The Dos and Don’ts of the Effective Carpet Cleaning of Pet Stains

Although pets make wonderful companions and unconditional friends, there are also a few downsides to pet ownership. One of these is the fact that most pets have occasional accidents on your carpets. Who knows what goes on in a feline or canine mind that causes them to do their duty inappropriately, but it happens, and the result is a smelly stain that permeates the carpet, the pad, and even the subflooring underneath. At this point it does no good to scream at your pet who probably has no clue as to why you’re upset with him. You need some tips on carpet cleaning pet stains to help you put this “oops” behind you.

One of the worst things about a pet stain is that as long as your animal can smell it, he believes the area is an appropriate place for him to go again. So when you clean up the initial stain, you have to make sure it’s done thoroughly enough to remove the deep-down smells as well as the surface discoloration. Before you even start trying to clean, however, you need to investigate the stain. Using a black light will actually make the stain fluoresce to the point where you’ll be able to draw around it with chalk. Obviously you want to remove the entire spot, and you may even find a couple you didn’t know about in the process.

Never try to steam clean a pet stain. The steam will cause the odor and stain to bond with the carpet fibers which means it can never be eliminated. You also want to avoid using chemical products on a pet stain. Although this may go against the grain of everything you’ve ever learned about cleaning with strong chemicals such as ammonia or vinegar, with pet stains the chemicals are going to have a negative offense. They will not mask the smells, and your pet may well be encouraged to use the area for the same purposes again.

The best thing to do with a pet stain is to treat it as soon as possible. Using paper towels and old newspapers, blot up as much of the moisture as you can, then rinse the spot using clean, cool water. Once again you need to blot out just as much of the water as possible, because stain and odor will be removed along with the water. If you can still smell the odor in the carpet, rinse and blot again. After you’ve cleaned the stain up as best you can and the area has dried thoroughly, use a pet odor neutralizer to complete your carpet cleaning pet stain process.