How to clean carpet from mold: getting rid of stains and odor

Mold appears on the carpet, what should I do? How to remove fungus from carpet and how to remove it without harming the carpet. What folk remedies will help not only get rid of black spots, but also permanently eliminate the unpleasant smell of dampness.

Today we’ll look at popular ways to clean a carpet yourself without dry cleaning. We will share real experience in solving the problem, there is even a video on the topic.

Mold is a type of fungus whose spores are constantly in the air in an inactive state. If favorable conditions arise, these spores are instantly activated and infect the surface most suitable for further growth.

Such conditions may include:

high level of humidity in the room,
poor ventilation system,
lack of regular ventilation.

One of the most favorite places for fungus is carpeted floors, so today we’ll look at the question of how to remove mold from carpet, rugs and rugs.

Mold can develop on carpets and rugs if the material is very wet and the owners do not dry it thoroughly enough. Rugs in bathrooms, where the humidity is constantly high, are also at risk of mold growth.

Mold in the carpet: causes and consequences

Why does your carpet stink? Most likely, something similar happened to him:

They accidentally poured water on it, then wiped it with a rag, but didn’t dry it properly. The carpet remained damp on the floor.
It was washed (no matter at home or in the wash). The pile was wet to the very base, but did not dry quickly enough. Normally, drying time should not exceed several hours. If the carpet takes longer than a day to dry, it is almost guaranteed to become infected with mold.
We did a home cleaning and got the lint excessively wet. It did not dry immediately or not at all.

In such cases, ideal conditions are created in the thickness of the carpet for mold to settle and multiply. It first infects the fibers of the base (there, as a rule, the humidity is higher), then it reaches the pile. The first days you may not even notice anything special. And then a musty smell and even dark spots appear.

Mold in the carpet is mixed colonies of various microscopic fungi, as well as putrefactive bacteria. They feed on fibers, gradually decomposing them. Hence the unpleasant smell. Over time, if nothing is done, the microbes will “over-etch” the carpet so much that it will begin to crumble and disintegrate right under your feet.

But the loss of your favorite carpet is not the worst consequence of these processes. Mold is also dangerous to your health. It can cause allergies, pneumonia, and intoxication. Of course, it all depends on how many microbes there are and how long you breathe this air. But you shouldn’t put off solving the problem, because such a carpet is a time bomb. It has been proven that more than 300 types of molds contain allergens. This is an almost guaranteed allergy for anyone who lives in the same room with mold!

Remember

Determine the cause. Having identified the factors that influenced the problem, it is easier to deal with it.
To prevent the appearance: do not smoke, keep an eye on pets, ventilate, do not wash large carpets!
Use the correct ingredients. For natural wool products, purchase special products.
Read the instructions. Before use, read the composition, description and purpose. Follow the recommended algorithm of actions.

I talked about the tools and methods that I used myself. Each of them “works” differently and helps create a pleasant home atmosphere. If you don’t know how to remove unpleasant smell from carpet, then use my proven methods.

The main rule for removing unpleasant odors

There is no need to fight the smell, you need to destroy the mold. If you try to simply air the carpet or spray it with fragrance, it will not work. Even good washing and the use of effective sorbents will not help. If the fungus remains in the pile or base, the smell will return very quickly. Therefore, your first task is to destroy the mold itself. And only after the product has been completely disinfected can the fight against odor residues begin. This way you will get the desired result - a clean, fresh and safe carpet.

How can I remove mold?

The most effective remedies against fungus are fungicides; they are made specifically for this purpose. These are the substances that are used to combat mold on various surfaces. They can also be selected for carpet processing. But many are stopped by the fact that such products are classified as pesticides: you need to take all precautions and strictly follow the manufacturer’s instructions. Moreover, they are not cheap. Therefore, we provide recipes for removing mold using available materials.

These substances are safe and inexpensive, they are easy to find, if not in the kitchen, then in the pharmacy:

baking soda;
table vinegar;
iodine;
essential oils.

Let's take a closer look at how to use it. But first, some general recommendations for cleaning mold from carpets.

Elimination methods

There are a large number of proven methods for dealing with the stench of carpets at home. Often the actual reason for the odor of the path is obvious, but it happens that it is quite difficult to figure it out. As a rule, this refers to persistent chemical ambers that fill the entire apartment.

Therefore, even the most effective methods will only work after identifying the origin of the misfortune. You should try to cope with the unpleasant aroma of the rug using the recommendations below:

ventilate and dry in the fresh air (ideally, beat it out in the snow);
treat with soda solution;
use detergents;
clean dirt with water and potassium permanganate;
apply the quartz method;
remove smelly stains using a solution of vinegar and hydrogen peroxide;
use chemical treatments (dry cleaning).

