How to Get the Smell of Pet Urine Out of Your Carpet

Cleaning up urine is one of the most frustrating aspects of being a pet owner, and it’s just something that happens even to the best pets. Not only is pet urine a pain to clean up, but it also causes stains, damages your carpet, and leaves a horrible smell. This smell is incredibly potent and lingers throughout the house, which is not how you want it to smell when you have guests over.

However, with the help of Sears Carpet Cleaning, we’ve compiled some of the best tips to remove the smell of pet urine out of your carpet.

Vinegar and Baking Soda

It can be almost always guaranteed that your four-legged pals will have an accident while you're at work or out of the house for an extended period of time. Many try the baking soda and vinegar method, and have been successful.

When accidents are untouched for an afternoon or a few hours, bacteria will begin to grow in your carpet and the room will start to stink. Start with a 50/50 solution combination of white vinegar and water. Pour the solution on the spot and get out your scrub brush; it’s time to put some elbow grease into cleaning the mess up. The vinegar neutralizes the ammonia in the urine, which is the first step of eliminating the odor.

Once the spot on the carpet is dry, sprinkle baking soda on top of it. After that, get some detergent and hot water and scrub like you’ve never scrubbed before. Once the area is dry again, run the vacuum over it a couple times and you’ll be set.

This method isn’t 100% reliable, but it is always worth a try.

Enzymatic Cleaners

Another great way to get those embarrassing pet stains and smells out of your carpet is by purchasing a strong enzymatic cleaner solution. These solutions are designed to remove organic stains including urine by breaking down protein, oils, and starches.

To effectively remove urine scents and stains with an enzymatic cleaner, you must keep the spot damp for 24 hours or more. After spraying the stain or area where your pet urinated with the enzymatic cleaner, cover it with a wet washcloth. This will make sure that the enzymes remain active to eliminate the bacteria creating the unpleasant scent.

If this is the route that you want to take, try Anti-Icky-Poo or Sunny & Honey. Both work great and can be used on carpets and furniture.

Bleach

This should always be your worst case scenario option when it comes to cleaning your carpets. Only use bleach on white carpets. That way, the carpet keeps its original color. If you’re going to use bleach, make sure to open any nearby windows and keep your pets in a completely different room to prevent the fumes from affecting them.

Dilute the bleach with water. This will prevent the bleach from being too strong and unsafe for pets and children. Also, stay away from ammonia-based cleaners when trying to clean repeated pet accidents.

One thing to keep in mind is that bleach itself won’t clean the carpet. You will still need to thoroughly clean it using a carpet brush and carpet shampoo to remove a pet stain. Using bleach and the carpet shampoo can be effective, but should not be your first option.

Carpet Cleaning Services

While home remedies can work on light stains on your carpet, carpets with frequent accidents may need the help of a professional. The most reliable and efficient way to get rid of those stains and smells is to get a professional cleaning crew to your house.

Carpet cleaning professionals are highly skilled technicians who are trained and background-checked to be the best in the industry. They will get your carpet clean from top to bottom and rejuvenate spots that seem to be at the point of no return.

When you hire a carpet cleaning company, you’re not only getting a technician who has cleaned countless carpets before, but also the training they received to fight even the toughest stains. Technicians get intensive training in carpet fiber components, stain removal techniques, and equipment operation. This is the difference between doing it yourself and hiring someone who knows exactly how to get rid of pet stains thoroughly and correctly.

Dealing with pet urine is certainly not fun, but it is ultimately inevitable. Even the cutest of pups have accidents sometimes. If you do choose to use a home remedy, always make sure the items you’re using to clean your carpet are pet-friendly or block off the area of the room so your 4-legged pal doesn’t get hurt or sick from the chemicals used to clean the carpet.

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