If you spend the whole day and efforts to deep clean your carpet, what do you expect at the end of the day? A clean, fresh, and new carpet. But what if you don’t get it? What if you get a carpet that smells even worse? Well, in that case, you might start to doubt your carpet cleaning ability. But you will get positive results if you get a professional carpet cleaning service to do the job. You expect nothing but a fresh looking and fresh smelling carpet. So, the common concern is, Why does your carpet smell bad after cleaning and what to do? You’ll get the answer to get rid of that feeling. But first, let’s find out the problems.
This Is Why Your Carpet Smell After Cleaning
Overwetting the carpet
Professional carpet cleaning services generally use dry carpet cleaning or hot water extraction methods to clean your carpet. If you do it yourself, you have surely used one of them. To do that you may have used too much water or detergent. So the moisture can get soaked by the carpet. Then reach the padding at the back of your carpet. If the water remains on the carpet, it’ll create big problems.
When you deep clean with a hot water extraction method, you’ll be needing a powerful vacuum to suck up all the excess water. Otherwise, you won’t get rid of the water. Besides if you use too much water pressure or you move the vacuum too quickly, not giving it enough time to extract water you’ll get the same result.
Now, the padding will not be exposed to air or direct sunlight. That’s why it does not leave the water on time. The remaining water surely creates problems allowing the growth of molds and mildews. At the same time, it can create chances for the microbes to grow. If you get a smell of wet pet from your carpet, then it’s a sign of overeating and lack of drying.
Exception
Lack of drying is not always because of over-wetting. Weather, location, and carpet material can also be factors.
If you deep clean the carpet during monsoon, it will take more time to dry than a dry season. Similarly, carpets with synthetic material dry faster than natural or woolen carpets.
Water damage from the floor
Floors sometimes have unsealing problems or plumbing leaks. They usually get water in lots of work, like floor cleaning. Settled water always promotes the growth of mildew or molds. Floors are no exception.
Look for any leakage if you doubt this problem. But if there is no sign of leaks but you are still getting a nasty smell. You should look for the underlay. It may break due to old age. Besides, molds usually have allergic reactions to people. So it’s best to remove the whole water-damaged carpet.
Old settled stains
Some people have the habit of neglecting small spills. But if you neglect spills early, you have to pay bigger later. The spill, stain, or dirt will set on the carpet if it gets accumulated into the padding of the carpet. Whenever you deep clean it, the solution or hot water will reach it. Then it will start to smell bad.
If any stain is too old, it becomes tough to remove. Sometimes it results in a foul odour to remain with the carpet even after deep cleaning. That’s why you should be careful about any spill or accidents. You might have to clean more frequently if you have kids or pets in your house.
Take help of professional carpet cleaning services after a certain period regularly. Make sure to be careful about accidental spills otherwise, it can lead you to a situation when you have nothing left to do.
Pet accidents
If you have pets in your house, you’ll face this problem more obvious. In this case, you won’t even find out about the accident until you face any problem. But till then the urine already has reached inside of the carpet.
Pet urine has a different structure than other spills as it has ammonia and urochrome. Because of these, it will make a more stubborn stain. Along with that, it will make a smell that lingers after cleaning. Every Time you deep clean your carpet, the smell will resurface. All you can is take quick action if you find out immediately or take expert advice.
Smoking
Smoke can penetrate any kind of fabric. Any type of smoke will penetrate any mattress or curtain if you smoke a cigarette in your room. The produced smoke will enter your carpet and be absorbed by the padding. Now the interesting fact is the airborne smoke will clear out eventually. But the smoke absorbed by the carpet won’t go away.
If you smoke, then you won’t get the smell in your carpet. So the more you smoke, the more residual smoke remains in the carpet. As a result, your carpet will have an odor that’s too unpleasant for anyone.
Now, remember that, no matter how much you deep-clean your carpet, the odor won’t go away, if you continue to smoke inside your house. Well, some other factors can be the reason for the smoky odor of your carpet, like any fire hazard in the home.
Ways to keep the smell out of your carpet
Increase the speed of the drying process
Direct sunlight is the best way to dry up the carpet. But if you are not that lucky, try to keep it in the open air. It takes around 6-12 hours for a carpet to dry. Make sure not to use the carpet until thoroughly dried. You can follow the tips to speed up your drying.
Open all windows
In a closed room, the evaporation rate decreases because of lacking fresh air. If the windows are open, air can circulate in the room. Circulating air absorbs more humidity. The water evaporation from the carpet increases rapidly. That’s how you can see the carpet to dry out quickly without any musty odor.
