“Whether its an upset stomach or a housetraining accident, pets will, at some point, make a mess in the house. The good news: Many of todays new products not only make cleaning easier, but remove any trace that an accident ever occurred. Heres how to clean up some common dog messes step by step.
Urine: If you own a puppy, senior, or ill dog, you’ve likely dealt with puddles. Follow these tips for effective cleanup
- Don’t use steam cleaners to remove urine from carpet, since heat bonds urine protein carbons to the carpet fibers. Instead, use a hand-held wet-dry vacuum to absorb the liquid
- Avoid using ammonia-based cleaners. A byproduct of decomposing waste, ammonia will smell like urine to your dog, attracting him back to the same spot.
- Use cleaning products specially designed to clean pet messes. These products use a variety of technologies to remove stains and neutralize odors.
- Don’t have any special pet cleaning products? Then gather some paper towels, water, dish washing liquid, and vinegar. Blot the stain with paper towels. Clean the spot with a few drops of dish washing liquid and one cup of warm water. Rinse with fresh water, and blot dry. Next, add one third cup of white vinegar to two-thirds cup of water, and dab on stain. Vinegar neutralizes odors. Rinse with water, and blot dry. Then sprinkle carpet with baking soda or rug deodorizer and vacuum.
- Never scrub or wipe the stain, as this distorts the carpet fibers. Always blot and press.
- What happens if you smell the accident, but don’t see it? Turn off the lights and shine a UV light (black light), available at pet-supply stores, onto the carpet or furniture to locate both old and new stains.
Vomit & Feces: These pose challenges, since the dyes in pet foods and medicines can stain carpets.
- Pick up as much of the solid material as you can, using a dustpan or spatula.
- Use a hand-held or upright steam cleaner to extract remaining soiled material.
- For fecal matter, apply a stain and odor remover designed for this purpose
- If vomit or blood is present, use a cleaning agent specifically designed to treat stains on carpet, not fabric. If the cleaning agent involves using water, use cool water, not hot.
Hair: You can’t stop pets from shedding, but you can control the loose hair.
- Brush your pets daily to remove dead hair and keep their coats in good shape.
- Use pet rakes, pet hair sponges, adhesive tape rollers, velor brushes, and lint brushes on dry upholstery and carpets to lift pet hair.
- Try a pet hair magnet to dislodge hair embedded in upholstery.
- Use a hand-held or upright vacuum with a beater brush to loosen pet hair from carpet or furniture.
- Wipe an electrostatic dusting cloth across furniture and electronic equipment, or an electrostatic sweeper across floors, to loosen and pick up pet hair.
- Before vacuuming, use one of the new antistatic deodorizing foams or sprays to break the static charge that bonds pet hair to fabric and carpet. “
Bookmark to:
