How To Get Rid Of Wet Carpet Smell: Best Carpet Cleaning Hacks

Carpets are a crucial part of enhancing the beauty of the home decor. Everybody faces the issue of carpet smell because of many factors.

Carpets with musty odors are unpleasant and leave a destructive impact on the health of whoever comes to interact with them. Usually, they create a terrible smell in the house and contaminate the indoor environment with mold and mildew. So how to get rid of wet carpet smell?

Removing musty odors from carpets is relatively easy unless the home is flooded. This comprehensive guide is all about getting rid of wet carpet smell easily and effortlessly. Before discussing how to eliminate carpet smell, let’s share some points that cause the smell in the carpet.

Important Factors Causing Smell in the Carpet

With minimal or tireless effort, you may get the dirt out of your carpets. But many times, it will be complex or challenging for you to get rid of the carpet’s foul smell. 

Before discussing cleaning odors methods, we must first examine the causes of the nasty smells. Each point makes it easy to proceed with a unique approach to the cleaning process. Here are some of the leading causes you will come across for carpet cleaning. The most common causes of a stinky carpet are:

Water Damage

Sometimes we do not believe that water causes any smell if we leave it wet. However, it is possible if we could not dry the carpet well. Water may cause a pungent smell which sometimes will be unbearable and, after some time, contaminate the indoor environment. 

Although water itself does not smell, if we don’t dry the carpet well after washing, it sometimes creates a bad odor when it comes into contact with the carpet’s fabrics. 

Due to this reason, your interior environment could end up stinking. If you don’t clean up the wet carpet right away, chemicals present in water make the carpet useless.

The Mess of Pet

Everyone loves to have a pet, but even the cutest pet makes nasty messes and leaves liquid stains on the carpet. They also leave stains on the carpet due to the lack of pet training. The dog hair, fluff, fur, feces, urine, airballs, Mucus, and nausea contain harmful bacteria and can leave unsightly stains if not cleaned up immediately.

Not to mention, they stink up your carpet and spoil the house environment. Sadly, even sometimes, either using sanitizing wipes, the smell of urine or vomit can persist for a long time.

Liquid Stains & Smell

Suppose we have a party or event at home and several people are invited to attend the event. As a host, we could not restrict anyone from cleaning the environment. As a result, we get the prominent stain and smell of vine or liquid on the carpet. If we have not done proper cleanliness, it may cause a nasty smell for a long time.

In addition, leaving visible marks on beverages such as milk and soft drinks also produces foul odors. If you leave them for long, the smell will worsen, and you cannot sit near them. Let’s take milk or milkshakes as an example which have a strange foul smell if they fall on the carpet. In addition to smelling slightly nauseous and pungent, milk that hasn’t been cleaned out can spoil, making your rugs smell so much worse.

Moisture or Dampness

When moisture penetrates the carpet, a musty odor develops. When a carpet smells musty or mildewed, it is due to humidity or spills that have fallen onto it. Even if it’s just water, a strange odor can build up over time due to environmental effects. Moisture presence is most likely the cause of the permanent unpleasant smell if your home has recently flooded.

If you do not handle it correctly, this can lead to more significant issues such as mold or mildew. It will aggravate the odor and pose a health risk to everyone in the house, especially children.

Way to Remove Musty Odors from Your Carpets

After knowing the elements and critical factors that may cause smell in the carpet, we will discuss how to eliminate the nasty carpet smell.  Here are a few proven and easy methods to remove odor from your home’s carpet:

Dryness of Carpet after washing 

We face many issues if we do not dry the carpet well after washing and the most prominent is the smell. The water in the form of moisture left in the fiber causes a worse smell that worsens day by day. The leading solution to this factor is to dry out carpets carefully in sunshine or with the help of a specialized dryer. After making sure the carpet has been dried, place it in your bedroom for use. 

If you already have water damage, repair it first. Properly dry the space, open windows, and use dryers and fans for a whole day. If your home has flooded, contact a professional repair firm to determine if you may preserve the carpet after a flood or not. 

Once the water situation has resolved, and the carpet has dried, vacuum it to remove dust. It helps the stench to disperse faster. Use a powerful vacuum cleaner to eliminate even more dust.

