Whether your pet has yet to develop control over his bladder or he gets into the trash and later throws it back up, cleaning up is part of being a dog owner. If you haven’t experienced this yet, you will eventually deal with stains on your carpets as well as the accompanying odors.
For liquid stains, the ShamWow is the towel to use. These bright orange fabrics can soak up as much as 12 times their weight, leaving practically no trace of urine in the carpet or its padding. But it’s important that you clean up the mess as soon as possible after your dog makes it. It’s also a good idea to rinse the spot with cool water after soaking up the urine and then blot the spot again with a clean ShamWow.
If you can’t get to the stain immediately, you may have to do more than just soaking it up. Don’t use ammonia for cleaning as it will make your carpet smell more like urine, encouraging your dog to eliminate again in the same spot. If you’re going to use a regular household cleaner, baking soda or hydrogen peroxide is your best bet. Hydrogen peroxide can bleach out colors, though, so try it on a small, unobvious spot first before using it on a large part of the carpet.
Since dogs have a great sense of smell, they can smell the residue from their previous accident and this makes them feel that they’ve marked the spot for their next bathroom break. This is why your pooch keeps going back to the same area.
To neutralize the odor, use baking soda and vinegar. After you’ve cleaned up a pet mess, sprinkle the spot with some baking soda. Leave it there overnight, then sweep or vacuum it up. Next, neutralize the alkaline baking soda and remaining alkaline odor with a strong vinegar wash – combine two cups of white distilled vinegar and a gallon of water. Apply the vinegar wash to the affected area then rinse. Don’t worry about the strong smell of the vinegar; it’ll go away in a few hours.
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