Cleaning Tips to Remove Pet Urine Pet Odor and Stains
1. All the soiled areas need first to be identified by sight and smell. Old stains can be seen with the help of a black-light bulb. This type of light will show even old stains on the floor carpet and furnishings. After identifying outline the areas lightly with a chalk.
2. Don’t use steam cleaners to remove pet urine odors from the upholstery or carpets. The heat of the steam will permanently set the pet urine odor by getting the protein bonded to the synthetic fibers. Do not use cleaning chemicals like vinegar, ammonia and others that have strong odors as it may encourage pets especially dogs to urine mark them again. This is on of the most important cleaning tips.
3. As for cleaning tips for washable items, it is best to machine wash them by adding a box of baking soda to the usual detergent and washing the stained items with it. After they are washed it is best to air dry them. If still some stain or odor remains it is advisable to use an enzymatic cleaner and clean them again. Be careful and follow the given directions for using the cleaner.
4. While you are training the pet to avoid urinating indoors you must use flannel backed vinyl table cloths to cover upholstery and susceptible areas as these are easily machine washed as well as unattractive to pets.
5. The cleaning tips for carpets and upholstery need a different set of techniques. Use a combination of paper towels and newspapers to soak up as much of the fresh urine as possible. Especially in the case of carpets the more urine you can remove this way the easier it will be to remove the odor. Place a thick layer of paper towels and cover it with another thick layer of newspapers and either place a heavy weight over it or stand over it for around 1 minute. Continue doing this until the affected area is barely damp. After this clean the area thoroughly with cool clean water. After thoroughly rinsing the area blot out the water or use a wet vacuum cleaner or extractor to remove it.
6. If any cleaners or chemicals have been used on a certain area then using a neutralizing cleaner will not be useful until you have removed all traces of the earlier cleaner from the carpet. Even enzymatic cleaners will get weakened by the presence of old cleaners. To remove traces of old cleaners use extractor or wet-vac machines as they work by forcing the clean water through the carpet material which does a good job of removing foreign materials from the fibers. Be sure to read the instructions for using these machines and don’t use any chemicals with them.
7. After the soiled/stained area is thoroughly cleaned with water you can use one of the pet odor neutralizers that are easily available at pet supply stores. Make sure to test that it does not leave any stains and follow the instructions correctly. Even after all this if the dry surface still has a stain you can use any popular carpet stain remover to remove the traces.
8. There are another set of cleaning tips for walls and floors. If the pet urine affected wooden surfaces of the floor, wall or furniture show a discoloration, then they have been stained by the acid in pet urine. You will have to remove and replace the coating of the paint or varnish so affected. You can easily get the necessary information from a hardware supply store.
9. Enzymatic cleaners can be successfully used for washable wall papers and enamel paints on walls to remove pet urine stains and odors. Be sure to follow the instructions for using these products before using them.
10. Use a set of positive reinforcements and “aversives” for training the pet against urine marking inside the home. Pets must be taught the appropriate places to eliminate urine by using a set of positive reinforcements. If necessary take professional help. Although the above cleaning tips will help you to get rid of pet urine odors and stains they are not of much use if your pet is not retrained quickly.
