Since baking soda is one of the cleaning agents that come in handy when treating stains, spills and odors from carpet, it is not unusual to wonder whether you can vacuum it thereafter.
Baking soda also known as bicarbonate soda is a white fine powder that serves widely as a home natural cleaner. Its fine particles mix well with water, dish soap, lemon water and some other liquid substances to form a consistent paste for cleaning and treating stains.
Further, it is also useful in its powdery form for odor removal. You sprinkle it on surfaces such as carpet, wooden floors, tiles and furniture upholstery so that it can absorb bad smell.
Examples of bad odors that you can remove successfully with baking soda include cat urine and dog pee smell.
However, when dealing with surfaces such as carpets and fluffy rugs, it is difficult to get the powder out of the fibers once it has served the intended purpose. This where the idea of using a vacuum comes in.
Can You Vacuum Baking Soda?
Generally, it is not a good idea to habitually vacuum large amounts of baking soda or other home products that have similar fine particles. Examples include other odor treating commercial powders and diatomaceous earth.
Diatomaceous earth is a common remedy for eliminating fleas. Just like baking soda, the most obvious way to remove it from carpet fibers after use is vacuuming.
You can vacuum small amounts of baking soda with a bagless vacuum. A bagged vacuum should be your last option because baking soda’s fine particles can clog the pores of the dust collecting bag.
Disadvantages of Vacuuming Baking Soda
There are two major shortcomings of vacuuming baking soda.
- Firstly, when you sprinkle baking soda on your carpet, it gets deep into the carpet fibers. As a result, even the most powerful vacuum cleaners cannot root it out. It remains stuck there and acts like sand paper thereby ruining your carpet gradually.
- Secondly, vacuuming a lot of baking soda regularly can kill your vacuum. Ideally, the fine particles get into the filters and cyclones and clog the pores. Further, others get to the motor and destroy it permanently. If you happen to vacuum baking soda that has moisture or water, the damage can be quicker and irreversible.
How to Get Baking Soda out of Vacuum
If one thing leads to another and baking soda clogs your machine after vacuuming, there is no cause for alarm. Disassemble the components immediately and clean each part thoroughly.
You can clean them in a solution of warm water and dish soap in the sink or in your dishwasher. If you choose the latter, place them in the top compartment.
Allow all parts especially the filter to dry completely before re-assembling the machine.
How to Clean Up Baking Soda without a Vacuum
If you mistakenly or purposefully sprinkle large a amount of baking soda on your carpet, the best approach to remove it is by using a steam cleaner.
Alternatively, you can use a shop vac with a subsurface extraction tool. However, you need to wet the carpet to use this tool. All the same, is highly reliable for deep cleaning and liquid extraction.
If it is just a small amount of baking soda, you can use a shop vacuum alone. Wet the surface a little bit and suck out the mess.