How to clean?

Whichever product you choose, follow these tips:

Before treating the entire carpet, test how the product works on a small area. Clean the selected piece according to all the rules and wait until it dries. If the paints have not faded or darkened, and the pile has not changed its structure, you can clean the rest of the area.
Be sure to dry the item thoroughly after cleaning. Otherwise, mold will settle in the pile again, and all the work will be in vain. For drying, you can use all possible methods - hang the carpet outside (windy and sunny weather is especially good), turn on the fan, raise the air temperature in the room. Be sure to organize intensive ventilation, because moisture does not go away in a closed room.
In case of severe infestation, it is worth treating not only the carpet, but also the floor underneath it. It should also be thoroughly soaked with a disinfectant solution and dried. But be careful - stains can appear on parquet floors, painted boards and even ceramic tiles from various solutions. Try on a small area first.
After work, throw away or thoroughly disinfect containers and tools that were used. Otherwise, they will become new breeding grounds for mold and infect other areas of your home.

It should also be understood that mold treatment is not cleaning in the full sense of the word. If the carpet was originally dirty, then old stains and stains will remain on it. In addition, mold particles, even dead ones, retain their allergenic properties. Therefore, after antifungal treatment, it is advisable to still clean the product with a good cleaning agent and only then dry it.

Using special cleaning products

Look for fungicides in city stores. They are usually a spray. Carefully read the instructions supplied with the drug. Follow the recommendations strictly.

How to remove mold:

You need a mask, glasses, clothes for work.
It is highly advisable to carry out the treatment outside and do not forget to perform a similar operation in the place where it was lying.
If work is done indoors, good ventilation is needed. Lock the doors to other rooms.
To dry, use all suitable devices available in the house. Fan, vacuum cleaner in blowing mode. Raise the heating temperature.
Using a dry brush, thoroughly clean the base on both sides.
Use a vacuum cleaner to remove mold residue.
We use a fungicide spray. Apply deeply from all sides, distributing over the entire area. The main danger is hidden in the thickness.
Remember that stains are only a symptom, not a cause.
The drug will work more effectively if you first wipe both the pile and the base.
Follow the manufacturer's directions. It is usually not necessary to wash off the drug. Just dry it.
A dehumidifier will help catch any remaining spores.
Attention, even the slightest traces of fungus are dangerous, so the instruments must be subjected to similar cleaning.

Destroying fungus with vinegar

Pour the vinegar into a convenient container.
Take a clean sponge, wet it well and apply vinegar to the pile. Also try to saturate the pile to its full depth, scrub it with a brush if necessary.
Leave the carpet for 1-2 hours.
Rinse the vinegar off the carpet. To do this, wet a clean sponge in cold water, wring it out well and wipe it in different directions. Do not rub too hard so as not to mechanically damage the pile.
Gently wipe the carpet with a dry, clean cloth to speed up drying. Air dry or use a fan.
Ventilate the room. Be prepared for the faint vinegar smell to linger for several days.

Getting rid of mold with iodine

This cheap remedy will help destroy the fungus in no time. It is enough to dissolve 20 drops of iodine in ten liters of water and treat the carpet with this solution. For mild infestations, you can use a spray bottle. If the pile needs a thorough cleaning, clean it with an iodine solution using a sponge. Then dry.

Note that iodine leaves yellowish stains. You should not use it on very light-colored carpets or brightly colored items. After cleaning, the iodine smell will persist for some time.

Dry cleaning

As for dry cleaning services, it is advisable when you need to clean large areas or use a special absorbent that will help get rid of stubborn stains. Dry cleaning has in its arsenal more than one neutralizer that can permanently overcome the most persistent odors.

We use essential oils

We are talking about real essential oils, and not about cheap scented substitutes. The latter do not have antiseptic properties and can only temporarily suppress the smell of mold with their aroma. The most popular and effective antiseptics among essential oils are tea tree oil and grapefruit seed oil. Choose what you like best, because the aroma of the product will hover in the room for at least several days.

What do we have to do:

Take a spray bottle and pour a glass of cold water into it.
Add a tablespoon of tea tree oil or 10-15 drops of grapefruit oil to the water.
Close the container and shake well. You need to shake immediately before spraying, as the mixture quickly separates.
Spray the solution onto the infected areas of the carpet.
Wait until the pile dries. There is no need to rinse off the product.

What to do if the smell remains?

