How To Get Pet Urine Smell Out Of Carpet

While we love our pets, we certainly don’t love when they have accidents on the carpet. Removing urine stains and odors from your carpet requires a two-step process. The first step is getting rid of the spot and the second step is getting rid of the odor. Learning how to get dog and cat urine smells and stains is as easy as using common household ingredients or using our professional grade cleaning products. 

When it comes to lifting the urine spot out of carpet, it’s important to act fast so it doesn’t permanently set into a stain. Cleaning it from carpet can be especially tricky since urine begins as a strong acid but crystallizes and becomes alkaline over time. Thankfully, our tips and tricks make the cleanup much easier. Try out these methods for removing the urine spot from your carpet.

To clean the urine spot (and odor) from carpet with household ingredients, here’s what you need and the step-by-step to clean:

• Clean white towels – We always recommend using white towels for cleaning so there’s no color transfer when blotting.
• Hydrogen peroxide 3% – This is a mild alternative to chlorine bleach that helps kill germs while being safe on fabric. Because it’s an oxidizing agent, this makes it effective for helping to break down stains and destroy odor-causing bacteria. Finally, we recommend hydrogen peroxide 3% because there’s potential for color loss if a higher concentration of hydrogen peroxide is used.
• Empty spray bottles – For safe practice, always make sure spray bottles are clean and clear of any other residue before using.
• Liquid dishwashing detergent – This also helps lift spots from carpet and other fabric.
• Cold water
• White vinegar – White vinegar breaks down the uric acid in urine to help remove the spot and odor.

1. Use Hydrogen Peroxide – Start by filling an empty spray bottle with hydrogen peroxide 3%. Spray the stain. You can also pour directly onto the carpet if you don’t have a spray bottle. Let sit until it dries. 
2. Blot All You Can – Using a clean towel, absorb as much of the liquid as you can before it penetrates the carpet pad or subflooring.
3. Create Cleaning Solution & Blot – Then, mix a solution using 2 cups of water and 1 teaspoon of liquid dish soap in an empty spray bottle. Spray the area with the solution. Then, allow it to sit for 1-2 minutes. Blot with a white towel. Repeat blotting as needed.
4. Rinse with Cold Water – Next, you’ll want to flush the area with clean cold water and blot with as much pressure as you can until it is dry.
5. Flush with White Vinegar & Blot – Finally, flush the area once more, but this time with white vinegar. Blot up as much of the vinegar as you can. Be sure to let the area dry completely before walking on it.

To clean with our easy-to-use spot remover, here’s what you need and the step-by-by to clean:

• Stanley Steemer Spot Remover – Since our cleaner has a neutral pH level, it’s safe to use carpet. It’s also effective to treat wicking spots, which are spots that reappear after a carpet has dried.
• Clean white towels – White towels are also good at showing how much of the urine is being lifted.
• Water

1. Blot All You Can – Before using our solution, blot up as much of the urine as you can using a fresh, white towel.
2. Spray Our Solution – Use Stanley Steemer Spot remover first, shake well and turn the spray nozzle to open. Spray on spot until wet.
3. Let Solution Sit & Blot – Let sit for 2-4 minutes, then blot up with a clean, white towel moving from the outer edges of the stain inward.
4. Rinse & Blot Dry – Rinse the affected area with clean water and once again, blot the area with another white, absorbent towel.
5. Repeat – Repeat the steps above as needed until the stain is lifted.
6. Dry – Let the area of carpet dry before walking over. 

Once the stain is lifted, you certainly don’t want to wait long for the odor to linger. For a simple solution, here’s how to use our Odor Out Plus for removing pet urine smell out of carpet.

For getting the urine stench out of carpet, here’s what you need and the step-by-step to remove:

Stanley Steemer Odor Out Plus – This solution uses natural bacterial enzyme action to digest organic odor sources like urine. This eliminates the odor at the source rather than masking it with fragrances. It also uses a pairing agent to give immediate relief from any odors while the enzyme is working into the carpet.

1. Make Sure Area is Dry – Before applying this deodorizing solution, make sure the spot you’re treating is dry.
2. Spray Our Solution – Next, shake our Odor Out Plus well and liberally apply directly onto the affected area. 
3. Press Into Carpet – After applying onto the carpet, press the solution into the carpet fibers using a towel. 
4. Keep Area Moist – Keep the solution moist over the carpet for at least 24 hours. You can do this by covering the treated area with a slightly damp cloth.
5. Dry – Finally, after the solution sits for 24 hours, let the carpet successfully dry before walking over.

