How A Used Tea Bag Can Save Your Smelly Carpet From The Trash

Carpets are synonymous with warmth and comfort. They provide an extra layer of cushioning for your feet, absorb noise, and if you choose the right rug color, it'll complement your tastes as well as interior decor. However, since they experience heavy foot traffic and are the preferred play space for your infants and pets, they get dirty quickly and can give off an offending odor. While you can always hoover a dirty carpet to clean it, the vacuum cleaner won't get rid of the overpowering smell in your home. Under such circumstances, it might seem like your only option is to toss the smelly carpet in the trash, but used tea bags can be the knight in shining armor your stinky rug needs.

Tea bags are antibacterial by nature and have absorbent properties. So they will soak up and neutralize the offending odor in no time. The best part, though? Since you'll need used tea bags for this hack, you'll get a chance to recycle them, and won't have to spend a dime to get foul smells out of your carpet.

You'll have to build an arsenal of used tea bags to fight your rug's smell. So gather a few bags if you've them on hand. Or get a cup of water and place the used bags in it every day, storing it in the refrigerator until you've got enough to banish the odor. Once you've got enough, cut open the bags to get the tea leaves out. Now, let the wet leaves dry out. After they've dried substantially, liberally sprinkle them on your carpet or rug. Remember, the leaves should either be completely dry or damp at best, as wet leaves can stain the carpet, effectively ruining it.

Allow the leaves to soak in the odor and discharge their active compounds for around 15 to 20 minutes, before vacuuming the carpet or sweeping away the leaves. You can combine the dry tea leaves with baking soda for incredibly stubborn smells — sprinkle this mixture onto your stinky carpet to eliminate pungent odors. If you'd like the foul smell replaced by a fragrant one, you can also use flavored tea bags.