Despite removing stains, I often find that carpet cleaners leave unpleasant odours behind. When you have children and pets it is impossible to keep carpets entirely stain free and sometimes the stains are caused by quite smelly spillages which are difficult to shift. I can’t stand persistent smells – I will always have a window open if cooking strong smelling foods and wish my house would constantly smell of spring washing. (You know that smell you get when you wash your bedding and dry it on the washing line on a warm spring day for the first time that year – then get into bed and its a bit like you’re being cuddled by Spring?)
With over the counter products (which are often quite pricey) I have commonly found that the strong chemical smell lingers for a while but when it goes, the original odour returns despite the carpet appearing stain free. Chemical products can also irritate allergies and asthma in sufferers, so it is ideal to avoid these if this could potentially be a problem. My Son gets exzema as well so I don’t like to have strong chemicals in the areas he will be playing – which is pretty much everywhere as he is 2 years old and manages to get into the smallest gaps.
There are many home remedies which are supposed to lift stains and smells from carpets and soft furnishings. Bicarbonate of soda is ever popular – a traditional remedy which is increasingly used in modern households since people are becoming more thrifty and environmentally conscious. White vinegar is again a traditional remedy which is becoming more popular in modern homes. Cornflour has a good reputation for lifting odours from carpets. I have even read about using chalk or crushed lavender flowers picked from the garden to lift odours from carpets.
In my experience the most efficient odour eliminator is a mix of equal parts cornflour to bicarbonate of soda with a few drops of essential oil mixed in to give a nice smell. It is important to pick an oil that you like as this smell will linger and you wouldn’t want a carpet smelling of lavender if you cant stand the smell!
Sprinkle the mixture over the carpet and leave it to absorb any unwanted smells. (At least a couple of hours, but overnight is best if possible as this will give it a real opportunity to work!) Then hoover it up and it will (hopefully) take any unpleasant odours with it.
This can be used on a specific problem – if the cat missed the litter tray and despite there being no stain the carpet doesn’t smell quite as it should, this should lift the smell, but can equally be used as a general stain remover or carpet freshener, similar to fabreze or 1001. If you sprinkle it across your carpet a while before you hoover it will leave a lovely fresh smell where any nasty odours had previously been.
We have a house full of children, pets (guinea pigs, fish, snails, a wormery and cats) with endless people traipsing in and out, I want our home to smell fresh and clean without stinking of pets or other nasty smells, but I havn’t got hours to clean and scrub everything and I havn’t got an endless budget to purchase fancy cleaning products which will do the job for me. For me an all round deterrent that I can use on a regular basis as part of my weekly household clean is a really good addition to the cleaning cupboard and gives me the confidence to (at least) hope that people coming into our home aren’t attacked by bad odours upon entry.
