This is a step-by-step method to remove Nature’s Miracle smell. You don’t need to go through every step, just go as far as needed until you are happy with the results.
The smell seams to be stemming either from the incomplete breakdown of urine/blood/vomit and/or from the fragrance added to the product.
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Step 1 Break Down the Organic Odor: If the smell still smells like urine/blood/vomit breaking down you likely need more time or more product. It can take up to 7 days for the enzymes to break down the smell, and in the meantime it could smell worse. You also generally need to saturate the problem area with a enzyme spray.
If you don’t want to add more Nature’s Miracle, use an unscented enzyme spray like Earthworm or a very lightly scented one (with a natural scent which breaks down fast) like PetSafe LiquidAte. I’ve used both of these and I am happy with them.
Step 2 Baking Soda or Vinegar: If the smell is still lingering even after 7 days. The company suggests applying baking soda and letting that sit for a while (24 hours and up to a few days) before vacuuming it up (please note that some carpet styles make it impossible to fully remove baking soda, so use your judgement). Repeat if needed. Or you can use a solution of distilled white vinegar and water (50/50 vinegar and water).
Step 3 Absorb & Wet Vac: If that hasn’t worked well enough you can either add more absorbent materials or use a wet vac to remove more of the odor. I would use fragrance-free absorbent materials and carpet shampoo so as to not add more variables.
Use One of the Following to Absorb:
- EnviroKlenz Carpet & Rug Refresher is a natural mineral product that chemically breaks down odors. Sprinkle on and wait approximately 15-20 minutes, then vacuum thoroughly. For tougher odors, sprinkle it more liberally on carpet, wait 30 minutes, and vacuum (you could also use their liquid Everyday Odor Eliminator pictured above).
- Or put down zeolite pellets (which you can also use as car litter if you have a cat) which absorb VOCs/smells. Leave that for a couple of days before throwing out the pellets or putting them in the sun to let them “recharge” (i.e, release the odors so they can be used again). If things are dire, you can also put down a sheet of charcoal fabric on top of the zeolite to give you more relief from the smell.
- You can also use a pumice-based product called Carpet Odor Eliminator.
Wet Vac with One of the Following:
- Wet the area with AFM Carpet Shampoo and scrub the area manually to really get the soap into the fibers. Then use a wet vac to shampoo the carpet and pull out the water. If you have multiple sections of carpet with this problem I would do one small section at a time unless you have a dehumidifier or live in the desert, otherwise you risk not having your carpet dry fast enough (and it could develop mold).
- Alternatively use Oxyclean Carpet Cleaner (no scent listed) which can break down odors with hydrogen peroxide. This is for synthetic carpet and be sure to patch test for color fastness.
- Note, some people have wet vacuumed up to 10 times.
Final Step, Ventilation: You may need to increase ventilation and/or introduce an air purifier with lots of carbon if you already have one (I wouldn’t buy one for this purpose as air purifiers generally don’t help enough in situations like this). Increasing the temperature may make it smell worse initially but will accelerate the odor coming out. Decrease humidity after wetting the carpet to accelerate the drying.
Reports From Sensitive Folks
Some said the smell took a couple of months to go away with no intervention, or with just opening windows for ventilation. Others noted that the different formulas of Nature’s Miracle are not all the same. The red bottle has a stronger scent. Many people had success with these steps above, so just go through as many as needed until the problem is solved.
Corinne Segura is a Building Biologist Practitioner with 8 years of experience helping others create healthy homes.
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