Welcome to this guide on how to clean a wool rug with baking soda.
Using baking soda for wool rug cleaning will help you achieve two things;
Stain removal: You should be able to get out both water and oil-based stains from your rug with baking soda.
Deodorizing: Remove dog smell, new rug smell, mold smell, or any other types of odors from your rugs.
THE SUMMARY: Baking soda works best on spills and stains with lots of moisture in them like water-based stains. On the other hand, steam cleaning is more effective when it comes to getting out oil-based stains that have been left to dry out, sit too long on the rug, and penetrate deep into the fibers.
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Contents
#1 Remove Excess Dirt
If you have not washed your wool rug for a long time, you must start by removing excess dirt before you use baking soda.
Shaking: If the wool rug is small, fold it then take it outside, and shake off the excess dirt and debris.
Sweeping: Use a dustpan and brush with soft bristles to collect dust, and dirt, especially on a flatweave wool rug.
Beating: Hang the rug on a clothesline or fence then gently beat it with a broomstick to remove excess dust and dirt debris.
Vacuuming: give your rug fibers a deep cleaning by vacuuming the wool rug.
#2 Water-Based Stains
These are the types of stains resulting from liquid spills, and they are often called non-greasy stains because they don’t have any buildup.
Some water-based stains like soda, alcohol, or beverage spills are easy to remove by spot cleaning because they are water-soluble.
Other types of water-based stains are known as protein-based like those from blood, dairy, and meat need a cleaning powder or solution to break them down.
There are enzymes in those proteins, and that is why products like baking soda or vinegar are used to dissolve the stain.
Follow the steps below when using baking soda to remove water-based stains;
Step One: Collect any solid residue left by the substance causing the stain such as fruit or meat.
Step Two: If there is too much moisture on the rug, take a paper towel and bloat out the excess. Remember, you should not rub, because that will push the stain deeper into the fibers, which will be hard to get it out.
Step Three: generously sprinkle baking soda on the rug
Step Four: using a water bottle, spray some warm water over the baking soda.
Step Five: Leave that mixture to sit on the rug for about one to two hours.
Step Six: If you sprinkled the baking soda on the whole rug, vacuum the rug to get out the residue. If you have just used the paste on a small section of the rug, take out the baking soda with spot cleaning.
Step seven: If the stain is still visible, repeat the process with an adjustment to step four where you shall add some vinegar to the water. Also, you can let the mixture sit on the rug for a little longer like leaving it overnight this time around.
Step Eight: Make sure the rug dries out completely before resuming use to minimize the development of bad odors and rug moth.
#3 Oil-Based Stains
Oil, fat, or grease-based stains often result from things like cooked food, lipstick, salad dressing, and petroleum jelly products.
The baking soda cleaning process explained above will only remove an oil-based stain if;
It is not too old: Stains that have been left to sit for too long on the rug are better removed using a steam cleaning process.
It is too deep in the fibers: if the stain gets too deep in the fibers of a shag rug, a baking soda wash will not get them out.
The only way baking soda works is by removing oil-based stains is when they are fresh with lots of moisture still present. That means taking out the stain or spill before it dries out, sitting too long on the rug, or penetrating deep into the fibers.
#4 Deodorizing
Baking soda is an amazing wool rug deodorizer that can remove all bad odors and smells from dog urine, cat poop, new rug, and more with the following process;
Step One: generously sprinkle baking soda on the whole rug
Step Two: Leave that mixture to sit on the rug overnight.
Step Three: shampoo then vacuum the rug properly to get out all the baking soda residue. Make sure you leave the rug completely dry before resuming use.
#5 Try These Additional
To boost the effectiveness of baking soda, you can add one of these items to further boost the fresh scent: White Vinegar, Essential Oil, Vodka, Borax, Dried herbs, Rug Shampoo, and dish wash soap.
Remember you cannot use them all at once. Just decide on one of them to accompany it with baking soda like essential oil + baking soda or vinegar + baking soda.
Use an Enzyme Cleaner that will completely stop bacteria reproduction. This is necessary when the odor is from uncommon sources like vomit, urine, blood, or feces among others.
Prevent the occurrence of bad odors through good ventilation, regular cleaning of wool rugs and homes, and taking care of spills and stains immediately after they happen.
How To Clean A Wool Rug with Baking Soda
