AT,
A couple of months ago I purchased a gorgeous felted rug on Craigslist but it smelled so much like a camel I had to put it outside to air it out. It's still outside and it still smells like a camel. Any tips on getting rid of that smell so I can finally bring it inside and revel in its beauty?
Parks
Parks,
We went to the experts for this one, and called Peace Industry, the San Francisco store that sells beautiful felt rugs. Their advice was to wash it a lot, with water and soap. They say that if it's a well-made rug, it's already shrunk, and washing won't hurt it. (Of course, if you bought it secondhand, and you don't know about the quality, keep in mind there are no guarantees about what will happen when you wash it.)
Interesting link:
• Good Questions: Why Does My New Rug Smell?
Anyone else?
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Comments (9)
I just read something on Realsimple.com today that said to sprinkle a stinky carpet with baking soda, let it sit for a few hours and the vaccuum it up later. This was a short article called "8 Surprising Household Deodorizers" if you want to see for yourself. Good luck!
If the baking soda doesn't work, maybe dry-cleaning it would.
Baking soda is great! But did you get the camel off the rug first?
Go buy some Odor Mute (pet stores have it). That will destroy any organic odors very quickly.
I have used baking soda with great succes in the past. Just don't rush it, let is stand at least over night, and use lots.
Another good option, if you test an area first, is to mix equal parts water and vinegar and mist it lightly over the carpet, let it dry and do it again a couple of times.
I can't say how dry cleaning would work on felt, but it fixed my 4x6 turkish wool kilm. It was so moldy smelling that I couldn't have it in my house. It now lives happily in my office. I'd take it to a professional rug cleaner. Here's a link you might find helpful. http://www.peaceindustry.com/care.html
I totally agree with baking soda. I had a rug that was really moldy-smelling and i COVERED it in baking soda and left it overnight and vacuumed. Then turned it over and did the same and then did it a couple more times and now, no smell! some lavender sprinkled in there is good, too.
As everyone else mentioned... baking soda is the low cost way to go before heading to a rug cleaner.
I do have one piece of advice when it comes to the multi-tasking powder.... watch out for the sun exposure.
I had bought a couch off Craigslist and the cushions needed some de-stinking... so I took them outside, dusted them with Baking Soda... and when I came back in a few hours, the sun had actually slightly bleached the fabric where the baking soda was. It wasn't a couch I was particularly attached to, so I resold it, but now when I take my treasures outside for some air, I make sure that they have filtered sun at best!
I have successfully hand washed both synthetic and wool rugs out on my driveway. I use a very mild detergent, scrub by hand and rinse with a hose. I usually leave the rug out there to dry as well. Just make sure you wear your grubbies as you're sure to get wet. The one thing you have to remember is to make sure you rinse the rug VERY well as any soap residue will make the carpet get dirty faster. For a felted rug, you may want to ditch the detergent and use a baking soda solution or a vinegar solution and then rinse. Good luck!