Having to remove pet urine from your carpet is trickier than removing it from a hard surface. Consider the lingering smell, damage to the floor underneath, and how to preserve your carpet. If you have experience caring for dogs, you know that cleaning up pee is something you'll have to handle, and if you're bringing home a puppy for the first time, this is something you're about to learn. The key is figuring out a strategy for cleaning up dog urine that you can rely on every time.
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Removing fresh dog urine on a carpet
If you caught your dog peeing on the carpet or you noticed it before it had time to dry, you're in a much better position for cleaning it up. You have time to stop it from soaking all the way through and damaging the floor underneath. Follow some simple steps:
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- If you can, put a towel or some newspaper underneath the carpet in case it soaks all the way through to the other side.
- Take some paper towels or an absorbent cloth and soak up as much of the urine as you can.
- For getting the dog pee smell out of carpet, dilute vinegar by combining 1 cup of water with 1 cup of distilled white vinegar in a spray bottle and saturate the area.
- To make sure the solution absorbs into the carpet, rub it in or scrub it with a brush.
- Let it sit for 5 to 10 minutes.
- Dab it dry as much as possible and let the rest air dry.
After the area is completely dry, if there's still an odor, sprinkle some baking soda on top of the soiled area to help absorb the odor and then vacuum after about 30 minutes or overnight if you can keep the room pet-free.
For dried dog urine on your carpet
One of the problems with old dog urine on the carpet is the smell. You might not notice it, but your dog does, and it encourages him to pee in the same spot again. It can be difficult to remove the smell completely so that your dog's sensitive nose can't detect it.
The key is using a bio-enzymatic pet stain remover. This type of cleaner contains enzymes that are produced by bacteria. The enzymes help to speed up the process by breaking down the waste particles into a state where the bacteria can consume them. This method ensures that you're eliminating the source of the problem rather than just covering it. Bio-enzymatic cleaners don't require rinsing, so just let it sit and keep pets away from the area so the cleaner can do its job.
Don’t mix chemicals
Never use bleach to clean up urine. Urine contains a chemical called ammonia. Over time, the water from the urine evaporates and leaves more concentrated ammonia behind. If you combine bleach with ammonia, you get chloramine, a highly toxic gas that may cause shortness of breath, wheezing, stomach upset, skin irritation, coughing, and chest pain for you and your pets.
There are other dangerous mixtures of which to be aware while cleaning. You might be tempted to mix products so you can clean more thoroughly, but this can have serious consequences. Mixing bleach and vinegar together can create chlorine gas, which attacks the mucus membranes of your nose, mouth, throat, and lungs. It causes irritation and can be fatal. Similarly, mixing vinegar with hydrogen peroxide can create peracetic acid, which is toxic if inhaled or ingested, and it is corrosive on contact. Play it safe by using only one cleaning product at a time and always read the instructions on the label before use.