this post was submitted on 03 Jun 2026
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We found a nice free used couch the other day for my mom, and had to figure out how to load it up on our truck and carry it over 60 miles in the pouring rain (lemmy.world)
submitted 19 hours ago* (last edited 14 hours ago) by over_clox@lemmy.world to c/dull_mens_club@lemmy.world
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Usually we have a strict rule around here to never pick up used furniture, as it's entirely possibly infested with bedbugs. But this was a bit different, this was donated from a ~~church~~ school (my bad). It looks basically brand spanking new, save for a small hole in the left arm of it.

Yeah it got half soaked in the rain, but no big deal, it's at my mom's place now drying out. Here in a couple or few days whenever she tells me it's dry enough, we're gonna haul her old beat up couch away.

Edit: Photo added, cushions are off to the side still drying.

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[–] southsamurai@sh.itjust.works 6 points 13 hours ago (1 children)

Been my experience that a good shop vac to pull out most of the water really helps prevent any issues from upholstery staying wet. You'll never get it all that way, but minimising what stays deep in the padding lets the outer layers wick more out than they otherwise would. Air flow helps too, more than trying to keep temperatures up since higher temps are never enough to kill mold and mildew.

[–] over_clox@lemmy.world 4 points 12 hours ago

I hear ya, but we were a bit lacking on such things.

The couch will be fine, it only got rained on, not like it got dunked in the ocean..

[–] RickyRigatoni@piefed.zip 14 points 17 hours ago (1 children)

Owning a truck and not having a big ass tarp and bungie cords for it is always a mistake.

[–] over_clox@lemmy.world 10 points 17 hours ago

LOL, we've only had this truck (96 GMC Sonoma Extended Cab) since April 8, we're still sorting out wiring issues and oil leaks, but so far it is pretty reliable, after numerous fixes anyways. Haven't had the time or extra money to think about investing in a tarp yet.

It wasn't exactly on our bingo card to haul a couch from one state to another in the rain, but we made it happen anyways. The couch will be fine, just needs a couple more days to dry out.

[–] YaDownWitCPP@lemmy.world 15 points 18 hours ago (2 children)

I once had a landlady that told me bedbugs in used furniture isn't a problem. You just have to soak the furniture with kerosene and leave it outside for a few months.

She rented out rooms and used the living room for her own bedroom meaning you had to pass through her bedroom to get to the stairs leading to the upstairs bedrooms. That was a wild experience and I left after a month.

[–] over_clox@lemmy.world 8 points 17 hours ago (1 children)

Kerosene? Excuse the fuck out of me?!

Short story time...

My late father was very frugal, and would happily pick up used furniture for his place when his old furniture was wearing out. But he never assumed anything about what he picked up, so it didn't go in the house (ok trailer, whatever) immediately.

What he would do is leave the couch/recliner/whatever out in the rain and sunlight for a couple or few weeks. Whatever the rain didn't wash out, the sunlight would basically cook it, those damn bugs don't like either water nor sunlight.

Once the weather was about right and the furniture had been basking and drying in the sun for a few days, that's when he'd swap furniture and move his new find inside. Never once did we ever have bedbugs.

But kerosene? What in the holy fuck?!

[–] Know_not_Scotty_does@lemmy.world 6 points 16 hours ago (1 children)

You should look up what chemicals are used in dry-cleaning. Its crazy.

[–] over_clox@lemmy.world 4 points 16 hours ago (2 children)

Isn't that more or less just straight up carbon dioxide, or is there more to it than that? Either way, yeah dangerous deadly stuff..

[–] Know_not_Scotty_does@lemmy.world 2 points 1 hour ago

Nope, they used to use Kerosene or Gasoline, ow they use Perc which is a neurotoxin and forever chemical iirc.

[–] Cort@lemmy.world 4 points 13 hours ago (1 children)

The professional way to get rid of them is to heat the building and its contents up to 150f for a few hours to kill the bugs and their eggs.

[–] over_clox@lemmy.world 2 points 12 hours ago

Yep, true that.

And the unprofessional way is to throw out half your furniture and use X-Rid spray, or whatever the fuck they call it, the stuff just works, but is extremely toxic..

[–] QuandaleDingle@lemmy.world 8 points 18 hours ago

That sounds like hell. I'm glad you got out.

[–] UnrefinedChihuahua@lemmy.dbzer0.com 7 points 16 hours ago (1 children)

Do one more favour for your mom and help her quit smoking.

