My Pet!

First the bad news: Not all urine stains are removable. The types of damage caused vary according to the urine content. This is determined by the pet’s diet, age, sex, and any medications being taken. If it is removable, the following steps may get it out.

1. Blot up the urine as soon as you discover it. Use plain white paper towels to avoid dye transfer.

2. Mix 1/4 teaspoon liquid dishwashing detergent (non-bleach and non-lanolin) in a cup of warm water. Apply this to the spot.

3. Blot up the moisture, rinse with warm water, and apply more of the detergent mixture. Rinse, and continue the process until you don’t see any urine transfer to the paper towels.

4. Mix two tablespoons of ammonia in a cup of water. Apply this to the spot, blot it up, rinse with warm water, and repeat. Blot the area dry.

5. Mix one cup of white vinegar with two cups of water. Apply this to the spot, blot it up, rinse, and repeat. Rinse well when you are done, and blot the area to remove as much moisture as possible.

6. Put a stack of plain white paper towels on the spot and weigh them down with something flat and heavy (something that won’t lose its color if it gets wet). Change the paper towels occasionally, until the spot is dry.

The faster you get to the spot, the more likely it is that it can be removed. When urine spots develop over time, and are not noticed right away, the dyes and carpet fibers may be permanently damaged. In beige carpet, the stains will appear red, yellow or orange. Color can sometimes be restored by treating with a solution of two tablespoons of clear, non-sudsy ammonia in a cup of water.

Getting Urine Odor Out Of Carpet

To get urine odor out, it’s often necessary to remove virtually all the urine - especially in the case of cat urine. Many products simply mask the odor, and fail even at that during times of high humidity. Some pet stores and veterinary offices now have enzyme treatments that work better, and professional carpet cleaners can apply these for you if you aren’t sure how to do it.

If odor persists, you may have to remove that section of carpet. You can replace it with scraps if you have saved them, or cut a piece from an area that isn’t visible. Unfortunately, sometimes the padding and even a section of flooring has to be removed to totally eliminate odor from old urine stains. Try the simple steps above before you lose hope though, and good luck.

Steve Gillman has worked in the carpet cleaning industry for years. For more carpet-care information, and specific stain-by-stain removal instructions, visit http://www.HowToRemoveCarpetStains.com

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Here’s the short lesson on blood stain removal: act fast. Carpets today usually come with stain-resistant treatments, so even blood can be removed if you get it right away. The longer the delay, the more difficult removing any carpet stain becomes, and there are no stain-proof carpets yet. With blood, the process of coagulation makes it especially hard to get the stain out if it is old and dried.

Step-By-Step Blood Stain Removal

1. Rinse and extract the blood stain with cold water. Apply just a little at a time, so you don’t spread the stain. Hot water can set the stain, making it permanent, so use only cold water. Add the water, then blot it up with a clean white cloth or white paper towels. You can also suck the solution out with a shop-vac, which means less of a chance of spreading the stain.

2. Remove the remaining stain with a solution of a few drops of Dawn dish washing detergent in a cup of cold water. Work it into the blood stain, but be careful not to spread the stain. Blot the area with a clean white cotton cloth or white paper towels, but don’t rub the stain, as this can damage the fibers. Damaged fibers hold stains and get stained in the future more easily.

3. Repeat the process as many times as is necessary, or until there is no more transfer of the stain from the carpet to the cloth or paper towels. Then blot up excess water when you are done.

4. Leave the fan blowing on the area to dry it quickly. Otherwise, set a stack of paper towels (white) on the stained area, or a couple clean white cotton cloths, and put something heavy on them. Leave this to blot up the remaining liquid, replacing the cloth or paper towels as necessary. Fast drying keeps any remaining stain deeper in the carpet from “wicking up” to the surface and becoming visible again.

Some have reported good luck using club soda to remove blood stains, so if the above instructions don’t work, you can try that next. It’s not easy to predict which stains will come out and which won’t until you try. This is because of various types of carpet fibers and other factors. For example, wool and other natural fibers are usually more difficult to remove stains from. As with all stains, use water first before trying other solvents for blood stain removal.

Steve Gillman has worked in the carpet cleaning industry for years. For more on carpet-care, carpet stains, and specific stain-by-stain removal instructions, visit http://www.HowToRemoveCarpetStains.com

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It’s not always possible to remove kool aid stains from carpet. All “red stains” are difficult to get out. Red coloring used in pop, candy, and other foods generally doesn’t flush out with water. However, if you try the methods used by professional carpet cleaners, you may get that stain out.

First, use a shop-vac to suck some of the kool aid out, if you can get to the stain quickly. This can stop the spill from entering the carpet fibers. Getting out some or all of the remaining stain takes time.

Start with Dawn dishwashing detergent - the original blue type. Add five or six drops to two cups of warm water. Dampen a white cotton cloth with this solution and lay it over the stain. Then place a clothes iron on top of it, set on “low”.

Let this sit for fifteen minutes, and don’t press down. The red stain will start to wick up into the cloth. You should see red on the cloth. Fold it to use a clean part or apply a new cloth, and repeat the process.

It takes patience to get red stains out of carpet, but even year-old Kool Aid stains have been removed using this method. Repeat the process again and again until there is no more transfer of the red stain to the cloth. Rinse the spot with water, blot it up, and dry it quickly. Quick drying prevents any stain deeper down from wicking up to the surface.

To summarize: use clean white cotton cloth (several), low heat, and don’t press or rub. Let the color wick up into the cloth at its own rate, then rinse and dry the area quickly. You can, at the very least, lighten Kool Aid stains and other red stains in carpet using this technique.

Steve Gillman has worked in the carpet cleaning industry for years. For more carpet-care information, and specific stain-by-stain removal instructions, visit http://www.HowToRemoveCarpetStains.com

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