Use Of Vinegar

Vinegar is highly acidic, highly antimicrobial, and has antifungal properties. You can use it for almost anything, including eradicating unpleasant carpet odors. It would be best to use plain white vinegar with the help of the following two methods to make the indoor pleasant.

  • In the spray bottle, combine two cups of warm water, one tablespoon white vinegar, and one teaspoon of baking soda to prepare a cleaning solution. Shake the mixture well before applying it to your carpet. You can use more according to the requirement. 
  • Place cups of white vinegar all around the room to immediately remove the stink. Your house will smell like new in a matter of days, or sprinkle some amount on a smelly area.

You should note that the room will smell intensely of vinegar until the mixture has dried. Vacuum the room thoroughly when the mixture has settled.

Use of Baking Soda

You can use baking soda in different ways, like white vinegar, to effectively vanish the carpet smell:

  • After drying the wet area, sprinkle a considerable amount of baking soda on the smelly room and leave it overnight. Allow it to operate until the flooring is dry. It would be best to vacuum the residue after that. Consider applying baking soda to sanitize and deodorize after drying.
  • Baking soda alone isn’t the trick; try pairing it with vinegar. It generates a chemical reaction that has strong cleaning power.

We frequently propose baking soda as a household cleaning option. But there’s a reason that it is shockingly effective. In contrast to cleaning, baking soda is a powerful deodorizer that absorbs moisture and odor. Pour a considerable amount of baking soda and an excellent odor remover on the carpet. You can also use a vacuum to remove baking soda residue. Make as many repetitions as necessary.

Use of Shampoos or Hydrogen Peroxide Chemicals

Another method for removing foul odors from carpets is using hydrogen peroxide, the most common chemical. In a spray bottle, combine five parts of water and one part of hydrogen peroxide. Then spray the mixture to the backside of the carpet. This chemical will effectively help in the neutralization of mold spores and odors.

Alternatively, we can also use foam carpet shampoo. Vacuum the carpet first; use the shampoo with a sponge to avoid oversaturating. Finally, allow the carpet to dry before vacuuming it.

Consult with a Professional Carpet Cleaner Company

It is a fantastic idea to save money and, most importantly, the efforts of having your carpet cleaned. Yes, we are talking about an all-in-all carpet cleaning business after many stains. However, it may be tempting to replace it totally because it will burden your pocket. 

Sometimes it’s wise to listen to the experts. Contact a carpet cleaning business instead of attempting to fight with a damaged carpet or feeling the need to tiptoe around the house to avoid causing mistakes. They may also advise you on limiting the number of stains in the future.

Other Tricks for Carpet’s Smell Removal

Check out some pro tips and tricks to help you get rid of carpet smell all the time:

  • Apply Borax over the stinky places and rub it into the carpet with a dry brush or a gentle broom.
  • In the carpet setting area, set one or two cleaners. It is the most effective method. 
  • You can also rent a space heater. It will absorb the humidity level and hasten the drying process.

These all tricks and remedies help remove foul smells from wet carpet. After reading these, many questions arise in the reader’s mind, So check out some frequently asked questions below. 

FAQ

What happens if any of the above methods could not work?

If any of the above methods do not work, use two to three ways simultaneously. It will resolve the smell issue of the wet carpet. In our experience, at least one of the methods always works.

Do we get rid of pet odors from carpets?

Yes, you can use baking soda to remove the pet’s residual smell. Baking soda and vinegar mixture produce pleasant smell after removing pet residual. We found it very effective and easy to remove a pet’s smell.

Does mold grow from wet carpet?

Yes, wet carpet is a reason for mold growth because water works with carpet fiber and is primarily used for mold growth.

To sum up, Carpets containing Nylon, polyester, wool, and olefin fiber are great options for household purposes. The reason is that they have strong resistance to the external environment and couldn’t hold odor for a long time.

Whatever carpet you select, the methods shared above can reduce unusual odors. These cures are excellent for stain removal and temporarily masking odors. You’ll need to employ a carpet cleaning professional for long-term remedies. We hope our words will be helpful to you while finding the solution to how to get rid of the wet carpet smell.

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