Said It Here

How to get chemical smells out of carpet

Chemical spills like nail polish remover leave behind a stubborn, lingering odor that survives professional carpet cleaning and home remedies like baking soda and vinegar. This leaves the room reeking for days despite the carpet looking completely clean, preventing people from getting rid of the persistent fumes.

What people tried

Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.

  1. 1
    Airing out the room
  2. 2
    Cleaning with baking soda and vinegar
  3. 3
    Sprinkling bicarbonate of soda on the carpet, letting it sit, and vacuuming it up
  4. 4
    Using air fresheners
  5. 5
    Replacing the carpet padding

In their words

Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.

r/CleaningTips2 people · September 2026

“Got carpet cleaned professionally looks pretty good but the smell is still there.”source ↗

“Carpet looks brand-new but smell is killing me.”source ↗

Fit_Half_76 · r/CleaningTips · 2 upvotes

“I’ve tried airing out my room + cleaning with baking soda and vinegar hoping that will make the smell go but it still reeks even a couple days later.”source ↗

mayanp · r/CleaningTips · 1 upvotes

Where this came up

People with this problem also raised