How to Get Pet Urine & smells out of carpet (with a steam cleaner)

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By loveofsalem
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Get Pet Urine & smells out of carpet (with a steam cleaner)

Pet urine can be one of the worst smells to get out of carpet and can permanently ruin the carpet. If you live in an apartment, you could be charged for damages due to the carpet. This is a sure fire way to not only rid the carpet of the smell but also takes up stains.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

A carpet steam cleaner
A bottle of white vinegar
A bottle of carpet cleaner (I suggest the one for pet stains)

Step 1

The cleaner the carpet is, the better results you will get with the steamer.

I cannot begin to tell you how great this works. We did this with a carpet that was the nastiest smelling thing ever!!! It has been months and the smell never resurfaced again!!!

Vacuum the carpet 1-2 times to make sure you have all dirt, hair, fur, etc up off the carpet.
Step 2

Get a large jug of vinegar-it is much more cost effective because you can use it for laundry too! (see my article)

Fill the steam cleaner container- most solutions call for 1 part solution to 5 parts water. However, with the vinegar you want more like 2-3 parts. You will smell the vinegar slightly but you will do another step which takes it away.
Step 3

Steam clean the carpet as you normally would. In areas of stains or where you know there was urine, go over it many times. You will smell a mild "wet dog" odor because of using water without a "perfumey" or soap base. The smell totally goes away!!!
Step 4

Make sure to suck up as much of the solution as humanly possible with the steamer. After this is completed, use the carpet cleaning solution and follow the directions (usually 1 part solution to 5 parts water). I normally just eye it- I tend to use about 2 parts because it is better to release stains.
Step 5

Again, suck up as much solution as possible. Give the carpet a few hours to dry. Then again, use the steam cleaner with the carpet cleaning solution to get any remaining areas that were problem spots.

Comments

cocobella said

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on 8/9/2009 this works fabulous !! thank you very much ! We love our steam cleaner , but did not know about using vinagar - the carpet looks and smells awesome !!!

on 8/9/2009 oh my gosh , this works great !! Thank you so much !
we have 3 pom's - indoor dogs and they have accidents !!! We love our steam cleaner , but using the vinager made a HUGE difference !! Very great tip -
thank you
Cocobella

sandy5717 said

on 5/5/2009 I need to do this fast, but I dont quite understand how. In step 2,when I fill the steam cleaner container, is that the part where the solution normally goes, or where the water goes? and is it 3 parts vinegar 1 part solution or 3 parts vinegar 1 part water. I have a Bissel that looks similar to the one on the picture. Thanks Sandy