As a pet owner you already know how much your pet enriches your life. However accidents happen and when pets are young or are getting on in years they can’t always control where they go to the toilet. In some cases, your shag pile is often the first port of call. The problem is that pet urine has a really strong smell and no matter how much you scrub, that smell tends to linger. So just how do you get rid of any staining and scent from your carpet?
Act quickly
The important thing is to act quickly. First of all clean up any urine that’s still wet by placing an absorbent material like a kitchen towel over the area and blotting it up. Never scrub because all you’ll be doing is spreading the scent of the pet pee around. Instead apply pressure to the area and let the blotting material do all the work.
Set to work neutralising the smell
Once the excess urine has been removed then you can set to work by eradicating the smell. Firstly start by creating a strong vinegar solution by mixing 1 part water with 1 part white vinegar. But why vinegar? The answer is that the acid in the vinegar quickly neutralises the ammonia smell without ruining the carpet.
Using a spray bottle spray a sufficient quantity of it over the area. This means not too much so that you soak the carpet but sufficient enough so that the solution can penetrate down to the carpet fibres. Obviously if you have a deep pile carpet then you’ll need to apply more solution than you would a carpet with a tightly woven loop.
The next thing to do is to wait for at least 10 minutes until sufficient time has passed for the solution to penetrate down into the stain. Then (just as when removing the excess pet urine itself) place a paper towel or blotting material over the area and apply pressure. Again, don’t scrub, otherwise you’ll be spreading the ammonia molecules from the urine to other parts of your carpet. Instead dab as much of the excess moisture off as you can and them it to dry naturally. At this point some people suggest using a hair dryer to speed up the drying process, but if you’re not careful you can damage your carpet irreparably.
Apply baking soda
Once fully dry (this can take 2 hours or more) then sprinkle household baking soda over the area. This will also help to remove any excess pee odour and any vinegar odour too. Leave for around 15 minutes and then vacuum the area.
Repeat the process if necessary
Finally carry out a sniff test. It should now smell fresh and clean. However there may be times when the pet urine has soaked into the carpet long before you’ve noticed it. In this instance it’s best to repeat the whole process again and again until the area is ammonia free and smelling fresh.
As well as regular home cleaning, it’s advisable that you get your carpet professionally cleaned at least once a year if you want to keep it looking like new and smelling deep-down fresh. At Carpet Cleaning Kings, we’ve been in the industry for many years and know how to treat a wide variety of carpets to deliver best results. To find out more or to obtain no-obligation quote, talk to our friendly team today on 1300 7000 75.