Use fans
Ceiling fans are great for air circulation in the room. It circulates the air in a room and can replace the air with fresh air from outside. As a result, it increases the evaporation and drying process. While ceiling fans are the best idea, stand or tables, fans do the ticks too. If you point their direction toward the carpet, they can help to dry the carpet even faster because of their greater speed.
Turn on the heat
The current in the air is a factor of evaporation. If you deep clean your carpet during the cold season, it could be tough to open windows or use a fan. In such a case, you can turn on the room heater. As it will keep your room warm, it will heat the air too. Hot air absorbs more humidity. So your carpet will dry sooner.
Dehumidifier
If your room has moisture stains around the ceiling or windows, that means your house has humidity issues. Carpets of the homes with too much humidity won’t dry easily after a deep clean. So, you might take the help of a dehumidifier. By using that you can regulate the moisture in your room.
Groom it
Sometimes carpets don’t dry faster because their fibers are not in the proper state. You can groom it with a carpet brush. Just lift the fibers and align them into the appropriate form. It will help the carpet to aerate to the inside and dry faster.
Ways to clear unpleasant smells from the carpet
Baking soda
If you go through all the carpet cleaning guides available on the internet, you won’t find a single one that doesn’t include or mention baking soda. It’s that popular in cleaning a carpet. And that’s not only because of its carpet cleaning ability but also of its natural deodorizing properties. It can surely kill the stubborn wet carpet smell that won’t go after a deep clean.
- Step 1: Sprinkle baking soda over the whole carpet.
- Step 2: The next step is to spread the baking soda evenly all over it. Use a broomstick. Do not give too much pressure while you are doing it into the fibers. Now it will absorb all odour along with moisture in fibers. But make sure to give it overnight.
- Now mix the powder with a vacuum cleaner. Don’t forget to vacuum every inch at least twice. Do not leave any residue.
Vinegar
White vinegar is used to clean several carpet stains. Besides that, it can balance the foul odour in your carpet too. It is antiseptic and antibacterial. It has acidic properties also. So, you can use it to treat molds and mildews. Just follow the steps-
- Step 1: Take a spray bottle. Pour it with a mixture of warm water and white vinegar at the same ratio. Don’t forget to shake the mixture well.
- Step 2: Spray the mixture on the whole carpet. You’ll get a strong smell until the mixture dries out. So let it air-dry.
- Step 3: Once the solution dries, vacuum your carpet. Vacuum it thoroughly.
Borax powder
Borax powder is commonly used to kill any terrible household smells. You definitely can use it on your carpet. But you need to follow every precaution mentioned on the label. Then you have to apply it on a small portion of the carpet. That will assure you if it harms your carpet.
- Step 1: Once you tested it on a small area, you can use it on the whole carpet. Apply an appropriate amount for covering the entire surface.
- Step 2: Then work the powder in the fibers. Similar to baking soda, you can use a broom to do that.
- Step 3: Leave it for 10-12 hours. Then vacuum the carpet properly.
Some ‘not to do’s’ after a carpet cleaning
Most people make some common mistakes after deep cleaning a carpet. Doing the same will lead you to get a smelly carpet. So read below and try not to do them.
Don’t walk on wet carpet
After a deep clean when you leave your carpet to dry. At a normal condition, it will dry before the underpadding soaks up too much moisture. But if you do not give it time and start to walk on the wet carpet. The water in the carpet fibers will go faster to the underlay. It will soak too much moisture before the carpet dries. Besides, a moist carpet attracts dirt more effectively.
Don’t bring the furniture back too soon
If you put the furniture with no leg-padding on the wet carpet, they will most probably create marks on it. At the same time, the damp surface will damage the legs of the furniture.
Most of the mold species grow in dirk and damp places. The wet place is already here, and by bringing the furniture, you are bringing the dark place too. So, it won’t take time for molds to breed.
So try to bring the furniture back to their places only after the carpet is completely dried.
Don’t vacuum
This point is mostly not about odor-making mistakes. It’s about safety. Because first of all On an overwatered carpet your regular household vacuum won’t work. It can’t suck up the moisture. But, vacuuming on a wet surface can lead you to a risk of electrocution. So in such cases, call for professionals with high-powered vacuums.
Conclusion
In other cases of the smelly carpet after deep cleanings, like cigarette smoking, no home remedy can help you. In those cases, either you have to be preventive, careful, or you have to call for professionals. Take their help, follow their instruction, and you will get the best result.