Leather Couch Offgassing

January 27, 2007, by Debra Lynn Dadd

Question from nicole

My partner and I bought a new leather lounge suite recently. It was made in China and when it arrived it smelled very strongly of chemicals. 

I've been away since the day after the couch arrived, and now it's time to return to our unit but I'm very concerned about the chemical smell. 

We have had the couch for over a month now, but the smells coming off it are too strong. I don't know what to do as my partner wants to keep the couch, but I'm not comfortable living with it whilst pregnant. I can still smell it whenever I walk into the lounge room and have to avoid the room, which is not practical at all as we live in a small unit. 

Any suggestions on what I can do about the offgassing? Should the lounge suite finish offgassing soon? 

Debra's Answer

Sounds like you need to remove the couch from your home. I'd suggest either just selling it or giving it away, or if there is someplace you can put it for about a year, you might see if it is outgasssed enough in the future to use. Particularly since you are pregnant, I would remove it right away.