okay, so i moved to college and back home my parents smoke and the 6'x10' rug i took to school smells of cigarettes. How can i get rig of that smell, any suggestions or advice. thanks.
If it is still hot in your area , take it outside and wash with a mild soap. The driveway with the lawn hose is the easiest.Find two lawn chairs and place the rug on these chairs, or crates, anything to help the water drain from it after washing. When most of the water is drained, throw it over the fence or line to complete drying. Use some degreaser on the rug while you are washing it. The smoke may have some oils in it . You can also rinse with some fabric softener, just mix in bucket first and pour over rug. Only soapy water will get things really clean,those carpet cleaners just cover smells and don't really get anything clean. I only recommed mild soap because I don't know what your rug is made of, if it is synthytic just use laundry detergent. I wash 20 area carpets every spring out of my home, some or wool, cotton, and mixed , even one silk, I don't have a problem, just make sure it is completely dry before bring it back in. If you can't do these things, go to the grocery and buy fabric spray for oders, they work pretty fair.
Sprinkle baking soda, loads of it all over, or better still, you can get those carpet talcs from the supermarket which contain baking soda, leave as long as possible, like all day and then vaccum.
Might want to sprinkle baking powder on it and then steam clean it, so that the powder gets a little damp and you get a bit of cleaning action with it. Steamers won't suck up the moisture, but steam vacuums will. So rent or invest in a steam vacuum for a day.
Lots of baking soda! Sprinkle the rug with baking soda and leave it on there overnight, then vacuum. You might need to repeat this. If this doesn't work, the carpet is probably a loss. You can also set out small bowls of vinegar around the room to absorb the smells of smoke. You might want to add some vanilla or essential oils to the bowls to make it smell better though.
Try spraying the rug with a 1 part white vinegar to 8 part water mixture till it's pretty damp. Then let dry. Your rug won't smell like a pickle either once it's dry.
