How to Clean Vomit from Carpet
The most important thing when deciding how to get sick out of a carpet is to act fast.
Since you’re reading this post, we’re going to assume that the situation at hand requires immediate attention, so we won’t beat around the bush.
This post will cover:
- How to get sick out of a carpet
- How to get the smell of sick out of a carpet
- How to get a sick stain out of a carpet
How to Get Sick Out of a Carpet Easily
Here’s our step by step for how to remove vomit from carpet. You’ll want to wear some rubber gloves for this…
- Start by removing as much sick as possible using some kind of scooping utensil.
- Next, liberally sprinkle baking soda or cornflour to absorb as much excess liquid as possible. Rub the powder gently into the carpet but not so much that it’s pushed deeply into the fibres.
- After 15-20 minutes, vacuum up the powder and sick mixture. The stain should be looking a lot better and almost all of the liquid now removed. Repeat these steps if necessary.
- Spray a carpet cleaner onto the vomit or make your own mixture using one tablespoon each of dish soap and white vinegar in about 500ml of warm water.
- Scrub the area gently with this soapy solution to clean the carpet fibres. Don’t push hard as this can cause the sick to move further down and be impossible to clean.
- ‘Rinse’ the treated area by sponging cold water onto the area until the carpet cleaner or vinegar solution is no longer foaming and the carpet smells neutral.
How to Get the Smell of Sick Out of a Carpet
There are loads of answers online to the questions “how to remove vomit smell from carpet” but here are our top recommendations.
Baking Soda
The key ingredient in this carpet clean-up process is actually the bicarbonate of soda.
Because of its alkalinity, it neutralises the acidity in sick which is what causes the foul smell.
Baking soda reacts with the acid to bring it back to a neutral ph and rids it of the horrible stench. So if you’ve got a smelly carpet, then bicarb is your best friend.
You can read more about the benefits and possibilities of cleaning with baking soda in our Clean and Tidy Living post: How To Use Bicarbonate Of Soda For Cleaning.
How Do You Get Vomit Out of Carpet Without Baking Soda?
If you’re cleaning up a late-night sick incident (hey, they happen) and need to find out how to get the smell of sick out of a carpet FAST, but don’t have any baking soda to hand, there is another way of dealing with the situation.
White Vinegar
Mix together a strong but natural solution of equal parts white vinegar and warm water and pour in a spray bottle.
Spray the smelly area until it’s damp but don’t let it get too soaked.
Wait for the carpet to dry and the vomit smell should be gone. However, this isn’t our favourite method for removing the smell of sick from a carpet because vinegar has a strong smell itself.
It is a good natural deodoriser but you will be left with a strong vinegar smell for a while, but not forever.
For more natural cleaning products, check out our Clean and Tidy Living post on the Best Eco-Friendly Cleaning Products In The UK.
How to Get a Sick Stain Out of Carpet
So you’ve managed to get the sick out and it’s pungent, acidic smell but are now left with a coloured patch matching whatever the culprit was eating (or more likely, drinking).
Sorry if that’s a bit graphic…
Luckily there are a few methods for how to get sick stains out of a carpet, and here are some of the most effective.
Use a Carpet Stain Remover
We like this Dr. Beckmann Carpet Stain Remover because of the designated applicator and scrubbing brush that it comes with. Take a look at the photos in the reviews of the product for some satisfying stain removing before and afters.
We also really like the Vanish Gold Oxi Action Carpet Cleaning Kit which works great for stain removal and general carpet cleaning and refreshing.
In fact, we think that either the Vanish Oxi Action or the HG Spot & Stain Spray Cleaner are the best carpet cleaner spray available in the UK.
How to Remove a Sick Stain on a White Carpet
If you have a white carpet, you may get good results from bleaching the carpet with hydrogen peroxide.
We only recommend this if the room has proper ventilation. This won’t work for a carpet any shade darker than white as the bleach will cause a new stain, unfortunately even beige,
How to Remove a Sick Stain on a Dark Carpet
If you can find a dye that matches the colour of your carpet, this might be saving grace. Try applying dye to the carpet and rinsing gently with cold water to remove the excess.
Remove a Sick Stain with Steam Cleaning
If you have a steam cleaner or can borrow one, they work great at lifting the stain from deep within the fibres on a molecular level. The hot steam also disinfects which is an added bonus for carpets.
Alternatively, another steam treatment could be pouring water on the stain and using an iron to cause steam with the water in the carpet. This is basically a DIY steam cleaning treatment.
Make sure not to leave the iron in one place for too long that the carpet burns or singes. It’s best to keep it moving the whole time and never let the carpet dry out whilst doing this.
Of course, this comes with a very important safety warning. Definitely don’t try this after drinking alcohol and be very careful with the hot iron.
How to Get Sick Out of a Carpet – Final Thoughts
We hope this guide to all things vomit-carpet-cleaning has helped you rid your floors of that awful sick smell and the stains it can leave behind.
No one wants to have to google how to get sick out of a carpet, but we’re here for you when the time comes.
Ultimately the sick cleaning process is just about taking it one step at a time to avoid having to repeat the process when the acidic scent comes back in a few days.
Remember not to scrub too hard so that the sick gets pushed deeper into the carpet and becomes impossible to remove.
For some less gross posts about all things cleaning and tidying, check out the following posts.
Related Deep-Cleaning Articles:
- How To Use Bicarbonate Of Soda For Cleaning
- How To Polish Porcelain Tiles And Make Your Floors Shine!
- Best Eco Friendly Cleaning Products In The UK
- How To Clean A Very Stained Toilet Bowl
- What Is A Cleaning Schedule And How To Make One
This is such a neat and effective solution.