Pet Stains and Odours: How to Remove Them From Your Carpet

Pet owners know the struggle of keeping their carpeted floors clean. From dealing with stubborn pet stains to extremely unpleasant urine odour, cleaning up these messes can prove quite challenging. When addressing these issues, it’s important that you know how to tackle it correctly so that you can effectively remove such stains and preserve the condition of your carpet. Here are a couple of tips that you can use to eliminate pets stains and odours.

Treating urine smells

When it comes to treating pet urine, there are a few proven methods and perhaps the most effective one is using an enzyme-based pet odour remover. These cleaners are made from natural enzymes that dissolve pet urine and eliminate foul odours. Enzymatic cleaners are a godsend for homeowners with fuzzy furballs and most people swear by them on how effective they are at removing even the most offensive of urine smells.

Since animals are habitual creatures, they tend to poop or urinate in the same spot due to the familiar scent. By using enzyme cleaners, you’re removing the familiar scent and breaking bad hygiene habits that your pet has developed. Here’s how to use enzyme cleaners on your carpet:

1. Spray the enzyme cleaner generously on the affected area, making sure to saturate not just the carpet’s surface, but the carpet pad as well. Cover with a piece of cardboard or newspaper after spraying.
2. Let the enzyme cleaner soak for at least 30 minutes or according to manufacturer’s instructions. You want to give the enzymes time to break down the pet urine to fully eliminate the unpleasant smell.
3. You can also use vinegar or baking soda as an alternative to enzyme cleaners. Although not as effective, these natural cleaning agents will help remove pet urine odour to some degree. Make sure to test it out in an inconspicuous area in your carpet first to know if it will cause discolouration.

There will be instances where the smell can seem impossible to remove. If you’ve used enzyme cleaners and the ois still there, your best bet is to replace the carpet altogether. As terrible as it may sound, removing your old carpet will get rid of both the smell and your pet’s inclination to urinate in the exact spot over and over again.

Removing pet stains on carpets

Pet stains are quite difficult to remove with just regular household cleaning products. Conventional bleach or detergent won’t make that much of a difference, especially if the stains have dried up. You’ll need a carpet-specific cleaning solution to get rid of them effectively. Here’s how to use it:

1. Soak the affected area with water and apply the carpet cleaning solution.
2. Let the solution soak for at least 5 minutes before you proceed to scrubbing.
3. Use a soft-bristled brush and scrub the stain gently, working it up to a good lather. Avoid scrubbing the area vigorously as this will only drive the stain deeper into the carpet fibers.
4. Repeat the process of saturating, soaking, and scrubbing the stain until it disappears completely.

For truly stubborn stains, your carpet might need to undergo hot water extraction. Hot water extraction is a carpet cleaning method that combines hot water and a couple of cleaning agents and blasts them at high pressure to lift up stains. A powerful vacuum sucks up the stains and leaves the surface clean as a whistle.This method works great for any type of pet stain whether it be urine marks or poop stains.

Eliminating pet odours

Pet odours pose a similar problem to urine smells. It makes your living space smell bad and reduces your comfortability due to the bad smell. Ideally, you want to clean your carpet on a regular basis to prevent them from absorbing pet odour. Make it a habit to vacuum twice a week, focusing on areas where your pet spends the majority of their time. To address pet odour, you’ll need an odour neutralizer and for most instances, baking soda will suffice.

1. Sprinkle baking soda over the entire carpet. Let the baking soda sit for a few minutes before vacuuming.
2. Vacuum the carpet’s surface with a high-pressure vacuum. The baking soda will help freshen up the room and pick up offensive smells while being vacuumed.
3. Repeat the process until the pet odour has been neutralized.

Steam cleaning is also another method of eliminating pet odours. As the name implies, steam cleaning uses steam to soften stains, dislodge deep-seated dirt on the carpet fibers, and kill bacteria that causes bad smells. We recommend having your carpets steam-cleaned twice a year to give them a deep clean and keep offensive pet odours at bay.

By following these steps, your carpet will remain clean, fresh, and urine-free. Don’t let the problem linger for much longer and start addressing pet stains and odours with these tried-and-tested tips.