Lifehack: I spilled a glass of milk, how do I remove stains and odors from carpet?

Spilling milk on a carpet can be annoying, but it's an easy fix if you know when it's happening. However, sometimes milk can leak and we only notice it when the stench increases, usually after a child spills their drink and doesn't tell you right away, or when an animal spills a glass while wagging its tail. The worst result is that awful smell, but you need to address more than just the smell when you notice it. Here we share some tips for cleaning freshly spilled milk as well as a more difficult drying situation.

Find the area where the milk was spilled on your mat. You may also notice spots or powdered milk on the area. First, scrape up the powdered milk with a blunt object, like a butter knife or spoon, and suck out the flakes.

Then wet the area with cold water. You might be tempted to use hot water for this, but the hotter the water, the stronger the smell can get as the heat intensifies it.

Use a toothbrush or other small brush to rub a paste of detergent and water onto the carpet where the liquid landed. This will help remove both the milk and the odor. Wash it off with clean water.

If you've cleaned the stain and it's now gone but the smell is still there, mix a 50:50 solution of white vinegar and water and spray onto the carpet before drying the area. Sprinkle some baking soda over it after the carpet has dried. This can be vacuumed off and will help deal with lingering odors.

Clean up freshly spilled milk

If you've just spilled milk, you need to act quickly to clean it up to prevent milk powder-like odors from developing on your carpet.

The first step in this case is to soak up the liquid on the carpet with a dry cloth. Add a tablespoon of dish soap to warm water and mix. Dip a rag in this solution and mop up the spill until you've cleaned up as much as possible.

Sprinkle some baking soda on the spilled liquid and leave for half an hour to absorb any odors that develop. Vacuum for best results.

If you don't have baking soda on hand, cornstarch is another staple that can work well with a problem like this. Cornstarch is very absorbent, so after blotting up the spill, sprinkle it over the area and leave it there for 30 minutes before vacuuming.

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