How to Clean Dog Stains from a Carpet

Dog stains on your carpet are inevitable when you have dogs.

Accidents happen when you have a dog, whether your dog is young or old, potty-trained or still learning. Dog stains, such as urine, feces and vomit, have proteins and ammonia in them that cause stains and accompanying odor. Remove dog stains from your carpet with items found in most homes. To ensure your dog doesn't have an accident in the same area again, remove the stain completely. Even if the area looks clean, a lingering odor can signal to your dog that the spot is an approved potty area.

Things You'll Need

• Plastic spoon
• Plastic bag
• Paper towels
• Old newspaper
• Baking soda
• Vacuum
• Bucket
• Wet vacuum
• Pet odor neutralizer with enzymes

Instructions

1. Remove any dog stain substance, such as feces or vomit, using a plastic spoon. This way you can throw away the plastic spoon, in a plastic bag, along with the stain substance.

2. 

   Newspaper wicks up liquid from the dog stain.

   Set a thick layer of paper towels on top of the dog-stained carpet area, then place a layer of old newspaper on top of the paper towels. Stand on top of the newspaper and towels or press down with your hands to wick up as much of the stain moisture as possible. Change to fresh layers of paper towels and newspapers when you need to and continue to wick up the stain liquid until you're unable to remove anymore.

3. Saturate the dog stain on your carpet with baking soda. The baking soda will wick up any moisture down in the carpet fibers while neutralizing the odor caused by your dog's stain. Leave the baking soda on the dog stain for 30 minutes, then vacuum.

4. 

   Flush a dog stain with cool water as hot water may set the stain.

   Fill a bucket with cold water only, then pour the cold water onto the carpeting where your dog had an accident. Promptly run a wet vacuum over the site of the stain to remove the water and the dog stain. Repeat this process until the water coming up into the wet vacuum is as clean and clear as possible.

5. Pour a pet odor neutralizer with enzymes onto the site of the dog stain on your carpeting. The enzymes will break down any remaining odor-causing bacteria from the dog stain. Allow the pet odor neutralizer to sit on the carpeting for 30 to 60 minutes, then remove with a vacuum.

Tips & Warnings

• Blot at dog stains to remove them, rather then rubbing and scrubbing. By blotting you lift the stain, rather then spread it around.

• Avoid the use of ammonia-based products to clean dog stains on your carpet. The ammonia magnifies the smell of ammonia from the pet stain.

References

• Dumb Friends League: Successful Cleaning To Remove Pet Stains and Odors
• PAWS-Rescue: Dog Cleaning Tips