How To Get Baking Soda Out Of Carpet

If you've been a reader of Fraffles for a while, you know we love our baking soda. It works for baking, yes, but it's also an incredible DIY cleaner for countless things. You may have seen our guide on how to get soot out of carpet , in which baking soda played a key role. But how do you get baking soda out of the carpet? If it's left too long, it will stain coloured carpets, so it's vital to know how to do this.

There are a few methods to get baking soda out of carpet: The first involves hot water and vinegar, while another includes a vacuum. The last one involves a steam cleaner, though those are expensive!

Now without further ado, let's get cracking!

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How to Get Baking Soda Out of Carpet - All Methods

Let's start by assuming you're a baby adult. In other words, expensive appliances like a vacuum are out of the question (for now). There are a lot of methods to get baking soda out of carpet, so we'll start with the things that everyone has access to. If you want to use your steamer or vacuum, skip down the list.

Vinegar & Rag or Sponge

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You guessed it - vinegar and baking soda are back again. These work as wonderful cleaners for all sorts of things because of the chemical reaction they create. When you combine baking soda and vinegar, they foam up (as I'm sure you know). This is because CO₂ and sodium acetate form when they mix, creating a solid substance that can be cleaned up (vacuum or no).

To do this, you need:

• White vinegar (this is the cheapest and least coloured vinegar you can get)
• Warm water
• A clean sponge and rag

Now, just follow the below steps:

1. Mix 1 part vinegar with 3 parts warm water. Stir until the vinegar is thoroughly mixed.
2. Dip your sponge into the mixture and apply to the baking soda stain.
3. Apply pressure to the stain with a dry rag or towel.
4. Repeat until the stain fades.
5. Let your carpet dry naturally.
6. Optional but recommended: Vacuum - this will pull up any grossness still in the carpet and remove any residual solid baking soda. If you want a beautiful carpet, do this process and purposefully sprinkle a little baking soda over the carpet. This will help clean as you vacuum.

Read Next: How to fix your Vax carpet cleaner not picking up water.

Detergent

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Keep in mind what your carpet is made of before starting this method. Most detergents are gentle enough that they'll work on pretty much any fabric, but it's important to check. You don't want to bleach or damage your carpet by using a "heavy-duty" laundry detergent.

Now, on to the fix!

Baking soda will absorb into water, and laundry detergent is actually comprised of mostly water! Cautiously applying small amounts of detergent and then scrubbing your carpet can remove many stains - including baking soda stains.

Vacuum & "Turbo Brush"

This should be your last stop before springing for a carpet cleaner (steamer). If you have a vacuum, look to see if it has a brush attachment - if so, you're in luck.

Begin by vacuuming the spot while it's dry. This will pull up any baking soda granules that aren't stuck into the carpet and will make your job easier. Next, scrub the problem area with the brush without vacuuming. This will loosen any remaining bits, and allow you to vacuum them up with ease.

Finally, you're going to need to wet the area slightly (with a damp rag, for example) and repeat the above process of scrubbing with the vacuum on.

If this hasn't solved the issue, it's time for the big guns.

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Steam Cleaners

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First things first - I highly recommend that you do not hire a professional cleaning service to remove baking soda stains from the carpet. They will do exactly what you're about to do and will charge double or triple the cost of simply renting the steam cleaner. That's the cost of labour - I personally don't value my time so much as to pay an arm and a leg to remove one stain.

The process is simple - rent a steam cleaner, and use it as per its instructions. You can find steam cleaners for rent at most hardware stores, and in some places, in grocery stores! They work by, well, steaming your carpet and then vacuuming it. They'll also generally have a wand that scrubs while it works, making your job as easy as pushing it across the carpet.

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And don't forget to clean the device before returning it - most places will charge an "upkeep" fee if you leave it dirty.

Final Thoughts

Getting baking soda out of the carpet is a lot easier than most people think. It generally just needs a bit of elbow grease and some moisture to come out. Begin by trying our vinegar method - it works the best, in my opinion, and is coincidentally the cheapest option. If that somehow doesn't work, move on to a vacuum and scrub brush, and then finally a steam cleaner.

Fraffles's goal is to make your home beautiful for the cheapest amount possible. That means that we can't in good conscience recommend you hire a professional for this. It's an easy fix that you will end up paying hundreds of pounds to have fixed when you could easily sacrifice an hour of your time for the same results.

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