Homemade Natural Carpet Deodoriser for a Cleaner Smelling Home

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Get that clean, fresh smell without expensive products or artificial scents with this easy and natural carpet deodoriser.

woman vacuuming floor with dog

Wall to wall carpet is a delicious luxury for the feet, but it’s hard to keep clean, especially if you have kids or pets.

We steam clean our carpet fairly regularly, but it still develops a funky stink that can hit you like a solid wall of odour (pronounced ‘oh-dear!’) as you walk in the front door.

It doesn’t matter how clean your house is; if it’s got an unpleasant odour, it doesn’t feel clean.

So I’ve returned to another old-fashioned remedy to deodorise the carpet: bicarb soda.

How to Use Bicarbonate of Soda to Deodorise Carpet

You can buy carpet deodorisers in the supermarket, but they’re expensive and full of artificial ingredients that are probably best not brought into your home, sprinkled around and inhaled. Also, I’m allergic to artificial scents – itchy eyes, sneezing, crawling sinuses…so yeah, nah!

Bicarb soda is an effective alternative that’s done the job for decades. It’s cheap, and it’s natural. Just sprinkle it around, vacuum it up and smell the difference.

Bicarb works as an odour absorber due to its apparent (and by apparent, I mean according to Google – I’m no chemist) amphoteric nature. This means it reacts with substances (in this case, odour molecules) with strong acidic or base PHs, essentially neutralising them.

Not only a great carpet odour remover, but you can also put a bowl of bicarb in your fridge to absorb fridge smells or sprinkle it into smelly sneakers to help fight that stink too.

And while bicarb is an effective carpet freshener on its own, you can also add your favourite essential oils to replace the bad smells with a fresh scent. This is totally optional. The bicarb eliminates odours, and the essential oils mask odours, giving that fresh scent.

If you do use essential oils, consider coordinating the fragrance with other DIY home fresheners, including a DIY reed diffuser and DIY linen spray.

Apart from their lovely scent, you can use essential oils to control pests. For instance, lavender, peppermint, rosemary, tea tree, eucalyptus or citronella oils can help deter fleas in the carpet if you have pets. They can also help deter spiders and other critters.

If you have pets, however, you need to be careful about which essential oils you use, as some can be toxic to animals.

Keep reading for how to make your own homemade carpet deodoriser and how to use it.

*Important note: read the instruction manual of your vacuum cleaner before using bicarb soda as a carpet deodoriser. Some manufacturers warn against this, as fine particles can get into the motor.

Yield: 1 cup

DIY Natural Carpet Deodoriser

woman vacuuming floor with dog

Get that clean, fresh smell without expensive products or artificial scents with this easy and natural carpet deodoriser.

Prep Time 2 minutes
Active Time 5 minutes
Additional Time 15 minutes
Total Time 22 minutes
Difficulty Easy
Estimated Cost <$1

Materials

  • 1 cup Bicarbonate of soda
  • 15 – 30 drops of your favourite essential oil (optional)

Tools

  • Jar or bowl and spoon
  • Seive (optional)

Instructions

    1. Sift a cup of bicarb soda to get out all of the lumps.
    2. Add your essential oil(s) if using, and give it all a good stir. Alternatively, you can put your deodoriser in a jar and give it all a good shake. Store any leftovers in the jar for later use.
    3. Sprinkle a light layer of the bicarb mix over your carpet. You can use a store-bought shaker or secure a piece of paper over your jar with a rubber band and poke a few holes in it for a makeshift shaker. Or you can just use a spoon to sprinkle the bicarb over your carpet.
    4. Leave for at least 15 minutes. The longer, the better so the odour-absorbing power of the bicarb can do its work.
    5. Vacuum as usual, making sure to vacuum up all the bicarb.
    6. Enjoy the fresh scent of clean carpet.

    Did you make this project?

    Please leave a comment on the blog or share a photo on Facebook

    Homemade carpet freshener powder is a great way to eliminate bad odours in your carpet and your home without using artificial scents.

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    2 Comments

    1. Hi Melissa
      A cheaper Australian supplier of essential oils you may be interested in is Auroma.
      Their oils are organically grown and available in larger sizes of you find you use larger quantities, like lavender.
      Your supplier almost certainly buys hers in bulk and repackaged then into her smaller labelled bottles.
      Keep up the good work. I just stumbled on your website this morning.

      1. Melissa Goodwin says:

        Hi Lynette,

        Thank you for your suggestion. I will check them out! :)