A carpeted floor can elevate the look and feel of your house interior unlike anything else. But if you own a house with carpeted rooms in it, you know that the maintenance part is super tough. And bad odor is one of the biggest issues that people face, which it’s very difficult to get rid of completely.
But with the proper technique and tools, you can get rid of this annoying problem. So, how to get bad smells out of carpet and make your house interior fresh again?
It’s not an easy thing to do, especially if the substance has dried out. So, let’s check out an in-depth guide on getting rid of the bad odor out of the carpet.
1. Removing the General Bad Smell
If the odor is caused by anything recent, then it’s more likely that you won’t need to do a deep cleansing for the most part. Doing the basic things will get the odor out, and you won’t have to worry about anything else. Let’s check out all the steps to remove such a basic odor from your carpet.
For the best results, you should apply these steps as soon as you notice any odor in your carpet. That’s because as the odor stain dries, it’ll be much more difficult to get rid of, so it’s far better to deal with while it’s easy.
Step 1: Take Care of Soiled Areas
Before you do anything else with your carpet, you need to remove any wetness, spills, or dried on stuff from it. To do that, you can use a clean paper towel or a napkin. However, if the mess is too much to deal with, you should dab soap on the stains and blot them.
It’s a great idea to prepare the carpet before you start to apply anything to your carpet. That’s going to make the method work more efficiently, and if you do it correctly, sometimes you won’t even need to go for anything else.
Step 2: Use Some Baking Soda
The second thing you need to do to get any unwanted odor out from your carpet is to use some baking soda and sprinkle it on top of the soiled spot. Baking soda works perfectly for that job as it neutralizes any bad smell that’s stuck in the carpet, and makes the whole thing fresh.
You should sprinkle baking soda on the carpet and aim to make a thin coat there. Also, mixing Borax with it will skyrocket its effectiveness, and you should definitely try it out. Using a few drops of essential oil will work like magic as well. It will help to put a nice scent to the area for a good amount of time, which is pretty amazing.
Step 3: Let the Soda Sit for a Few Hours
Now that you’ve applied the baking soda to your carpet, it’s time to let it sit there for quite a while. It’s preferred that you wait for at least a couple of hours before you move on to the next steps. Also, if the odor is pretty intense, you should consider keeping it overnight for the best results.However, make sure that your kids and pets don’t have access to the area as it can be very dangerous and toxic for them. Once you are done with that, let’s move on to the next step on how to get rid of bad odor in carpet.
Step 4: Vacuuming the Carpet
In this step, you are going to run a vacuum cleaner on your carpet and clean the baking soda off of it. However, make sure to monitor the cleaner bag of your machine while you do it. Sometimes it gets filled pretty fast, and you should empty it before it creates any issues.
That should get some of the odor out, and you should already feel a noticeable difference.
Step 5: Going for a Deep Treatment
Baking soda should put some of the odor out of your carpet, but it’s certainly not enough to take the odor completely out of it. To do that you’ll need a much more sophisticated solution that can work as a powerful treatment and remove the odor from the deep parts of the carpet.
While you can grab such solutions from the market for a few bucks, it’s also possible to make your own. For that, you need 30 ml hydrogen peroxide, half a cup of baking soda, 1 teaspoon mild liquid soap, and a liter of clear water.
Once you’ve got everything in place, start mixing them all in a container. Make sure not to touch any of the solutions and use gloves while mixing.
If You Want, Read More About How to Get Dog Pee Out of Carpet – Remove the Odor
Step 6: Use It on the Carpet
Now that you’ve got the solution ready to use, you can just pour it into a sprayer and spray it on the soiled spot of your carpet. If you can’t manage a sprayer, you can directly apply it as well; just make sure to wear gloves.
Step 7: Wait for a Day
Again, you need to wait for the solvent to work and give it time. It’s recommended that you give it at least 24 hours before you move on to the next step. That’ll make sure that you get the best result out of the method on how to get bad smells out of carpet, which is super effective. So, make sure to wait for a bit longer, even if it’s a bit annoying. Also, make sure to keep the kids and the pets away from the room at that period.
Step 8: Clean off the Excess Solution
Once you are done waiting for a day with the solution on the carpet, it’s time to finish the process off by cleaning the excess solution off of it. For that, you should use a dry piece of towel, and try to soak up as much liquid as you possibly can. And you can leave the rest to air dry naturally.
And that should be all you need to do to get the basic odor out of your carpet.
