It is during these emergencies that we take a leave from work and spend the whole day scrubbing floors, sorting things that should be thrown away or kept, and just drying things up.

If your room is carpeted, then the water damage restoration process takes on different path. If you are naive then you think that once you have dried the carpet and all the water that's the end of it. WRONG!

Sure enough, once that foul odor that emanates from your carpet starts to pervade in your house, you'll think twice. Good thing there are many ways to freshen up that smelly carpet fast.

Some carpet cleaners could actually make your smelly carpet even worse. For tip number one, try using a bucket of hot soapy water and towel dry the smelly carpet. Be sure to hire a steam cleaner to finish the job.

If that won't do the trick, why not exert some chemistry prowess here. You can use baking soda and rub it thoroughly into your smelly carpet, let it dry and vacuum it afterwards. If it emits that bad odor again, repeat the procedure until such time as the smell is gone.

Since baking soda is only known to absorb odor, try dissolving the baking powder with a solution of half distilled vinegar and half distilled water. Vinegar has antibacterial properties that may help you get rid of the odor causing molds and mildew in your carpet!

Though vinegar is also known for it's foul odor, experience tells us that once it is all dried-up, you won't even remember that it was vinegar that saved you from splurging on buying a new carpet.!

Some even recommend ammonia to freshen up smelly carpets. In using ammonia, you could either put a cup-filled in the corner or put some on the carpet itself. Using this chemical may be risky since it could cause watery eyes and it too emits a very strong odor. So, when you decide to use ammonia in cleaning smelly carpets, use it with extra caution.

This is not to say however that all commercial products to clean our carpets are not at all effective. Some would even recommend item like Windex, Febreze, Lysol and other similar ones to clean it.

However, we should be wary since we are clueless as to what does this solution contains. We all know carpets differ in composition so some may produce a positive effect on the fibers while others may further damage. Even worse, some may even ruin it permanently!

To get rid of the smell, some suggest that you sprinkle coffee or salt in your carpet. You can also use vanilla or charcoal to eliminate that foul odor.

On the final note, please do not use bleach. It will ruin your carpet. Try mild products like shaving cream or even carpet freshener to polish and freshen your smelly carpet.

Following these tips should help you get your carpet as good as new!