Carpet Cleaning Hacks That Can Save Your Carpet

Want to turn a house into a home? Deck all the floors in carpets. It’s warm on your feet during winter and nothing beats a carpet’s softness during summer when you walk around barefoot. You’re welcome to lie on it next to a heater or fireplace with a book and it’s quite comfortable when you make a pillow fort. Carpets give you the makings of a true home and because they are such a long term purchase, their maintenance far exceeds the mere weekly vacuum runs we make. But we’re here to give you 17 carpet cleaning hacks to keep your carpeting pristine.

#1: Lint Roller to the Rescue

Have you had the sensation that no matter how hard you vacuum, there’s just crud, crumbs as well as hairs that your vacuum cleaner can’t handle? This is a common issue you have to deal with when you own long-hair carpets and even the most powerful vacuum cleaner can’t clean the fibers to a higher standard.

The solution is to purchase a lint roller for those problematic areas and put some elbow grease until you collect all the stubborn particles. Depending on the carpet type, you might not spend more than five minutes total per carpet.

#2: Eliminate Pet Hair with a Squeegee

Pet hair is notoriously difficult to remove with just a vacuum cleaner. Lint rollers might also not be quite useful as we’re talking about cleaning the whole surface area and with some pets, shedding might be overwhelming. If your carpet has very short hairs, then you’re all set with the trusty squeegee.

The squeegee might be intended for windows, but its design is made to dislodge gunk, frost and other substances that form thin layers and stick to a surface – exactly like pet hair on a short-hair carpet. Water the squeegee and just use it as if you would on a window.

#3: Remove Stains with an Iron

Stain removal has tested the willpower and intelligence of homeowners since carpets became the thing you own to tie a room together and you’ll encounter several schools of thought on the matter. The one we present right now is a three-step process.

First, you vacuum the stained area to get rid of hard particles and leave you focusing only on the stains at hand. This is crucial prep work.

Second, treat the spots with a mixture of water and vinegar with a ratio of 3:1. You need to let this mixture work its way into the stained textile. Five minutes should be enough.

Three, place a towel on top of the stained area and apply a heated iron. The pressure and the heat cause the stain to be transferred into the towel much like a reverse temporary water tattoo.

#4: Always Rub, Never Blot

It’s an instinct to rub dirt away. You do it when you polish shoes, wash dishes, even when a stain persists on sheets, but with carpets, rubbing leads to spreading. There’s also a high chance you might work the stain into the fabric – the surest way to permanent discoloration. No matter what cleaning solution you use, please be aware that only blotting wishes the stain away as you’re applying pressure on the spot that leads to liquid being absorbed into the cloth or sponge. Another way to protect carpet fiber is to pay attention to what direction you blot in. Blotting inwards from outside the stain ensures the stain doesn’t spread further.

Carpet cleaners don’t have an easy job. Every job they go to, they have to set up and take down all of their cleaning tools, which likely takes them just about as much time as the actual cleaning. Most carpet cleaners have a tank that they carry around in their van and truck, as well as hundreds of feet of hose that they have to snake through your house. Furthermore, so they can clean every square inch of carpet, they often boost up your furniture on gliders so they can clean every nook and cranny. It’s a long job, and no house is fast or easy.

The standard tip for carpet cleaners is anywhere from $5-$20 per person, but it’s not mandatory and you’ll likely surprise whomever you try to slip some money to. One situation where you shouldn’t tip your carpet cleaner is if you know he or she owns the actual carpet cleaning business. The reason is that if he or she believes your house warrants a higher service fee, they’ll likely let you know and charge you. However, for all other people on the job, use your personal gut-feeling to determine whether or not a tip is warranted. Did your house’s layout make getting the cleaning supplies difficult? Were the stains particularly bad but the cleaner was able to get them out anyway? As with any tipping scenario, if you feel the person went above and beyond and gave you excellent service, tip him or her to let them know you appreciate their work.

Having your carpets cleaned is a chore that usually falls into the same category as spring cleaning: not very fun to do but necessary, and should occur at approximately the same level of frequency. Most carpet owners, however, will only have their carpets cleaned once every few years (and some not even that). Carpet cleaning is not just important for removing stains. Having your carpet cleaned will improve and prolong your carpet’s performance.

