Cleaning Pet Urine Stains and Odors from Carpets

If you have pets, you will inevitably have to clean up an accident or two – or three, especially if you have a new puppy in training or an older dog with continence issues. Pet urine is very acidic (notice the brown spots on the grass where your dog goes in the same place?), which eats through any type of carpet protector you have. The amount of urine will soak through the carpet and into the pad, leaving a damp spot on the subfloor. The damp spot will grow bacteria – this is what makes the smell even after you think you’ve cleaned everything up.

A puppy will generally urinate in the same place over and over, because he can smell “his” smell there. There are quite a few cleaners on the market that tout they can get rid of pet odor, but this can run you into some money, especially if they do not work as advertised. The best thing for neutralizing pet odor is vinegar. Clean the initial mess up using paper towels for feces, then use a shop vac (make sure it’s a wet/dry vac) to suck out all of the urine from the carpet. Pour straight vinegar on a rag and rub it into the spot. If the mess is from an older dog and the carpet was saturated, saturate the spot with vinegar. Let the vinegar set for a couple of hours.

The next step works best if you have a stem cleaner. You can rent one from your local supermarket – of purchase one at a big box home improvement or discount store. If you have pets, this will be one of the best investments you can make, as it also cleans mud off the carpet.

Fill the steam cleaner with your favorite rug shampoo and go over the area for at least five minutes. If you do not have a steam cleaner, use the shop vac to suck up the vinegar, then using your favorite carpet spot cleaner, go over the area pursuant to the instructions on the spot cleaner.

Let the area dry. If the house is cool you may think the odor is gone. You will need to let the humidity build up in the house – turn off the air conditioner and open the windows if you are doing this when it is warm outside. If it is cold, you will probably have the heat on, and will notice. About an hour after the humidity and heat build up, see if you can still smell the odor. If not, you got it out on the first try. If you can still smell it, go over the area with the steam cleaner again. If you do not have a steam cleaner, rub or pour vinegar on the spot, let it sit for a half-hour, then suck it up with a shop vac. Go over it with the spot cleaner.

For large messes from large dogs, you may have to go over the spot three or four times. The vinegar will help neutralize the odor and kill off the bacteria. The smell is not in the carpet, but in the pad and on the subflooring. Plywood and even cement will hold odors for quite a long time if all of the bacteria is not cleaned up.

To prevent this from happening often, gate the puppy during house training time. Once he is reliable, you can remove the gates. For older dogs, you can gate them out of the carpeted area. For both older and younger dogs, if they just came in from doing their business outside, it is probably safe to play with them in the carpeted area for a bit.

Dogs with continence problems and puppies should be crated at night – or at least blocked into an uncarpeted room during the night. You can put a dog bed or a doggie blanket in the crate or room with them.