning may improve the look, but it is no proof that there is no mould inside. That is why we do not write that cleaning eliminates it, and we do not say that the sofa is healthy afterwards.

What to check first

1. Take off the cushions. Look at the underside of the seat, the back of the sofa and the side that stands against the wall.
2. Look at the wall. If the wall has marks too, the cause is in the room. If mould covers more than about 9 m² or is in the building structure, the Health Inspectorate (Veselības inspekcija) recommends professional help.
3. Measure the humidity. Above 80% in the room, the risk is high. The comfort range is 40–60%, and up to 70% in a damp climate.
4. Think back to what happened. Was there a leak, a flood, a spill or a very wet clean? That helps show how deep the moisture has gone.
5. Take photos. The mark close up, the whole sofa, the label and the wall behind it.

What to do about the damp

The cause of the damp matters more than the sofa itself. LSM reports that one in five buildings in Latvia has damp problems, and this is not just a question of old houses. If the cause is not fixed, a new sofa may end up in the same situation.

• Air the room and, if possible, dry laundry outdoors rather than indoors.
• The US Environmental Protection Agency says that a fan and a dehumidifier speed up drying.
• The target according to the EPA: below 60%, ideally 30–50%. The Health Inspectorate gives 40–60%.
• Fix a leak or a damp wall before you think about cleaning or replacing the sofa.

What not to do with a mouldy sofa

• Do not wet the fabric and upholstery, because moisture is the cause of the mould.
• Do not use chlorine bleach: it can change the colour of the fabric.
• Do not dry a leather sofa with a heater, because heat dries leather out and makes it brittle.
• Do not take the covers off to wash them separately: they may shrink.

When a sofa needs replacing

• The mould is in the upholstery or deep in the fabric.
• The sofa has been soaked and damp for a long time.
• The smell stays even when the sofa is dry.
• There is a baby, a small child, an elderly person or someone with a respiratory, skin or immune system condition at home: if in doubt, ask a doctor.

The last point is not about the furniture but about people. The Health Inspectorate calls mould and damp a significant risk factor and lists these groups as sensitive. The WHO points to respiratory symptoms, allergies and asthma, and stresses that the most important thing is to eliminate damp and mould.

When cleaning makes sense

If the mark turns out to be an old water ring, a stain or a dirty patch, it is an ordinary sofa cleaning job. Water rings appear when too much moisture moves the fabric finish, and they are not mould. So a photo comes first: a specialist will tell you whether cleaning is worthwhile or better avoided, and we agree the price before the work.

A two-seater sofa costs from €35, a three-seater from €45 and a corner sofa from €50. The minimum order is €45: if the total is lower, you pay €45. Travel is included in Riga and up to about 15 km outside Riga; further out it is from €10. If the sofa only smells and there is no mould: why a sofa smells.