How Often Should You Clean Your Carpet?

To keep your carpet looking and performing well for as long as possible, manufacturers recommend having your carpet cleaned at minimum every 12 – 18 months, depending on the amount of traffic in your home. In fact, such frequent cleaning is a condition of many warranties– be sure to carefully read your warranty information.

Nylon Carpet

While regular cleaning is important for all types of carpet, it is especially true in the case of nylon carpeting. Nylon contains a hydrogen molecule. This is the primary source of nylon’s resiliency. When the fibers have been flattened down due to foot traffic, cleaning reactivates the hydrogen molecule, causing the fibers to literally bounce back. The cleaning will actually revive the carpet and enhance performance.

Hot Water Extraction and So-Called “Steam Cleaning”

The method of carpet cleaning recommended by most carpet manufacturers is hot water extraction, which is more commonly (though slightly incorrectly) known as steam cleaning. In the hot water extraction method, hot water is essentially sprayed on the carpet and then sucked back into the machine, along with any dirt that was on the carpet. There is usually a cleaning solution added to the water to assist in the removal of stains and soiling.

This is different from the process of true steam cleaning. However, today it is widely accepted that the term steam cleaning actually refers to hot water extraction, the most common carpet cleaning process. 

Professional Carpet Steam Cleaning

Professional cleaners may use either a truck-mounted unit or a portable machine. The portable machine has obvious benefits, such as being able to be used in apartment and condo buildings in units that would otherwise be beyond the reach of a truck-mounted unit’s hose. However, truck-mounted units are more powerful than portable units and should be used whenever possible for maximum efficiency.

DIY Carpet Steam Cleaning

There is an abundance of do-it-yourself (DIY) steam cleaning machines available for either rent or purchase. With so many different machines on the market, it can lead you to wonder if you should skip calling in the professionals and just tackle the job yourself.

If your household is prone to spills or accidents that are difficult to clean, a small cleaner may be a worthwhile purchase to have on hand. However, for more general cleaning of your entire carpet surface, it’s highly recommended to have a professional come to do it.

Risks of DIY

Generally, DIY machines do not heat the water to the same high temperature as professional machines, which results in less effective cleaning. In addition, these machines are not as powerful as the ones professionals use, which means that they are not able to extract as much of the water (and therefore dirt) from the carpet.

When properly done, the carpet should be only slightly damp after it has been thoroughly cleaned. Wet carpet indicates that the machine was not powerful enough to do the job effectively. If your carpet is very wet after cleaning, use fans to speed up the drying, and be sure to stay off it until it is dry. Do not replace the furniture before the carpet is completely dry.

Other variables – such as the amount of cleaner added to the machine and the technique for using the machine i.e. how fast/slow to move across the carpet – present several opportunities for things to go wrong with DIY machines or at least not as well as with professional cleaners.

Cost-Saving Concerns

If you are concerned about the cost of having a professional come to clean your carpets, consider having only the “traffic areas” cleaned. This means that your big pieces of furniture, like the sofa, bed, etc., are left in place and the cleaner simply goes around them. Not only do you not see the carpet under these large pieces of furniture, but it is not exposed to the air, light, and foot traffic the way that the rest of your carpet is so it makes sense that it does not require cleaning as often.

Of course, if you frequently move your furniture around, it would probably be best to have the entire surface cleaned. Having only the traffic areas done should save you some money versus cleaning the entire area.

Despite your best efforts at cleanliness, your carpet will eventually become the victim of drops, spills, accidents, and whatever’s on the bottom of your shoes. Learn the secrets to keep carpets looking new.

Despite your best efforts at cleanliness, your carpet will eventually become the victim of drops, spills, accidents, and whatever’s on the bottom of your shoes. To learn how professionals handle problem areas and keep carpets looking new, we spoke with cleaning expert Bob Williams, owner of A+ Carpet & Furniture Cleaning in Longview, Washington, who has more than 16 years of experience.

Blot Stains, Don’t Rub Them

Dab stains with a cleaning solution and a clean cloth, paper towels, or a sponge. “The key is blotting. Blotting puts a small amount of pressure on the stain to soak it up,”. “Rubbing causes the particles to get ground into the carpet fibers, and this can lead to the premature breakdown of those fibers.” Always blot from the outside of the stain inward, as blotting outward can spread the stain.