With severe infection, it happens that the fungus itself has already been destroyed, but its microparticles continue to emit a specific odor. What can be done in this case?

First, clean your carpet thoroughly if you haven't already. Once properly cleaned, there will be no stinking mold particles left behind.

Secondly, odor residues can be removed with sorbents. These are substances with good absorption capacity:

Soda. We take more ordinary dry baking soda and scatter handfuls of it over the surface of the carpet in a more or less uniform layer. There is no need to walk on it and there is no need to scrub it with a brush, we just leave it until the next morning. Then we vacuum. If the smell remains, repeat the treatment again. For difficult cases, you can mix dry soda with borax (you can find it in any pharmacy), the ratio is approximately 1:1.
Industrially produced sorbent. There are special moisture and odor absorbers available in the form of granules. We use them the same way - scatter them on the carpet and collect them in a day or two. If it is difficult to find such an absorber, you can buy regular cat litter. This is an equally effective sorbent, because its direct task is to absorb liquid and odor.
Charcoal. Sold in supermarkets, intended for use in the grill or barbecue. In our case, it needs to be crushed and poured into old stockings or tights. Place the filled stockings on the carpet in one direction and roll it up. The more coal you put in, the better the effect. Leave the rolled roll for a day or two in a warm and dry place. Then unwrap and vacuum well. If necessary, repeat again, but use new coal.

Carpet washing

Do not use strong aggressive detergents to wash the carpet.

This method is the most effective, but also the most difficult. It is also advisable to wash the carpet outdoors. It is best to place it on a flat surface: concrete or asphalt.

To wash the carpet, it is most convenient to use a rubber hose connected to a water supply. Having thoroughly wetted the entire surface of the carpet, you need to apply a detergent to it (it is important to choose a detergent that will generate as much foam as possible). Then you can scrub the carpet with a brush and rinse thoroughly with water. After this, the carpet should dry well and completely.

Important! If you do not rinse the detergent off the surface of the carpet well enough or if you do not dry it well, this can cause new, no less pleasant odors.

Cleaning carpet with baking soda is a very convenient method of dry cleaning.

Very often, especially in large cities, it is not possible to take the carpet outside. In this case, you will have to clean it right in the apartment. How to do it? There are three possible options:

Soda. The surface of the carpet should be generously covered with baking soda and left overnight. Baking soda will help kill bacteria that may be causing the bad odor. In the morning, the carpet will simply need to be vacuumed well.
Vinegar. We carry out the same procedure, but with 9% vinegar (or potassium permanganate). This must be done as carefully as possible. When the carpet dries, you will need to sprinkle it with baking soda again.
Irradiation. The procedure is carried out using a special quartz lamp and helps to destroy bacteria living in the carpet pile.

Bonus: ultraviolet and ozone in the fight against mold

These recipes are only suitable if you have an ozonizer or a sufficiently powerful ultraviolet lamp at home. Both ozone and ultraviolet light have excellent disinfectant properties. In addition, ozonation helps eliminate odor.

You need to install the existing device so that it affects the carpet. Point the ultraviolet lamp at the infected area, placing it at a distance of 50–100 cm (depending on the power). The ozonizer must be supplemented with a fan so that the ozone flow blows directly onto the surface of the carpet. Thus, you gradually need to process the entire product piece by piece, moving the equipment from place to place. When the carpet is disinfected on one side, turn it pile side down and repeat the treatment on the base side.

Before using the UV lamp, pay attention to two points. Firstly, its rays will not penetrate the thickness of the carpet. Therefore, this method is not suitable for products with thick, high pile. Secondly, it is ultraviolet rays that cause things to fade in the sun. They should not be overused if you want to maintain the rich color of the pile.

However, any independent cleaning carries the risk of damaging the carpet and does not provide a 100% guarantee of odor removal. If you want a guaranteed result without extra effort, contact specialists. Just call us. Dom Cleaning specialists will carry out professional dry cleaning of the carpet to remove fungus and mold odors. After such cleaning, no additional drying is needed, and not even a trace of any dirt remains in the pile.

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How to clean carpet from mold: getting rid of stains and odor

Prevention

In order not to feel the need for frequent washing of carpets and to avoid the appearance of stench, it is important to monitor the cleanliness of the carpet, promptly removing dirt and not allowing it to be absorbed into the pile. All a carpet needs to be clean is regular cleaning of the home, including washing and vacuuming, timely drying and airing, and of course, neatness.

If severe contamination could not be avoided, and home methods did not give the desired result, it is worth inviting experienced dry cleaning specialists - in this case, the bad smell will have no chance.