Getting Rid of Smoke Smells
Smoke odor requires a completely different method to remove the bad smell out of the carpet. It’s also a bit tricky to get rid of compared to other general odors. Let’s check out the few steps to get rid of the smoke smells from the carpet down below.
Step 1: Make an Ammonia or Vinegar Solution
The first thing you’d need to do on how to get rid of bad smell in carpet, specifically for the smoke odor this time is to make a solution that’ll get rid of it. However, you will not apply the solution on the carpet directly. Rather, you’d need to put the solution onto bowls and set those into the room.
For that, you just need to fill 2 or 3 bowls with white vinegar or ammonia and place them in the room anywhere. However, make sure not to mix both white vinegar and ammonia together as it can produce toxic gas.
Step 2: Wait for 24 Hours
Now that you’ve got the 2 to 3 bowls full of the solution in your room, it’s time to let it sit for a while. You should wait for at least 24 hours before you remove the bowls from your room.
You need to remember that vinegar or ammonia is not going to take the odor completely out of the carpet, but it’s a great step in the process to do so. So, keep the bowls in there for a day and move to the next steps.
Step 3: Use Baking Soda
Baking soda does a great job dealing with the smoke odor in your carpet. You just need to apply it directly to the spoiled area and leave it for a good amount of time. Then you need to vacuum it using a vacuum cleaner. And that will help to get rid of most of the smoke odor.
You can also use commercial carpet cleaner on your carpet, which will get the job done as well.
Step 4: Use a Steam Cleaner
One of the best ways on how to get bad smells out of carpet is to use a steam cleaner. It’s even more effective when you want to get rid of the smoke odor. For that, you’d need to put distilled white vinegar into the steam cleaner and run it over the carpet.
That’ll work as a great acidic cleaner, and it kills the bacteria, which makes the odorless stinky. It’s also a great idea to use a commercial product that’s targeted only towards the smoke, and that way you get even more effective cleansing for your carpet.
Step 5: Run the Cleaner over the Carpet
You need to follow the instructions that are given in the machine to be able to use it properly. However, that doesn’t require you to buy a machine if you don’t have any as you can just rent it. It’s best to go over the previous steps before you rent your steam cleaner, which will let you save money.
Step 6: Dry the Place out
Now that you’ve done everything, it’s time to dry out the carpet and make it ready to use. It’s best to air dry it, and the easiest way to do that is, of course, to let it dry naturally. However, if you are in a bit of a hurry, you can always turn on the fan in the room. Also, you can use a table fan as well.
Eliminating Pet Odor
If you are a pet owner, you know how hard it is to keep your carpeted floor clean. That’s because pets like cats or dogs sometimes pee on the carpet, and it is super hard to get rid of that stinky smell. To help you in that scenario, let’s go over a step by step method on how to get bad odor out of carpet that’s caused by your pets.
Step 1: Soak Any Wetness
The first thing you need to do is to use a dry napkin to clean them as much as pee that you can with your napkin. However, if you see that the spot has dried out, dab some water into there, and use a dry paper towel to clean the place.
You can blot the spot using some soap as well, which will prepare the urine spot for better cleaning.
Step 2: Use Green Detergent
Now that the place is ready, you need to use some green detergent on the spot. You don’t need to apply a lot of it on the carpet. Just put a few drops of green detergent, and blot the urine area with the towel. That’ll clean off the urine for good.
Step 3: Coat the Spot with Baking Soda
At this point, the carpet should be pretty wet to work with, and it’s the perfect time to use baking soda on it. Using baking soda on the carpet will help to get rid of most of the odor, and it’s undoubtedly an essential part of the process.
So, put a thin coat of baking soda on top of the urine area, and move on to the next step.
Step 4: Let it sit
After getting the baking soda coat on the carpet, it’s time to sit for a pretty extended period. As pet odor is super hard to get rid of, you should let the baking soda work by giving it more time.
It’s recommended that you wait for 24 hours before moving on to the next steps. However, if that feels too long, you can just leave it overnight, and it’ll do the trick for you.
Step 5: Spray White Vinegar
If you notice that there’s a dried out urine spot on your carpet, you might not want to take out the baking soda right away. It’d be a great idea to spray white vinegar on there to get the best results.
To make the spray, take one cup of water, one cup of vinegar, and 2 spoons of baking soda, and put them in a sprayer. Now all you need to do is to spray it in the dried out spot, and it’ll work like magic.
But you should always test this solution on a hidden place on your carpet to see if it suits the material. If it discolors the carpet, you should not apply this method there and move on to the next one.
