How To Clean Up After A Pet Accident

There are A LOT of ways to “clean-up” after you pet leaves a “deposit” on your carpet. And NO MATTER how “house trained,” “pad-trained” they are there WILL BE accidents. Usually the biggest mistake pet owners make is WHAT they use to clean up with. Typically a carpet spot cleaner or some kind of soap. People associate soap with clean and they more soap means CLEANER. Unfortunately for carpet, soap means STICKY and sticky means dark, discolored spots.

You can TEST a carpet spot cleaner BEFORE you buy it by shaking it up or giving it what we call the “Shake Test.” Almost all carpet spot cleaners a soapy/foamy which leaves a sticky residue. The sticky residue collects dirt, debris, etc. and dark, discolored spots appear. It is a little like fly paper…

Even if  you purchased your carpet spot cleaner AT THE PET STORE, or even if it has pets all over the bottle. Just because a place sells it doesn’t mean it works or isn’t going to cause problems.

Our non-soapy carpet spot cleaner IS available for purchase. Click HERE.

Here is how to clean up after a pet accident.

USE AT YOUR OWN RISK!

FRESH ACCIDENTS

Most spots can easily be dealt with IF you catch them before they dry.

If it hasn’t dried, the first thing you want to do is absorb as much of the pet urine as possible. MICROFIBER TOWELS are best. Blot up the liquid pee stain. Apply heavy pressure to remove as much as possible, stand on it. Shift your weight around on it. Repeat this process as necessary until you have removed as much dog pee as you can.

You can the use a disinfectant on the area to kill the germs, viruses and bacteria.

IF you have a “shampooer” or a home cleaner OR if it is a BIG MESS, rent/use a Rug Doctor/Bissell. But DO NOT buy or use anything SOAPY in it. IF you do, KEEP RINSING until you get all the soap out. These are great for large vomit or diarrhea. You’ll want to use a disinfectant after you’ve cleaned everything up.

If you want to use a cleaner on the spot a good DIY Carpet Spot Cleaner is peroxide and water 50/50 or White  Vinegar (for odor) and water. You can mix it weaker if you’d like.

OLD ACCIDENTS

Since most carpet spot cleaners CAUSE problems, we suggest peroxide and water 50/50. You can also try applying just water to the spot.

Most spots can easily be dealt with IF you catch them before they dry. There is a good chance that if the spot has dried the substance has bonded with/to the carpet. As long as the bond can be broken the “spot” will come out. Carpet is very, very porous, pretty much like clothing material. And once something bonds to it, it can be VERY difficult to get out.

ODOR ISSUES

A lot of pet stores and the like will recommend enzymes to address odor. While they can work we recommend using a disinfectant of some kind. Disinfectants kills germs, bacteria, viruses and odor. If you can find one with eucalyptus, that’s even better. So AFTER you’ve gotten up what you can of the visual spot. Spray it with disinfectant and let it dry. Most disinfectants state “stay wet for 10 minutes.” Always follow manufactures labels.

If you have any questions about how to clean up after a pet accident please don’t hesitate to call/text CitruSolution Carpet Cleaning 770.652.0630