Refreshing old cotton stuffing in seat cushions

Anyone out there have suggestions on how to refresh the cotton stuffing that was used on old seat cushions? I am recovering some cushions from a 1950'ish Heywood Wakefield love seat and the cushions are clean but a little "old" smelling? I would really like to not have to replace them with modern day foam, since they have springs that are sort of interwoven in them.

when we recovered ours, we didn't have any odor problems, but we let them sit out in the sun for an afternoon before recovering, just to freshen them up. One thing you should definitely consider is wrapping the cushion with batting (once or twice, depending on personal taste) before covering. This will even out any crumbling old foam as well as making a more comfy sit.

Sometimes, if an odor is REALLY bad, upholsterers will put the foam in a big bag with newspapers and/or baking soda to draw out the smell.

You could just hit it with lysol, but remember that often times the smell isn't mold, but the chemicals in the cushion breaking down.

Hope this helps

-Z

Thanks for the tips. I will definitely try the sun approach and the extra batting. What about a product like Fabreeze?

I use Febreze to de-funk my furniture all the time. I recommend the "low-odor" formula; the original stuff has an icky overwhelming artificial flowery smell.

If you own a bird, just remember to remove them from the area you are spraying Febreze:
(From the Febreze site Febreze Pet FAQs)
"However, as birds are uniquely sensitive to some airborne household products and environmental factors, experts recommend removing the bird from the room until the product application has fully ventilated, like you would do with any household cleaning product."

No birds, just a couple of hairy Golden Retreivers - but thanks for the info anyway.