Why you should NOT use baking soda on your carpets.

Baking soda can be nature’s deodorizer for your smelly carpets but it can also be harmful to your vacuums and carpets. You hear all the great things about baking soda and its power to remove odors. You think that baking soda would be a great product to pour on your carpets to get rid of odors in your carpets as most consumers do. It makes total sense doesn’t it?

Most cases it will absorb the odor but do you know what it leaves behind? Baking soda absorbs the odor and wetness and adheres to the fibers and backing of the carpets. Once it is in your carpet fibers and backing, it will stay for a very long time. No matter how much you vacuum your home, you cannot remove this product completely. It will stay with you until you replace your carpets and padding.

The particles of baking soda are so small, that a portion of the product remains in the carpet fiber or sifts beneath the rug and padding to the floor below (never to be recovered!) If you use baking soda and one day rip up your carpeting, you’ll see a surprising amount of its residue left behind! You will be amazed how much your vacuums do not do the trick.

Due to the small particle size of baking soda or freshener product, these can clog the pores of your vacuum’s bag or HEPA filter. This can drastically reduce suction resulting in poor cleaning performance and cause clogs to form. Even worse, this dust can escape the filtration system in which your vacuum’s motor and eventually short out. Baking soda will make odor stay in your carpets and not remove them like you think.

Even professional carpet cleaners with the most powerful equipment might not get rid of the baking soda disaster in your carpets. It literally goes from the backing of your carpets to the slab of your flooring. If you must use baking soda, use it in moderation. Do not over saturate the odor area by pouring too much, a little goes a long way.

Remember to leave the more serious odor and stains to the professionals that can remove the stains and odor out of your carpets completely without any residue left on your carpets. This is the most important lesson we can give you before making your carpets worse before a professional cleaning. What you put on your carpets can affect your cleaning process and you must always be honest with your professional carpet cleaner before they start their work.

 Honesty is the best policy if you want your carpet cleaning to be the best experience you can have with the best results as well. These are a few tips on disadvantages of using baking soda on your carpets.

Hopefully this has been helpful. Please let us know in the comments or reach out to us if you have any questions.