When you bought your pet, odds are you imagined morning snuggles, afternoon playtime, and an evening walk around the neighborhood. What you didn’t imagine were mysterious stains popping up all over your house that guests step in.
While you love them all the same, owning a pet, unfortunately, means knowing how to remove pet stains from carpet. If you’re not careful, you’ll be stuck with a permanent stain and an unavoidable smell that seeps into your stress dreams. So what can you do?
Keep reading to learn about everything you need to do to remove pet stains from carpet.
Avoid Harsh Chemicals
When deciding on what to use to clean up the stain, try to steer away from harsh chemicals and ingredients.
Products that have a potent, sterile smell to them won’t do a good job at removing the stain or the smell. On the contrary, they might make pets want to remark the spot, causing damage that, this time, might not come out.
Aside from not being effective, harsh products and chemicals can also harm your pets, as well as your family. Anyone who later walks or lays on the carpet can suffer long-term damage.
Locate the Source
If you find your dog or cat with a guilty expression and sense that something is wrong, get to work finding the scene of the crime as soon as possible.
Most accidents will be easy to spot, so look for any spots of discoloration on your otherwise pristine carpets. Otherwise, you can rely on smell, or search by looking for wet spots. If all else fails, you can use a blacklight to pinpoint the accident.
If you find the accident spot and it’s still wet, get to work absorbing the moisture as fast as you can. Grab some paper towels, put them over the spot, then press down. The more you can absorb early on, the easier the process will be.
Act Fast
Once you blot out the first layer of moisture, it’s time to get to work treating the rest of the stain. If there are any chunks, get to work picking those up. Take care not to push anything deeper into the fibers of the carpet, as that will make it more difficult to get out.
If the crime in question is vomit, then you really have a time crunch. Aside from being disgusting, the acid in vomit can cause discoloration to your carpet. Move fast, but again, don’t push anything into the carpet.
After you use the first set of paper towels, replace them with another layer. Keep replacing paper towels and pressing down until they pick up little to no moisture. Remove the final layer, then get ready to make your own DIY cleaning solution.
Use Vinegar
One solution you can try making is a concoction of 50% water and 50% white vinegar. This works well as the vinegar helps to eliminate the stain, as well as neutralize most of the odor.
After mixing the stain in an empty spray bottle, spray the entirety of the stain until it’s soaking wet. If the rug is an area rug on top of a wooden floor, make sure to move and lift the rug. This will stop the vinegar from damaging the wood.
You can then take a toothbrush and scrub the solution into the fibers of the carpet. Finish off by blotting the area with a paper towel, then letting it dry.
If this solution doesn’t work, you can try getting help from professionals, such as this company.
Use Baking Soda and Hydrogen Peroxide
If you don’t have vinegar on hand, you can also try making a hydrogen peroxide and baking soda solution. This also works well as a follow-up to the vinegar solution, making it one of the best ways to remove old pet stains from carpet.
Sprinkle baking soda over the stain until you can’t see it anymore. Then, mix half a cup of hydrogen peroxide with two cups of water. Spray it over the stain, then rub it in with a toothbrush. After letting it dry, run over the area with a vacuum.
This solution helps to break down any lingering bacteria. It gets rid of the odor and eliminates the stain. However, make sure to test this concoction on a small section of carpet first. This will ensure that it doesn’t cause further discoloration.
Stop Accidents Before They Happen
If you’ve had your pet for a short amount of time, understand that accidents happen, especially if they’re young or old. Consider putting in the effort to train your pet to go to the bathroom in the correct place, whether that’s outside or in a litter box.
When your pet does go to the bathroom in an acceptable spot, give them plenty of positive reinforcement. This will let them know what it’s okay to go there. If they have an accident, try to resist the urge to yell at them.
If your dog is old and unable to control their bodily functions, consider investing in puppy pads. These are absorbent pads that you lay down on beds, carpets, or any surface. If your pet has an accident, the pad should absorb it all without a problem.
Remove Pet Stains From Carpet With These Tips
As much as we love our furry friends, they are prone to leaving messes behind. If your dog or cat leaves a special surprise for you, make sure to follow these tips to remove pet stains from carpet as soon as possible.
Do you now have a better idea of how to remove pet stains from carpet? Before you go and start scrubbing, take a moment to check out some of our other blog posts for more guides and tips.
