How To Keep Carpet Smelling Fresh

Carpet helps keep your toes warm on cold fall and winter days. It adds style to the house and comes in every colour and pattern imaginable. Carpet can give your home personality. But is it giving your home the right kind of personality? Not if you don’t keep your carpet smelling fresh! 

Carpet can often be the villain when homes give off a whiff that is less than pleasing. Perhaps it’s time to learn about the best care tips for keeping carpet smelling fresh and clean all year round.

What is that Odour? 

If your home is clean and the garbage has been taken out, but there is still a lingering musty odour, your carpet could be the culprit. Often, we grow accustomed to the unpleasant scents emitting into our living quarters and may not notice them until someone from outside the home points it out—or worse, they don’t mention it at all. 

Instead of waiting for a guest to wrinkle their nose and silently suffer through the odour, why not be proactive so you can always have your carpet smelling fresh for you and your guests? 

What causes Unpleasant Carpet Smells?

Carpet can act as a sponge for odours, and several culprits exist. 

• Cooking Smells – You may be thinking of fried fish, but most food gives off an odour when cooked. It may be pleasurable at the time but not so good later. Unfortunately, the carpet absorbs those stale smells. 
• Food Crumbs and Lack of Vacuuming – Crumbs are unavoidable if you eat near or on the carpet. If you don’t vacuum them up in a timely fashion, they will turn musty or mouldy. 
• Pets Issues – If you have pets, pet smells are inevitable. From the obvious such as vomit or poop to those minor urine accidents you don’t even know about, your carpet can take a beating. 
• Smoke – Wood-burning fireplaces and cigarettes give off smoke, which your carpet is a filter for. Even if your household doesn’t smoke, perhaps the previous household did. 
• People and Foot Traffic – If you have people in the home, you have dead skin. And what about those who wander around in bare feet? Are you sure their feet are perfectly clean whenever they walk on the carpet? 
• Poor Ventilation—Stagnant air and humidity buildup are no friend of carpet. Carpet can absorb moisture from the air, and there will be plenty of it if there is a lot of rainfall or snow. 
• Moist or Damp Carpet – Muck from outside gets trodden in. Spills, if not handled right away, seep deep into the carpet. All that moisture can cause mould. Even overwetting carpet when cleaning, especially using an “at-home steam cleaner," can produce mildew. 

Best Tips for Keeping Carpet Smelling Fresh.

Give your Carpet some TLC. 

• Remove Shoes – Avoid bringing in what you stepped on outside. Don’t trample it into the carpet.
• Wear Slippers – They may be cleaner than your socks or bare feet.
• Take care when Eating and Drinking – Use a TV Tray or Side Table.
• Address Spills Promptly – Don’t let moisture seep into the underlay. For further tips, see our carpet cleaning hacks.
• Use the Oven Hood Fan – Use the kitchen extractor fan when cooking. It is designed to prevent food smells from lingering in the home.
• Replace Filters as needed – Changing the furnace filter regularly is especially important.

Carpet Maintenance. 

• Vacuum Regularly – Don’t let dirt accumulate. Vacuum it up frequently.
• Consider the type of Vacuum – Invest in a HEPA Vacuum if you have pets, live near trees or suffer from allergies.
• Sweep and Dust – Prevent what’s on the floor and surfaces from settling into your carpet.

Ventilate and Dehumidify.

• Open windows – Fresh air is good for you and airs out the carpet. Open windows when practical.
• Dehumidify – Don’t let things get damp. Use Portable Fans or the Furnace Fan. Consider a dehumidifier on muggy summer days.
• Check Indoor Air Quality –  There are many ways to improve Indoor Air Quality. A standard filter needs to be changed every three months—more if your air ducts are dirty, pets are in the home, there is lots of pollen in the air, or you suffer from allergies.
• Get your Furnace and Ducts Cleaned—If summers are prone to wildfires, get a regular HVAC cleaning. Smoke carries particulate matter that gets into the ducts and spreads around the home. One of the secrets to keeping your carpet smelling fresh is taking care of those ducts.

Ways to Deodorize the Carpet. 

No matter how clean and tidy you keep the home, the simple act of living means you’ll need to deodorize the carpet occasionally. Remember, ultimately, you want to remove the smells and the issues that cause them.