The Club Soda Process

You may have heard that club soda is effective against beer and wine stains. It’s true- if you use it correctly.
Blot the area with the soda on a cloth. If that doesn’t work, mix one part white vinegar with one part water and pour it into a handheld sprayer. Spray the solution on the entire stained area and let it sit for 10 to 15 minutes to soak in. Then press a clean sponge onto the area to soak up the solution and the stain. You may have to repeat this process to eradicate the stain.

Once the stain is gone, rinse the spot with warm water. Use your hand to brush the carpet strands into their natural direction. Finally, lay white paper towels over the area and weigh them down with something heavy, like a phone book. The towels will absorb the dampness from the carpet. Leave the towels in place until the carpet is dry, usually about one day.

Try Shaving Cream

The best carpet cleaner for general stains is ordinary shaving cream—”It will remove just about every type of stain.” Apply the shaving cream directly to the stain and let it set for about 30 minutes. Once the shaving cream has set, blot it away with a dry white cloth. Finish by spraying the area with one part vinegar mixed with one part water and then wiping away the solution with a cloth.

Freeze-Dried Gum

You step in chewing gum out on the street but don’t realize it until you track that gross, sticky mess onto your carpet. To get it out, head to the freezer and grab a couple of ice cubes. “Freeze the gum with ice cubes for about 30 seconds.” Once the gum is frozen solid, use a spoon to lift up the glob and cut the strands of carpet as close to the gum as possible. If you cut only a small amount of carpet, the spot shouldn’t be noticeable.

Dishwasher Detergent vs Grease

The best method against difficult-to-clean grease stains is to use a drop or two of a grease-cutting dishwashing detergent, such as Joy, in a cup of water. It’ll cut through the grease in the carpet just the way it does on your dishes. “Put the solution in a spray bottle and spray it on the stain. “Then blot it up.” Again, you may need to do this multiple times for larger stains.

Heat Wax

Burning candles in the house can result in wax dripping onto the carpet, where it quickly dries and gets embedded. We recommend heating it back up to remove it. Place a white cloth over your iron, then put the iron on top of the wax to warm it up. Finally, scrape off the wax with a butter knife.
“When you are done doing that, lay a paper towel over the surface area and iron on the paper,”. “The wax is melting and binds to the paper, and the wax will be gone after a few more applications.”

Important note: Don’t use the iron this way for more than 30 seconds or you risk burning the carpet. And be sure to use a white cloth and white towels since colored ones can transfer the color onto the carpet when heated up, especially if you have a light-colored carpet.

Hydrogen Peroxide to the Rescue

Few carpet stains are as obvious as blood. But suffering a paper cut on your finger and getting a few drops on the carpet doesn’t mean your shag is ruined.
“Hydrogen peroxide will get out blood all day long,” First, loosen up dried blood with water mixed with a mild detergent. Then scrape off as much blood from the fibers as you can. To get the remainder, apply hydrogen peroxide directly to the stain. The solution will immediately foam when it contacts the blood, so don’t be surprised. Then dab the hydrogen peroxide with towels to dry the carpet.

Clean Pet Accidents Organically

Even well-trained pets can have an accident on the carpet. We prefer organic cleaners, which can cost about $10 for a spray bottle, rather than using chemicals. Spray the cleaner at the strain. “Some scrubbing will be necessary. Then wipe up the cleaner with a cloth or towels. Eco-Spot and similar cleaners can also be used to remove other types of stains, including coffee and sauces.

Candy Crushed

If you have kids in the house, it’s only a matter of time before candy ends up in the carpet. “Try to scrape it with a spotter brush or a butter knife,” Then, using a sponge, apply water mixed with a mild soap. “It is important to get all of the sugar out of the area on the carpet,” he points out. “Failure to do so will result in that area attracting dirt and debris easily.” Once the candy is removed, dry the spot by blotting it with a cloth or towels.

Deep-Clean Regularly

Cleaning the carpet is essential to keeping it looking fresh and new. Steam cleaning involves using a cleaning solution under pressure injected deep into the carpet via water-jet nozzles. Then the machine extracts the solution along with the dirt and debris in the carpet. “The water will penetrate the fiber all the way down to the backing and loosen any embedded soil, remove oil and grease deposits, and get your carpet cleaner than it has ever been,” He recommends deep cleaning every six months for a family of four.