REMOVING PET STAINS AND ODORS
You know how it goes: The minute you turn your back,your pet decides that your new carpet is the perfect place to relieve himself.You clean and clean,but you can’t get rid of that smell.What can you do ? well,for starters, you need to find which area are soiled and then re-train your pet to avoid eliminating in those area.And to do that you’ll have to clean those areas,and clean them well.Here are the steps.you’ll need to take.
Find all soiled areas.A black-light bulb will usually show even old urine stains.Turn out all lights in the room;use the black-light to identify soiled area and lightly outline the areas with chalk.Clean the soiled area appropriately to remove the follow our recommendations below.
Make the areas unattractive and/or unavailable.Make the appropriate “bathroom” area attractive, (For help,read our information on Positive Reinforcement.Training your Dog or cat with Treats and praise. House training your puppy,and solving Litter Box Problems.)
Teach your pet the appropriate place to eliminate by using positive reinforcement techniques.To be successful,you need to follow all these steps.If you fail to completely clean the area,your re-training efforts will be useless.As long as your pet can smell his personal scent,he’ll continue to return to the “accident zone” Even if you can’t smell traces of urine,your pet can.Your most important chore is to remove (neutralized) that odor by following these steps.
To Clean Washable Items
Machine wash as usual,adding a one-pound box of backing soda to your regular detergent.It’s best to air dry these items if possible.
If you can still see the stain or smell the urine,machine wash the item again and add an enzymatic cleaner that breaks down pet-waste odors.Be sure to follow the directions carefully.If your pet urinates or defecates on the sheets or blankets on a bed,then cover the bed with a vinyl,flannel backed table cloth when you begin the re-training period.It’s machine washable,inexpensive,and unattractive to your pet.
To Clean Carpeted Area and Upholstery.
For “new” stains (those that are still wet):
Sock up as much of the urine as possible with a combination of newspaper and paper towels.The more fresh urine you can remove before it dries,especially from carpet,the easier it will be to remove the odor.Place a thick layer of paper towels on the wet spot and cover that with a thick layer of newspaper. If possible,put newspaper under the soiled area as well.Stand on this padding for about a minute Remove the padding and repeat the process until the area is barely damp.
If possible,put the fresh,urine-soaked paper towel in the area where it belongs-your can’t litter box or your dog’s designated outdoor”bathroom area”This will help remind your pet that eliminating isn’t a “bad” behavior as long as it’s done in the right place.
Rinse the “accident zone” thoroughly with clean,cool water.After rinsing,remove as much of the water as possible by blotting or by using a “wet vac.”
For Stains that already set:
To remove all traces of heavy stains in carpeting,consider renting an extractor or wet vac from a local hardware store.This machine operates much like a vacuum cleaner and is efficient and economical Extracting/wet vac machines do the best job of forcing clean water through your carpet and then forcing the dirty water back out again.When using these machines or cleaners,be sure to follow the instructions carefully,Don’t use any chemicals with these machines;they work much more effectively with plain water.
Once the are is really clean,use a high-quality pet odor neutralizer available at pet supply store.Be sure to read and follow the cleaner’s directions for use.including testing the cleaner on a small,hidden portion of fabric first to be sure it doesn’t stain.
If the area still looks stained after it’s completely dry from extracting and neutralizing,try any good carpet stain remover.Avoid using steam cleaners to clean urine odors from carpet or upholstery.The heat will permanently set the stain and the odors such as ammonia or vinegar.From your pet’s perspective, these don’t effectively eliminate or cover the urine odor and may actually encourage your pet to reinforce the urine scent mark in that area.
If you’ve previously used cleaners or chemicals of any kind on the area,then neutralizing cleaners won’t be effective until you’ve rinsed every trace of the old cleaner from the carpet.Even if you haven’t used chemicals recently.