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Can You Use Baking Soda on Carpet? (Read This First!)

Even though baking soda is just a baking ingredient, it’s well known to most of us for its versatile usage on different things to clean them or remove odor from them.

As a result, if you are looking for a natural and safe cleaning agent for your carpet, you may wonder if you can use baking soda on carpets too, for cleaning purposes. So, let’s begin with finding the answers ahead.

Using Baking Soda On Carpet: 

Baking soda is a natural and low-cost solution that can be used on carpets to clean and remove stains from them. It will also deodorize and freshen up carpets. Plus, baking soda is a safe option, as it doesn’t have any harsh chemicals, so using it on carpets won’t cause discoloration or fading.

Apart from being a mere baking ingredient, baking soda is a potent dirt/blemish-removing agent that removes stains from almost any type of fabric and material.

As a result, baking soda certainly can be used on a carpet to discard stains and stubborn blemishes from the carpet fabric without damaging it. 

The reason why baking soda is exceptionally effective in taking off staging from carpet material and other materials is because baking soda is a strong alkaline product that generates CO2 when combined with an acid product.

This oxidization cleanses all stains from the carpet without potentially harming any human or the carpet. 

Moreover, baking soda is an all-natural product that contains no harsh or toxic ingredients like many commercial carpet cleaners.

Thereby, baking soda won’t cause any dangerous chemical reaction upon being used on the carpet. Also, it won’t cause any damage, discoloration, or color fading to the rug. 

Besides, except for acting as a cleaning agent, baking soda is equally efficacious in removing foul odor from a carpet. Thus, using it on the carpet will both freshen up and deodorize it. 

And, for your information, vinegar is the acid product to be combined with baking soda to create a powerful solution that is capable of removing the toughest stains from a carpet.

Should You Use Baking Soda On Dry Or Wet Carpet? 

While cleaning your carpet using baking soda, some of you may get confused regarding whether you should apply baking soda on a dry carpet or a wet carpet, thus, the query has been answered below for your information. 

Wet Carpet:

Baking soda can be used on a wet carpet. However, here the definition of a wet carpet means a damp carpet, but not a carpet drenched in water. 

You can just simply sprinkle baking soda on the damp carpet, and then let it rest on the carpet for 15 minutes at least.

Leaving baking soda on a slightly wet carpet will help to absorb the odor and dirt better. After that, you can either vacuum the baking soda or wipe it with a damp cloth. Also, if you want, you can use and leave baking soda on a damp carpet overnight. 

Dry Carpet:

Generally, using baking soda on a dry carpet is not firmly suggested because baking soda absorbs dirt and odor better on a damp carpet than on a dry carpet.

However, if you want to do a regular carpet cleaning using baking soda instead of taking off stains from the carpet, you can apply baking soda to a dry carpet. Leave it to sit on the carpet for 15-30 minutes, and then vacuum and clean the baking soda.

When To Use Baking Soda For Cleaning Your Carpet?

While cleaning your carpet with baking soda, you might wonder when is the right time to apply baking soda to your carpet, thus, here are the answers listed below. 

Regular Carpet Cleaning:

To, clean your carpet regularly using baking soda, you can use it whenever you are cleaning your carpet. But make sure to leave the baking soda for 15 minutes at least prior to vacuuming the carpet. 

Smelly Carpet:

Depending on your convenient time, you can use baking soda on a smelly carpet to get rid of the odor. However, make sure the baking soda gets 30 minutes at least to soak the odor.

Carpet With Pet Urine:

To clean a carpet with pet urine or pet urine smell, you should use baking soda at night so that the sprinkled baking soda on the carpet gets enough time to soak the urine or urine smell and give you an odorless carpet again.

If you can’t leave baking soda overnight, at least leave it for several hours. 

Carpet With Stains: 

If you want to clean stains from your carpets, it’s suggested to use baking soda as soon as possible after the carpet got stained so that the stains don’t go deeper into the fabric.

Or else, you can sprinkle baking soda at nighttime, and let it sit for the whole night to give it sufficient time to absorb the stains and clear them. 

Carpet With Bed Bugs Or Fleas: 

To eliminate bugs or fleas from your carpet, you need to scatter baking soda one day before you vacuum the carpet again to clean fleas/ bugs and the soda from the carpet.

If it’s not possible to leave for one day, use baking soda at night and leave it overnight to get rid of bugs or fleas from the carpet. 

Carpet With Mold:

Using baking soda at night and letting it sit on the carpet for the entire night will help you deal with a carpet with mold. 

How Long Do You Leave Baking Soda On The Carpet?

It’s usually suggested to leave the baking soda to rest for at least 15 minutes on the carpet. It will allow the baking soda to have enough time to soak dirt, oil, and odor from the carpet.

However, depending on the stubbornness of the stain or smell, you can leave baking soda on a carpet for several hours. 

And if you want to clean the carpet thoroughly, after sprinkling baking soda, let it stay on the carpet overnight. Remember that the longer you allow the baking soda to sit on a carpet, the better it will absorb stains, grimes, and smells from the rug.

Tips To Use Baking Soda To Clean Carpet: 

You can use baking soda in multiple ways to clean your carpet. A few beneficial tips to utilize baking soda to clean carpets have been listed below. Read on to learn about them.

To Clean Oily Stains: 

Start by vacuuming your carpet to remove any dirt and debris. Then, blot the grease up using paper towels. After that, sprinkle a generous amount of baking soda on the stained areas and allow it to sit overnight or for at least 8 hours to absorb the oils.

When the resting period is over, vacuum the stained area to remove the baking soda. If it’s a stubborn stain, use some dish soap and dab it on the marks.

Cover the spot with a little bit of water and dab again with a clean cloth. Lastly, using a cloth, dab the area to dry (if needed, repeat the process before coming to this stage).

To Clean Non-Oily Stains:

Begin the cleaning process by vacuuming your carpet. After that, sprinkle baking soda in a needed amount over the blemished spot and spray some water on the area to make it damp (not drenched).

Then, let it rest overnight or for 3 hours at least to soak the stains. After that, settling time, vacuum the sprinkled baking soda from the stained spot and get rid of the stain. 

To Remove Strong Odor/Pet Urine Odor: 

In the first method, To get rid of a strong foul odor/ pet urine odor from your carpet, scatter a generous amount of baking soda all over the carpet.

Use a brush to distribute the baking soda onto the carpet and leave the baking soda overnight on the carpet so that the baking soda can soak pet urine/pet urine odor/ or other types of strong odors. After that, vacuum and clean the backing soda from the carpet. 

In the second method, combine 2 teaspoons of baking soda, 1 cup of vinegar, and 2 cups of hot lukewarm water and make a mixture. After that, spray the mixture all over your carpet and leave overnight to get into the carpet and clear the foul odor. 

To Soak Spilled Liquid:

If you have spilled any drinks or water on the carpet, simply spread some baking soda over it and let it sit for a couple of hours or until the liquid is thoroughly soaked. Then, vacuum the baking soda and get a clean carpet.

Final Thoughts

It’s absolutely safe to use baking soda on carpets to clean even the toughest stains and get rid of foul smells. Baking soda is a natural product containing no harsh chemicals, thus, no carpet will get ruined or discolored. Plus, it’s an inexpensive product to deodorize and freshen up carpets.