Whether it’s from muddy shoes, fallen food bits, spilt drinks, or pets who love to wander—carpets experience a lot of wear and tear daily. However, there’s no need to use harsh chemicals to get them looking clean and smelling fresh again!
Baking soda is one of the best and most effective carpet cleaners. It can handle even the toughest stains and smelliest scents on your floor. This multi-purpose ingredient is also a green cleaner, wallet-friendly, easy to use, and safe for people and pets.
Here’s how you can use this powerful powder with vinegar to breathe new life into your carpets.
Clean and Deodorise Your Carpet With Baking Soda and Vinegar
If you notice your carpets looking dull and dusty after vacuuming, it might be time to freshen them up using a few simple ingredients in your home pantry. Follow these steps to keep your rugs looking their best with minimal effort and expense:
1. Prepare Your Supplies
For this cleanup project, you’ll need a box of baking soda, white vinegar, water, a spray bottle, a roll of paper towels, a scrub brush, cleaning cloths, and your trusty vacuum cleaner. Depending on your cleaning preferences, the entire process can take 4 to 12 hours.
2. Remove Surface Dust
To remove top-level dirt and debris from muddy shoes, pets coming from outdoors, or fallen bits of food, it’s helpful to vacuum your carpet thoroughly one more time before treating it with baking soda. Don’t forget to move furniture and pick up toys and objects from the carpet.
3. Spot Test Before Use
Baking soda is generally safe for all types of carpets and doesn’t cause bleaching or discolouration. However, highly absorbent fibres like wool are prone to damage, so it’s best to check your manufacturer’s cleaning instructions beforehand.
One good tip is to do a spot test on a hidden or inconspicuous area of your carpet to ensure that the baking soda or vinegar is compatible with your carpet colour and texture. Vinegar isn’t recommended on carpets with delicate fibres, including silk, because of its acidity.
4. Sprinkle Baking Soda and Spritz Vinegar
Generously sprinkle your carpet with dry baking soda. Since baking soda tends to clump, you may want to transfer it to a big shaker before applying.
Then, use your spray bottle to spritz any stains with a mixture of one part water and one part vinegar. Always use white vinegar, as other types can cause discolouration on your carpet. Blot the stained areas with a paper towel.
Vinegar is especially effective at removing stubborn stains and strong smells, but you can dilute it with more water if you find the 50:50 solution too overpowering. For unstained areas of your carpet, spritzing cool water will do. The carpet should be damp but not sopping wet.
5. Scrub the Carpet
Use a scrub brush to massage the solution into the carpet fibres gently. This step is highly advisable if your carpet has shaggy or long fibres that need a deep clean. Be careful not to scrub too hard, as this could damage the texture, and avoid scrubbing on the stains.
Scrub in one direction to lift dirt from the carpet. Use a cleaning cloth to wipe away debris or excess solution. Work from the inner section of the carpet and gradually make your way towards the room’s exit. Avoid walking on the newly treated surface until the cleanup is complete.
6. Dry and Vacuum
Once you’ve scrubbed the entire carpet, allow it to air-dry thoroughly for 4–12 hours. The longer you leave the baking soda to do its job, the better. When your carpet is fully dry, vacuum over the area several times to remove the remaining baking soda from the fibres.
How Often Should You Clean Your Carpet With Baking Soda?
You can clean and deodorise your carpets and area rugs with baking soda weekly, monthly, or quarterly. This easy and effective method is also ideal for a mid-week clean-up when you find your carpet dull or smelly but don’t have the time for a deep steam cleaning.
When used regularly on compatible fibres, the product won’t discolour or damage your carpet. To get the best results, stains should be treated with baking soda as soon as they occur.
How to Remove Pet Odours and Bad Smells From Your Carpet With Baking Soda
If you’ve got a few furry companions or have carpeted floors in high-traffic areas, like living rooms, your carpets can develop an unpleasant smell. Thankfully, baking soda can help eliminate unwanted odours from almost any fabric. It’s safe to use around your pets, too!
1. Vacuum Your Carpet
Before applying baking soda, vacuum the carpet to remove accumulated pet hair, dander, dust, and loose soil from the outside. Also, do a spot test on a hidden section of your carpet to ensure that it’s fully compatible with baking soda.
2. Sprinkle the Baking Soda
Apply a thin layer of dry baking soda on your carpet. It has natural deodorising properties that will neutralise unpleasant smells and break down the substances causing them.
An optional step here is to add a few drops of essential oil, such as lavender or lemon, to the baking soda before applying—around 5 to 10 drops will do. Shake or stir the baking soda until the oil is well mixed.
3. Wait Before Vacuuming
Allow the baking soda to sit and soak into your carpet for 15 minutes or more. You can even leave it overnight to eliminate tough odours, like cigarette smoke or strong-smelling food. Vacuum up the baking soda and any dirt and debris loosening from your carpet’s fibres.
For stubborn smells, you can repeat the process and use vinegar and water in your clean-up for a stronger deodorising action. Prevent the unpleasant odours from coming back by keeping your carpet clean and treating it with baking soda every couple of weeks or once a month.