[–] over_clox@lemmy.world 6 points 15 hours ago (1 children)

Oof, good luck with that, that ship done sailed and she ain't gonna quit ☹️

[–] UnrefinedChihuahua@lemmy.dbzer0.com 7 points 14 hours ago

All good dude, I have to try. I smoked since 14, quit at 42 years old never thinking I would be able to do it. Seeing me do it, my parents both quit in their 70s.

Quitting was the single best decision I've made in my life, no joke.

[–] A_norny_mousse@piefed.zip 6 points 18 hours ago (2 children)

How did you load & transport it? Avoiding it getting soaked I presume?

We need that dull content!

[–] over_clox@lemmy.world 4 points 18 hours ago (1 children)

No, we had no way to prevent it from getting soaked, it's currently drying out at my mom's place right now. Still, getting it there was a fun challenge, especially given that our truck bed was already loaded with groceries plus our spare tire.

Our truck is a 96 GMC Sonoma, luckily the extended cab version. So, we basically loaded up almost everything from the bed of the truck into the inside back of the truck in the extended cab area. And yes our truck has one of those large metal toolboxes occupying a couple feet of the truck bed..

By the time we got the couch loaded up, half of it was hanging off the back and it was basically at the teetering balance point, so how do secure it? Well, we had a brand new roll of paracord handy, for whatever random cause. Can't get much more random than a free couch from another state no less..

I secured it in 2 places, one to hold the forward most end down from teetering, and one behind it to prevent it from sliding. That forward one was indeed a challenge, as I simply couldn't get it tight enough to stop it from teetering. But that's where I got creative..

We happen to have a sledgehammer in the truck toolbox. So, I wrapped the tied down paracord around the handle of the sledgehammer and gave it a good solid twist. And sure enough, that got it extra tight where it wouldn't budge a bit 👍

The back one was more or less just to make sure it was extra secure and not gonna fuck up and slide off. We went a bit slower on the way back, around 55mph, but yeah aside from the rain, the journey back went without any issues.

[–] A_norny_mousse@piefed.zip 3 points 9 hours ago (1 children)

we had no way to prevent it from getting soaked

Oh. I hope it dries out OK. Not all couches recover from something like that.

In any case it should be a good test for how clean it is; the smell will tell.

[–] over_clox@lemmy.world 3 points 9 hours ago

I checked in with mom today, and the couch seems to be drying out just fine. We're gonna give it another day or so before putting the cushions back on.

[–] over_clox@lemmy.world 2 points 16 hours ago

Just figured I'd toss you an update, I edited the post to add a photo. The cushions are off to the side still drying, it should probably be dry enough in the next day or two..

[–] PP_BOY_@lemmy.world 5 points 19 hours ago (2 children)

Not posting pics oughtta be illegal!

[–] over_clox@lemmy.world 6 points 19 hours ago

LOL, I hear ya there, sorry. Yesterday was a bit of a rough day, we weren't even prepared to haul a couch, hell the truck bed was already full, we had to rearrange every damn thing adhoc plus figure out how to secure it. Luckily we had a brand new roll of paracord for that.

I'm not at my mom's right now, but if I'm not mistaken, Lemmy allows me to edit posts later on, so I might be able to edit this post later to add a photo.

Now you actually got me curious about that, so come back to this post within 6~10 hours or so, whenever I get a chance to pass back by my mom's place, I'll see if I can add a photo as an edit later.

[–] over_clox@lemmy.world 2 points 16 hours ago

Update: Momma sent me a photo, post updated. The cushions are off to the side still drying.

[–] infinitevalence@discuss.online 3 points 17 hours ago (1 children)

Use a van?

[–] over_clox@lemmy.world 1 points 17 hours ago (1 children)

Nope, 96 GMC Sonoma, extended cab version.

Unfortunately the couch was about twice as long as the bed of the truck, but I made sure it was secured down well enough for the trip.

Also unfortunately it was exposed to the elements and got soaked in the rain, but whatever, we got it there and it's drying out right now. We figure it ought to be dried out enough within another day or two.

Feel free to skim through my other comments here for more details..

[–] infinitevalence@discuss.online 3 points 17 hours ago (1 children)

so 4ft bed :( Everyone who thinks they need a truck should honestly think about a minivan, I have an 8ft bed, and can haul 8 people, and have 2500lb of towing capacity, and I have leather/power everything, and I get 25mpg.

[–] over_clox@lemmy.world 2 points 17 hours ago* (last edited 17 hours ago)

We didn't pick the truck, it was a gift from my mom, after her old man passed away late last year ☹️

Its a pretty tough truck though, 6 cylinder 4.3 liter, so yeah it's tough enough to haul loads..