Step 6: Wait for a Couple of Minutes
Now that you have applied the solution to the carpet, it’s time to wait for a while. You should wait for at least 5 minutes before you move on to the next step, and also make sure that pets and children are at a safe distance from this spot.
If you’re using hydrogen peroxide, the waiting period should be somewhere between 10 to 15 minutes.
Step 7: Soak Up the Cleaning Solution
After the cleaning agents are there for a few minutes, it’s time for you to take a clean and soft piece of cloth on the carpet. You should apply gentle pressure, and soak up as much cleaning solvent as you can.
Now, that should be if you are asking how to get bad smells out of carpet, but if the odor is still there, go over the following steps.
Step 8: Use a Carpet Steam Cleaner
The most effective way on how to get old dog urine smell out of carpet without ruining it is to use a steam cleaner designed for carpet. It’s a pretty lengthy process, and it takes a lot of time and energy as well. But it’ll give an intense clean to your carpet, and it’ll take out any bad odor, making your room fresh again. So, if you own cats or dogs, it’s a great idea to get yourself a carpet steam cleaner.
Get Rid of Mold Odor
You won’t always have to deal with a strong odor, sometimes, you’d have to treat mold odor off of your carpet. As simple as it sounds, it’s actually way harder to do. Yet, let’s check out the steps on getting the mold odor out of your carpet.
Step 1: Find out the Spoiled Area
The first thing you need to do is to find out the spoiled area that’s causing all that smell. It’s not going to be easier in some cases as you’ll have to really search the whole carpet very precisely to be able to tell what’s the main cause of the odor. Sometimes excessive humidity can be a cause of such odor. In that case, you’d just have to run the fan and open your windows to make the smell disappear.
Step 2: Wet dry Vacuum
A great tool to dry out a wet carpet is known as the wet dry vacuum. It’s super effective, and it dries out the excess moisture out of the carpet. That way it gets way easier to get rid of the dunked smell in your carpet.
Step 3: Making a White Vinegar Mixture
Take one cup of white vinegar and mix it properly with a half-liter of warm water. Once you get the solvent, it will help you to get rid of the mold smells. However, it’s recommended that you use warm water instead of hot water.
Step 4: Apply the Mixture on the Carpet
Now that you have the mixture ready, it’s time to spray it on the carpet. Make sure to be very thorough and coat the entire area with this mixture. Once you’ve covered the whole area, check if it’s wet enough to work with baking soda.
Step 5: Use Baking Soda
You guessed it right; you will apply baking soda on the carpet now. As you can tell, it’s the best weapon on how to get bad smells out of carpet, and you can use it to remove odor from the carpet. However, now you’d have to sprinkle the baking soda all over the carpeted floor and see if it reacts to the mixture.
Step 6: Let it Dry
Once you’ve covered the whole carpet with baking soda and the mixture, it’s time to wait for these to dry out completely. You can wait for a couple of hours, but it’s preferred that you let it dry overnight. That should prepare it well for the next step.
Step 7: Vacuum it Up
Now that the solution and the baking soda is fully dried out, you need to use a vacuum cleaner to suck it all up and clean the place. However, make sure to dump it far from children’s reach.
Step 8: Dry out the Carpet
The final step of getting rid of the mold odor is to dry the carpet out naturally. It’s always best to air dry your carpet after using these chemicals rather than using any kind of carpet dryer. However, if it feels too long, you can always use a fan to make it dry super fast. And that should make your room fresh in no time.
Additional Tips
Now that you know a lot about how to get rid of bad smell in carpet, you can do it all by yourself pretty easily. Let’s check out some additional tips that’ll help in that process.
- Try to eliminate the odor as soon as you notice. Remember, as time goes on, it’ll be much more difficult for you to take care of it.
- Always test any solution on a hidden piece of the carpet. That’ll tell you if the substance is suitable for your carpet or not, which might save it from
- Be gentle while washing your carpet. You don’t want to damage it in the process of cleaning.
- If you fail to get rid of the bad odor after doing all that, consider hiring a professional to do it for you.
To Wrap Up
You just went through a lot of information on how to get bad smells out of carpet, and hopefully, you can have a fresh and odor-free room again.
You see, carpets are one of the best ways to decorate your house interior and make them comfortable for your feet while making the house look more exotic and classy.
However, if you choose to carpet your floors, you must dedicate your time and effort to keep them clean and tidy. Only that will serve the true purpose of having them installed in the first place. Read How to Get Dog Pee Out of Carpet – Remove the Odor
