As much as we may like having carpet, they can often trap odors and make your home or office smell bad. If you notice a mildew or otherwise bad smell coming from your carpet, and it isn’t quite time for your professional carpet cleaning, we’ve provided you with a few solid methods for temporarily removing smells from your home or office.
How to Remove the Mildew Smell from Your Carpet:
- Vacuum – As soon as you realize your carpet smells like mildew, vacuum it thoroughly. We suggest you use the most powerful vacuum in your home or office (as opposed to a hand vacuum). This will allow you to remove as much dirt and dust from the carpet before you treat it.
- Vinegar Solution – Combine 2 cups of warm water with 1 cup of white vinegar. Make sure you don’t add more vinegar because you don’t want that smell permeating your house or office either.
- Spray Bottle – We recommend pouring your solution into a spray bottle to use on your carpet. This will help you limit the amount of liquid you are putting on to the carpet. You don’t want to soak your carpet, as this could cause additional mildew deposits to form. Spray this solution on your carpet.
- Baking Soda – apply a generous amount of baking soda directly onto the affected area of your carpet.
- Dry – Allow the carpet to dry thoroughly.
- Vacuum – After the carpet is dry, thoroughly vacuum it again.
Other methods:
- Baking soda – apply a liberal amount of baking soda to your carpet and gently work it in. Let the baking soda sit on your carpet overnight (or as long as you can) and then vacuum your carpet thoroughly. You can repeat this process if need be. You can use straight baking soda or purchase a baking soda carpet product that has a scent added to it as well.
- Vinegar – another popular, inexpensive, solution is to use white vinegar on your carpet. You can pour vinegar into a spray bottle and then spray it on your carpet. Let your carpet dry completely and repeat the process if needed.
- Vodka – a somewhat surprising addition to this list is vodka. Vodka is great for spot cleaning and removing smells from pet stains, especially since it will kill bacteria as well.
- Tea Tree – another great way to treat the smells in your carpet is to combine a cup of water and tea tree oil (approximately 15 drops) into a spray bottle. Mix well and spray the solution on to your carpet. Once the carpet is damp, sprinkle borax over your carpet as well. Let dry and vacuum thoroughly. *Be sure to test a small area of carpet first to make sure the borax doesn’t impact your carpet’s color.
Depending on your personal preference, and the specific smells that are coming from your carpet, you may need to use one or more of these methods to make your carpet smell fresh and clean. The most important thing you can do, however, is to have your home or office carpets professionally cleaned at least once every 6-12 months – this is by far the best thing you can do to keep your carpet looking great and smelling fresh.