How do you make carpets smell nice?

[chocolatequeen]

Short of washing them, is there anything you can sprinkle on carpets to absorb smells and then hoover up? Have a rug that gets toddlered on a regular basis want to make it clean and smelling... well, neutral I guess!

Would Bicarb of soda do anything?

Fond memories of shake n´vac......

You can still buy shake n vac.

This page says:

To eliminate carpet odours, sprinkle on to carpet, leave for a few hours and then vacuum up

Febreeze is good, but you may have to try different ones before you find a fragrance that appeals.

Bicarb is good, but not very strong. It works best if you mist the carpet with water to dampen it slightly, sprinkle generously with bicarb (you can reverse these two steps) and then rub in with a brush. Leave for a few hours, then hoover up.

Whoops, posted too soon.

After the bicarb, sprinkle the carpet with cinnamon, leave for a few hours, then hoover up.