If someone has been sick on your carpets, there is no time to waste. You will need to act quickly and if you don’t have certain ingredients, like baking soda, waiting to clean a stain and go to the shop is not an option.
To remove vomit from carpets without baking soda, follow these steps:
Remove as much of the stain as possible with kitchen roll. Blot Don’t rub
Mix 2 tablespoons of white vinegar with some dish soap and warm water
Spray or blot your solution onto the vomit-stained area
Use a soft-bristled bristled brush to scrub the solution into your carpets lightly
Blot again with clean cloths or a kitchen roll
Allow the area to dry
How to get rid of the vomit smell without baking soda?
Now that you’ve done the hard part, there may still be a need to go over it with something to kill some of the bacteria that may be lurking underneath. Our 2 favorite options for this are lysol laundry detergent or oxygen-based bleach. Both do a great job of sanitizing your carpets.
These are far more effective in killing the bacteria found in a vomit stain than baking soda. Sometimes, you need to go over carpets quite a few times before the baking soda actually takes effect, not the case with these products.
What else neutralizes vomit smells?
The most common household products that can neutralize vomit smells from your carpet is white vinegar, baking soda and lemon juice.
We have already mentioned most of these other than lemon juice. If you do decide to use the power of lemons, don’t use the juices straight;
Squeeze 2 lemons in a cup (or 2 tablespoons of concentrated lemon juice from the bottle)
Add one tablespoon of salt
Fill the rest of the cup with cold water
This mixture will prevent you from dyeing the carpets with the harsh citrus colors of lemon.
Enzyme cleaner is the best cleaner for vomit stains
Whether it is dogs, cats, or humans, enzyme cleaner is designed to tackle biological stains such as vomit accidents. We highly recommend grabbing a cheap one from your local supermarket just in case of any accidents, they will make short work of sick.
These cleaners are a one-step process. They clean and deodorize at the same time so there is no need to create a white vinegar mixture beforehand.
Does salt alone clean vomit stains?
If you don’t have white vinegar and the vomit stain needs cleaning up immediately then you can use salt to soak up the stain and make it removable.
To do this:
Add a quarter of a cup of salt to 2 pints of cold water
Remove the excess vomit with kitchen roll
Soak the stain in your salt water and leave to sit for 30 minutes
Then, use a sponge to draw the vomit out with the water
Keep rinsing out the sponge until your carpet floor is only slightly damp
Is it better to clean vomit when it’s wet or dried?
Generally, you will want to get the stain out as quickly as possible which is when it’s wet. At least the majority of the vomit should be removed ideally before it dries up.
You can leave some of the vomit stain to dry until later if you don’t have the right product to tackle it, but make sure that you don’t leave a big puddle of vomit until later.
Doing so will only lead to a more challenging stain to remove which will set in more deeply than it had to.
Not only that, but the bacteria can multiply, and that can make your carpets stink to high heaven!
Should you use hot or cold water when cleaning vomit?
What temperature of water you use to clean up vomit depends on what you will be using to clean it up. If using salt or lemon juice, cold water is better for it. Whereas when using vinegar or enzyme cleaner, warm to hot water is best.
We have listed a few options without baking soda on this blog with the right temperature of water that will be most effective when dealing with vomit.
Do these natural cleaners work for vomit on a carpet?
If done right, then yes all of the natural cleaners will get rid of vomit in your carpets. That goes for all the natural cleaning solutions like salt, lemon and lime juice, and white vinegar.
It is essential to get the vomit stain early with natural cleaners for them to work correctly. If you haven’t managed to remove the puke within 24 hours then a more potent chemical will need to be introduced in order to remove it.
Final thoughts
Thank you for reading our article on removing vomit without baking soda. While baking soda is a decent option for deodorizing a vomit stain after cleaning, it does not do the job of removing that nasty bacteria on its own anyway.
If you are unsure about where the vomit came from, or if it was a pet that was sick, you might want to consider using a professional to clean it for you. Vomit stains are a biological substance after all and can make you sick when cleaning up.
If you are confident in cleaning the vomit up by yourself, always wear PPE and give our natural cleaners enough dwell time to do their jobs effectively.
