Pets are man’s best friends. They can be great company or in the case of dogs, efficient bodyguards. Pets have also been associated with therapeutic functions for their friendly and comforting characteristics. Despite their great qualities, these friends can leave you confused about how to get pet stains out of a carpet. But why would this be the case?
Acquiring a pet and letting it live with you in the house implies training and helping the pet adapt to its new environment. One of the key areas a pet owner focuses on is toilet training. We can teach pets to give signs when they need to pee or poop, or train them to climb on an inside pet toilet. We can also create a walking routine to allow them to do it in the woods or on the glass then collect to poop with a plastic bag for proper disposal.
Even with the best of training, pets may let their instinctual nature prevail and leave a ‘surprise package’ on your carpet now and then. There are several reasons pets may pee or poop on your carpet causing it to stain:
- You have not created a routine walk schedule and your pet does not know when the chance to go pee or poop is going to come.
- You have not succeeded in training the pet to use the indoor pet toilet.
- The pet senses a kind of indifference from you and is looking for attention.
- Your pet may be going through some form of anxiety.
Pets may also stain your carpet with vomit. This might announce food poisoning, a sickness that upsets the pet’s stomach or simply indigestion. Whatever the cause, vomit on your carpet just complicates your search for an answer on how to get pet stains out of a carpet.
Whatever reason drives your pet to dirty your carpet, the truth is that the stain needs to go. We discuss two methods that will rid your carpet of the stain and eliminate the bad odour.
1 – The vinegar and baking soda method
This method cleans your carpet without any form of rubbing and leaves it spotless and odour-free.
Step #1: Rid your carpet of the waste
If the pet has pooped or vomited on your carpet, you need to scrape the solid waste and dispose it into the toilet. This could be done using a dustpan or, for those who can stand it, by wearing gloves and collecting the poop with your hands, then emptying it into the toilet.
If the stain is from urine, place a couple of absorbent paper napkins and press them to absorb the liquid. This should also be done for vomit and poop once the solid wastes have been collected. You may also opt for a dampened rag to blot the stain spot.
Step #2: Soak the stain with vinegar
Pour some white vinegar from the centre of the stain spot to saturate it. White vinegar does not stain and is your preferred option.
Step #3 Cover the stain with baking soda
Sprinkle a generous amount of baking soda on the soaked stain. Mixing the vinegar and baking soda produces a fizzing sound, and indicator that the products are sinking into the carpet fibre. This removes the pet stain from the carpet and eliminates the bad odour.
Step #4: Leave for a day and night
The vinegar-baking soda solution needs time to neutralise the pet stain. Leaving the solution on the spot for a day and night will give you the best results. You can place a bucket lid over the spot to prevent anyone in the house trampling on the mess. The bucket rid will also be a reminder that you still have some work to do on the stain spot.
Step#5: Vacuum
After letting it settle for 24 hours, scrape the baking soda from the carpet with a dustpan. You may use a hand brush to sweep the baking soda into a dustpan.
Vacuum the stain area to remove the remnant baking soda. Your carpet will be back to its usual appeal and will be completely from the smell of pet waste.
2 – Detergent and water method
The method answers the ‘how to get pet stains out of a carpet’ perplexity by using cold water, detergent, and a rag to remove the dirt from your carpet.
Step #1: Remove the solid waste from your carpet
As with the vinegar and baking soda method, the first step is to clean the carpet of any solid waste from your pet. A damp rag or paper serviettes are then used to blot the stain spot.
Step #2: Clean the stain spot with water and detergent
Pour two cups of cold water into a bucket and add a teaspoon of detergent. Avoid using hot water as it sets the stain and odour into the fibre. Dip a clean rag into the soapy water and dap the stain. Work from the outside to the inside to avoid spreading the stain. Repeat until the stain is eliminated. Avoid any form of rubbing since that will ruin your carpet.
Step #3: Rinse thoroughly
Even though the soapy water may remove the stain, leaving the spot without rinsing will mean allowing the detergent to stay on the carpet which may ruin the carpet fibres. Spray the stain area with water and use a clean towel to blot. Alternatively, you may replace the soapy water in the bucket with clean water and use a clean rag to blot. Blend the edges to ensure the stain area does not stand out from the rest of the carpet. Leave to dry.
Step #4: Vacuum
When the carpet is dry, vacuum to remove any mess from the cleaning and bring back the carpets natural look.
In summary
Pets are a great companion for those who love keeping them. But pets can sometimes be enemy to your house carpeting and leave you continuously wondering how to get pet stains out of a carpet. When a pet poops, passes urine or vomits on your carpet, you are left with the task of cleaning the carpet.
Using vinegar and baking powder or water and detergent are two optimum methods that pet owners have successfully used to rid their carpet of the pet mess and eliminate any bad odour. You can make your choice of the method based on whether you want the natural method with vinegar and baking soda or prefer the one that uses a cleaning product. Besides, the first is slower while the second can be accomplished in a few hours.