Simply masking with an air freshener is a short-term solution and can add more microscopic matter that sinks into the carpet, creating additional smells over time. Sure, an air freshener has its uses. A dog that leaves a “fragrant” smell after eating is an excellent reason to have an air freshener!

Always read and heed all the safety warnings and labels on products. Test a small area first. Whatever you are using, please keep products away from children and pets. Even “safe" products can be unsafe if children or pets are inclined to put them in their mouths!

Between professional carpet cleanings (which, incidentally, are the best and most cost-effective way to get rid of carpet smells long-term), try these DIY deodorizing methods that help keep carpets smelling fresh.

Natural and DIY Deodorizers.

These are easy to make with ingredients from your pantry. If your carpet is in the same space as your kitchen, you may wish to check out our Kitchen Freshener Hacks first. Then see below for more ideas on using kitchen ingredients for some natural remedies.

• Baking Soda – This is a safe option for carpet, provided the carpet is dry and thoroughly vacuumed afterward. It is best to plan for this when you can leave the room unoccupied for a few hours.
  • Start by removing as much clutter and furniture as possible. Then, vacuum the carpet.
  • Next, lightly cover the carpet with baking soda.
  • A Flour Sprinkler, sieve or sugar shaker may be helpful for this step.
  • Leave the baking soda on the carpet for at least 30 minutes, but longer is better to allow time for odours to be absorbed.
  • Then, thoroughly vacuum up all the powder.
• Borax – Some suggest another alternative: using equal portions of Borax powder and Baking Soda.
• Vinegar – White vinegar or apple cider vinegar is helpful if you know where the carpet’s smells originate.
  • Mix one part vinegar with two parts warm water in a spray bottle. Lightly spray the carpet (with emphasis on lightly, as you do not want to soak it). Then let it dry.
  • Yes, vinegar initially has a distinctive odour, but it will dissipate, and as it dries, it will remove the foul odour, too.
  • Other alternatives to vinegar are to leave some bowls out overnight or simmer some in a pot on the stove for 30-60 minutes.

Deodorize with Essential Oils.

Using a diffuser, essential oils can add some freshness, but choose the right ones along with air purification so you don’t just mask smells. Alternatively, place a few drops of water in a spray bottle for a natural air freshener.

Deodorize with Spices and Herbs.

You could add spices or dried herbs to your powder concoction. We suggest cinnamon, nutmeg, rosemary, thyme or even finely grated and dried fruit peel, but watch out for any colour staining.

An excellent summary of the above and a more visual demonstration can be found in The Domestic Geek: Natural Carpet Deodorizer Video. Sara also explains why the natural approach is better than the store-bought option. But if all else fails, see below.

Readymade Deodorizing Solutions.

For a quick shop-bought option, use Arm and Hammer’s Carpet Deodorizers or see Bob Vila’s Suggestions in the Best Carpet Deodorizers blog.

Carpet Protection. 

Often, prevention is better than cure, and we have a couple of suggestions for keeping your carpet in tip-top shape.

• Use area rugs on top of the carpet to protect high-traffic areas. Some small area rugs can be popped right into the wash or taken outside and hung on a line (or over the balcony) to freshen them up.
• Ask your Professional Carpet Cleaner about Carpet protection applications such as Scotchgard™, which helps prevent spills from reaching the underlay and makes cleanup fast and easy.

Deep Carpet Cleaning. 

A regular deep steam clean is a ‘Dang Good’ idea. Neglected carpet is more likely to attract odours. The best way to keep the carpet smelling fresh is to book professional deep carpet cleaning. No matter what you do to deodorize your carpet, those smells and grime, and even just a breakdown of the carpet’s VOCs, will accumulate over time. 

Book regular maintenance a couple of times a year for your carpet, and have your professional cleaner take care of the ducts once a year (at a minimum), too. Your best health and the enjoyment of your home are essential, so don’t overlook the value of cleaning by keeping your carpet smelling fresh.

If you live in Calgary or the surrounding areas, call 403-984-3680 for a free, no-obligation quote or to book. 

Share our Blog on How to Keep Carpet Smelling Fresh. 

Feel free to Share our Dang Good Blog Post using the links and hashtags below.

#Cleaning #SpringCleaning #FallCleaning #CarpetCleaning #SteamCleaning #CarpetCleaningHacks #CarpetCleaningTips #CarpetDeodorizer