2 Ingredient Carpet Refresher

In only 5 minutes with just 2 ingredients you can have your own homemade carpet refresher that deodorizes and smells amazing.+ FREE printable labels.

I love to vacuum. Like, it’s seriously one of the most cathartic things I can do. It’s a highly detailed task for me because I have to make sure that I go over every square inch of the floor. And every time the dust cup fills up I have tangible proof that my efforts have produced fruit. Or cat hair. In this case lots and lots of cat hair :)

And because I have cats my house can smell like, well, I have cats. Oh, and there are a couple of dogs, too. Smells like cats and dogs up in here. Or at least it would if I wasn’t obsessed with every smell good item in the universe.

Since my cats are those jerks that knock things off of tables just to watch the world burn, I can’t do candles for obvious reasons. I do the plug in scent warmers and those are pretty great.

But my favorite way to pretty up the smell of my house is with carpet refresher.

I guess because it combines two of my favorite things, vacuuming and pretty smells, I have tons and tons and TONS of carpet deodorizer. On my last grocery order, however, they were apparently all sold out of any kind of carpet deodorizer at all.

So I did what I used to do regularly, before I got a bit lazy, and made my own carpet refresher. I’m not sure why I stopped, in all honesty… It’s really easy and doesn’t take more than 5 minutes. Plus it takes only 2 ingredients that I ALWAYS have on hand. AND I can use whatever scents I want.

And so, just the other day I made a whole mess of DIY Carpet Refresher in lots of lovely floral scents. Since I made some vintage-inspired labels for some DIY Citrus Scented Vinegar Cleaners last week, it seemed only right to make a matching label for this DIY cleaner as well.

To make your own homemade Carpet Deodorizer you will need:

• Cheap Baking Soda
• Plastic Shakers
• Essential Oils OR Fragrance Oils
• Waterproof Vinyl Sticker Paper

When buying baking soda you don’t have to get anything expensive. We are just tossing it on the ground to suck it up by the vacuum and throw it away, after all. I typically just use up whatever I’ve had open in the pantry for a while but if I plan on making a few shakers at once, I’ll purchase a 5-pound bag. Note – purchasing your baking soda at your local grocery store rather than online to be shipped in the mail will save you a decent chunk of change.

Right now I’m all into things being matchy-matchy and I made some vinegar cleaners in clear plastic with black spray nozzles. So I was super pleased to find these similar 14-ounce plastic spice shakers. 

If you have shakers from store-bought carpet dust or even Parmesan cheese, you can totally use those instead. I typically can’t think of anything to use those things for until after the recycling has already been picked up.

Essential Oils vs. Fragrance Oils

Essential Oils are natural oils that come from plants and can have therapeutic benefits (including aromatherapy). If you have pets you need to take care as some essential oils can make them sick. Lemongrass essential oil, for example, is highly toxic to cats so be sure to research toxicity prior to use.

Fragrance oils are synthetic with the aroma coming from chemicals. I have found no studies to indicate whether fragrance oils are bad for pets and I’ve been using store-bought or homemade things around my house with synthetic fragrances without any known negative affects of my pets.

(I have literally no clue why I would have purchased a “Dirt” scented fragrance oil, but here we are. As a side note, it totally smells like dirt. No I didn’t use it in my DIY deodorizers, just marveled at my past purchase :)

Feel free to do your own research and decide which scenting option is right for you and your household.

A Few Tips Regarding Carpet Deodorizers

When you use a carpet deodorizer often you’ll need to clean out the filters on your vacuum regularly. If you have installed carpets and you want strong scent add your essential oil or fragrance oil with a heavier hand than indicated in the tutorial. With all dusts or powders you sprinkle on the carpets a little bit will sift through the carpet to the padding and subfloor below. If you’ve ever ripped up old carpet it can get kind of dusty underneath there and more powder means more that sifts through and cannot be vacuumed up.

How to Make Homemade Carpet Deodorizer

Place 2 cups of baking soda in a medium-sized bowl.

Add approximately 30 drops of essential oil or fragrance oil to the baking soda. Use a fork to combine until well mixed.

Give the baking soda a sniff test. Add more oil 5-10 drops at a time until you’re happy with the strength of the scent.

Transfer the baking soda mix to your bottle and secure with a shaker lid.

Making Waterproof Labels for your DIY Carpet Deodorizer

Print your free carpet deodorizer labels on waterproof vinyl sticker paper . Cut out and remove the backing sheet. Apply to a clean shaker bottle. If it’s possible your carpet refresher bottles might get wet, you can spray on a light even coat of spray sealer, to make the labels even more waterproof.

That’s it. It’s seriously that easy to have really cool looking homemade cleaning products :)

This post was updated on 6/30/2020. If you’d like to view the original post, it is available here: 2 Ingredient Carpet Deodorizer in a Mason Jar