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Recipe 40 of 100 · The Country Cleans Mix Book

How to Get Smoke Smell Out of Carpet After the First Fire

Dry Deodorizing Powder

Mix 2 cups baking soda, 1 cup cornstarch and 1/2 cup borax in a shaker jar. Patch test and vacuum the room first. Sprinkle it so lightly you can barely see it, work it into the pile with a broom, and leave it 4 hours for a real smoke smell (30 minutes for upkeep). Vacuum slowly, every strip twice, the second pass across the first. Got a cat? Leave out the borax and any essential oil. Not for wool, shag or frieze.

Dry Carpet Deodorizing Powder recipe card: 2 cups baking soda, 1 cup cornstarch, 1/2 cup borax (skip with a cat), A shaker jar
What it fixesWhole room musty smell, smoke odor, and general dinginess with no wet cleaning and no drying time.

You need

Mix it

  1. Combine the baking soda, cornstarch, and borax in the jar.
  2. If you are using essential oil, drip it onto the powder, cap the jar, and shake hard for 30 seconds to break up the oil into the powder instead of leaving wet clumps.
  3. Let it sit 24 hours before first use so the scent distributes evenly.

Use it

  1. Patch test on a hidden area first. Sprinkle, wait an hour, vacuum, and check for any residue shadow on light carpet.
  2. Vacuum the room normally first. Powder on top of loose dirt just makes mud later.
  3. Sprinkle the powder lightly across the carpet. You should barely see it. Most people use five times too much and then cannot get it back out.
  4. Work it into the pile with a broom or a carpet rake so it reaches down the fiber shaft where the odor lives.
  5. Leave it 30 minutes for maintenance, or 4 hours for a real smoke or pet smell.
  6. Vacuum slowly in overlapping passes. Slow is the whole game here. Go over every strip twice, the second time perpendicular to the first.
Dale's noteCornstarch is in here because baking soda alone is heavy and drops straight to the backing. The cornstarch keeps it suspended in the pile where it can actually grab odor molecules.
Don'tIf you have a cat, leave out both the borax and the essential oil and use plain baking soda and cornstarch. Borax is toxic if it gets licked off paws, and lavender and citrus oils are toxic to cats specifically, and neither one ever fully vacuums back out of carpet pile. Same rule for a crawling baby. Keep pets and kids off the carpet until you have vacuumed it twice. Also never use this on wool or on a shag or frieze pile, since fine powder buries itself in long fibers and a home vacuum will never recover it.
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