secondhand furniture and allergies question

**UUMomof3** · 11-20-2008, 08:29 AM

OK, I'm pretty proud of the fact that my hubby's "man cave" has been furnished entirely with thrift store and hand-me-down furniture. It's comfortable, it's inviting (in a man cave sort of way, you understand). Turns out he's got more people coming to his bi-weekly RPG sessions than anticipated and it's short on seating.

All the soft stuff down there is what came from family members. That felt safe and healthy to me. We are a family with allergies, particularly hubby to cats. I'm really really nervous about getting secondhand soft seating, but I don't like the idea of constantly moving our furniture in and out either. All that banging around can't be good for it.

Advice, experiences? I've priced stuff out at the local thriftys and that seems like a good option...but only if I'm sure I won't have to pay to have it hauled away after everyone gets sick.

**justpeachy92** · 11-20-2008, 08:55 AM

We have bought used furniture in the past, before I bring it in the house I have always put in a storage unit and bombed it for bugs and then used a steam cleaner on it.

**nvmommyx6** · 11-20-2008, 08:56 AM

I am deathly allergic to cats and severely allergic to dogs, When I buy my furnature 2nd hand, I take the covers off the cushions, and wash them....then I take the cushions out and beat the crap out of them, hang the covers to dry and then I have an upholstery attatchment on my shampooer that I clean the remain of the furnature with and we have never had a problem yet.....I am allergic, and so are 3 of the kids!

**Momto2Boyz** · 11-20-2008, 11:50 AM

I used to own a second hand furniture store, and ask around before you buy. Some places really clean the furniture they sell and others simply put it out for you to buy.

Steam cleaning is a good way to clean it, if you have that option. Your main concern with cat allergies would be hair and dander, which you should be able to easily remove through vaccuming. You might have to do it more than once, but you shouldn't have any problems.

Some stores do consignment too, and they might be able to tell you where the furniture came from. So you might be able to find out if there were pets or smokers in the house! We had those questions right on our consignment form, so we were able to answer those questions when people asked!

Good luck!

**Shoshana** · 11-20-2008, 11:54 AM

I don't think that vacuuming and steam cleaning is adequate to remove cat dander. Cat dander stays in furniture for its lifetime (soft furniture anyway). I am also extremely allergic to cats, and have done some reading on the life expectancy of cat dander! I cannot visit a home that a cat has lived in -- even if the cat has been dead for SIX years. I haven't had the opportunity to test my allergies against a longer period of time!

I have bought 2nd hand furniture and have never had a problem. Even if the furniture is well cleaned, it's still pretty easy to find tell tail

signs of animal hair.

**winner** · 11-21-2008, 11:27 AM

I never had a problem. I did invite professional cleaners to take care. They have good chemicals to do the job.

**Greebo** · 11-21-2008, 11:32 AM

Also, doesn't pet dander deteriorate? After all - its biological...

**Patty A** · 11-22-2008, 10:17 AM

You can you try febreeze allergy reducer after cleaning it. It really does work well at our house, and we all have allergies and I have asthma. I also run an air cleaner, it works great and was well worth the price I paid for it. It grabs on to everything that floats in the air and really helps with allergies! Cleaning it well is the trick, even if you have to hire a pro it is well worth it. I really think cleaning it outside before it ever comes in the house is the real trick, if it has removeable cushion covers take them to the washer, use a steam cleaner and finish up with the febreeze allergy reducer, it gets in to the material and really helps!