Avoid Using Powdered Carpet Deodorizers

Powdered carpet deodorizer and baking soda is made of a fine grit. When you sprinkle it into your carpet, it can be nearly impossible to vacuum up every tiny particle. No vacuum can remove 100% of soil, including powdered carpet deodorizers. Moreover, when you sprinkle it, the powder gets deep down into the foundation of the carpeting, causing the deodorizer to rub against the fibers. Even after vacuuming, some residue will be left behind. Then when your fibers get rubbed together from simple use, this left-over grit causes wear and your carpet can also get dirtier faster.

Additionally, there have been reports of manufacturers voiding their warranty if you vacuum up carpet powder or baking soda. Since the powder is so fine, the tiny particles can clog up the filters and ruin the motor.

Beyond potentially damaging your carpet and rugs, the main reason we don’t recommend these powders is because they don’t actually remove the source of the smell. If there is one takeaway from this (and many of our other articles on odors) remember this: To remove odors you MUST remove the source! Sure it may seem like it’s working for a few hours – maybe even a few days – but that smell usually returns because the source of the odor is still there.

Let’s say there is smelly pet urine smell on the carpet. You sprinkle this stuff on to the urine spot and vacuum it up, but the smell keeps coming back. This is because these deodorizers don’t actually remove the source, they mask the odors. When the deodorizer wears off in a matter of hours or days, the odor returns. Urine spot have to be decontaminated and cleaned properly and thoroughly in order to get rid of the smell. Especially when dealing with pet urine where there are many layers to the cleaning process. Remember – to remove the odor you MUST remove the source!

Call us today for complimentary advice on proper odor decontamination and cleaning, or to set up an appointment with our cleaning craftsmen. We can be reached at 810.225.2184

9 thoughts on “Avoid Using Powdered Carpet Deodorizers”

1. Really awesome and useful content! Appreciate you for spending time!

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2. yep-just burned out my 50 year old all metal eureka vacuum

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   • oh no!

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3. Very awesome and useful content! Thank you for spending time!

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4. Thank you!

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5. How do I get powdered carpet fresh out of my carpet? I have used 3 different vacuum sweepers and I have took the carpet outside & try to broom it off, nothing works.
   I used powdered carpet fresh on a 5 × 8 piece of carpet and now, there is carpet fresh underneath of it on my wood floor, I’m always sweeping up carpet fresh.
   Could u please help.

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   • Hi there,
     I apologize we didn’t see your comment until now (it was in our spam folder, argh!). If it’s an area rug, my best advice is to flip the rug over and vacuum the backside with the beater bar on. After a few minutes, lift up the rug and check your floor and sweep underneath. Repeat these steps until the powder is gone. This will most likely take you a few times. Carpet Fresh is usually difficult to completely remove, but it should get to a point where it’s mostly gone. It’s also possible that you could be seeing a mixture of Carpet Fresh and latex, depending on how your rug is made. Overtime, latex will start to degrade and start crumbling underneath onto your wood floor unless you get it re-glued. There are rug cleaning and repair shops that should be able to do this. I hope this helps and best of luck! Cheers

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6. Excellent advice and content. Thank you for you’re advice and expertise!

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7. thank you for the information

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