Ask Mrs. Clean: House Cleaning, Stain Removal and Organizing Tips

[stephanyeauclair]

I had a hot water pipe bust in my home in the night, and i woke up in the morning to water everywhere in my home. The humidity was so high that the walls were sweating and so were my leather couches. Everything was exposed to high humidity over a good 12 hours. My insurance company wants me to accept my leather couches back after everything that happened, and everything else in my home was written off (ex.bedroom furnitures, tv's, living room tables, etc.). My question to you is that cleaning companies can only clean the outside of the furniture and not the inside, and so wouldn't there be mold and mildew build up due to the high humidity level in my home? All my mattresses were written off because of the reason that they cannot clean the inside. I am afraid for my childrens sake, if there is mold and mildew built over time. I also have a 10 year warranty on my furniture, but my warranty will be cancelled if i accept the furniture back because of the water flood. My insurance will only cover my couches for 1 year. What should i do?

[mrscleannw]

Hello Stephanyeauclair and welcome to Mrs. Clean’s forum:

I have sympathy for your situation and dealing with a loss is tough enough without having to fight with your insurance company.

As far as your leather couch. Leather is a “skin” and leather furniture generally repels water and moisture. That is why your couch was sweating. In addition, most leather is treated to keep it from being damaged by humidity. You should also have a care manual that came with your leather couch, which may be of help in this situation.

I would “assume” that the insurance company sent equipment over to quickly dry out your home and that the couch was wiped down and thoroughly dried.

Because the leather and cushions are on top of a wood base and there is some air circulation AND if everything was done properly and dried quickly, there most likely shouldn’t be an issue.
That being said and with all those “ifs” along with your warranty issue, I would recommend to contact a local, professional leather care/repair shop. I would relay all the information that you have in your e-mail and be sure to include the length of exposure, and time from when it happened to when your home was dried out. They will also want to know the method of drying and whether they used a fan, heater and/or ozone machine. They may want to inspect your couch and you can see if your insurance will cover that.

This would be the best idea as they can spot any problems and issues that we cannot identify over the internet.
Based on what they find (or don’t find), they would be able to help you argue your case with the insurance company. They should be able to provide you something in writing as to their findings.

Sorry that we could not help with an easy answer, but there are a lot of variables in your situation and when concerned about the possibility of mold along with an insurance claim, it is best to have written documentation from a local leather care professional.

We wish you the best, and let us know how it all turns out.

Mrs. Clean