Anyone who owns or has owned a pet knows how unpleasant it can be to clean up after them. When a pet decides to relieve themselves on the carpet, don’t let it sit – you’re better off cleaning it up as soon as you see it to lessen the chances of permanent stains. The quicker you get the job done, the less amount of work you’ll have to put into cleaning pet stains from carpet.
For new pet stains on the carpet, make sure you remove as much of the liquid or solid as possible before treating the area itself. The more you can soak up before it dries, the easier it will be to get rid of the odor afterward. Press a thick layer of paper towel over the wet spot and cover that with some newspaper. If you can, slip some newspaper under the spot as well. Stand on it for a minute or two to soak up as much as you can. Keep doing this until the area is only a little damp.
It would be a good idea to place the urine-soaked towels in the place your pet is supposed to go to the bathroom, whether it be the litter box or outdoors. This will help encourage your pet to go where they’re supposed to and let them know what they did is not necessarily a bad behavior – as long as it’s done in the correct spot and not on the carpet. Next, you will want to rinse the area with cool water and sop it up. Or, if you have one, use a wet vac.
If the carpet pet stain has already had a chance to set, you might have to experiment a little to see what works. If the pet stain contains any solids, wipe up as much of it as you can with paper towels. You can use a pet odor neutralizer once the area is reasonably clean. Remember to follow the directions on the container, including testing it on a small area of the carpet first. If the area still looks stained, you can find a good carpet pet stain remover at the department store to get the rest of it up.
You don’t want to use any kind of cleaning chemical or steam cleaner when lifting a stain from the carpet. A lot of chemicals have ammonia. It carries the same scent as urine and doesn’t bother your pet. In fact, it may entice them to use that spot again. The heat from the cleaners will permanently set the stain – and the smell – by binding it directly to the fibers.
Make sure the area is completely free of any old cleaners you may have used there before, or neutralizing cleaners won’t work. Even if they weren’t used recently, any traces left behind will reduce the effectiveness of the new cleaner. And if the stain has been left alone long enough that it has had the chance to soak through to the padding underneath, chances are you will have to remove and replace that portion of the carpet.
Of course, if your carpet is of the expensive kind, you are probably better off hiring a professional to handle cleaning the pet stain from your carpet instead of doing it yourself.