Using Vinegar is one method to Remove Pet Stains

This article will teach you “How to” remove pet stains including the two most common complaints:

• Dog Urine and Feces – the most common pet stain complaint
• Cat Urine and Feces

These stains can be extremely damaging to carpet fibers. Once the stain is removed training your pet where to go is essential to avoid further problems. Cat and Dog urine can be expensive problems if care is not taken to correct the disruptive behavior.

With the ever increasing number of household pets in American homes, pet owners are having a hard time keeping up with their cats and dogs. There are a few tips you must know when cleaning up these stains to keep from causing permanent damage to your carpet.

Pet Urine Removal Instructions

Blot urine with a very absorbent towel, pressing the towel with your heal, while standing on one foot. This allows you to soak up the urine from the pad and the carpet. Do this 3 or 4 times with new places on the towel.

After the urine has been removed, spray a solution of white vinegar and water (50/50 mixture.) Leave in the carpet. This neutralizes the acid in the urine that could discolor and distort the carpet fibers.

Never rub or scrub the carpet, while cleaning up pet urine or any other stain. This only pushes the stain into the carpet fibers and padding.

Cleaning Pet Feces from Carpet Professional Advice

Wait for feces to dry!!! Do not even think about any type of clean up until the poop has dried completely. If you do, the feces will absorb into the fibers and cause permanent discoloration.

Once feces has dried (about 24 hours) pick up and discard. What you see left on the carpet needs to be cleaned up by a professional (Unless you own a carpet spotter like the Bissel Little Green Machine which can be used to extract the feces from the carpet fibers).

Once the professional arrives at your house, make sure he doesn’t apply any soap or other chemicals to the remaining feces. They first need to extract the stain with clean hot water. If some of the stain remains after going over it 4 to 5 times, some detergent can be applied and extracted.

After feces has been completely cleaned up, a sanitizer needs to be applied to kill any remaining bacteria. Applying these steps when cleaning up pet stains will save you costly replacement and extend the life of your carpet.

Remove Cat and Dog Urine From Carpet Do-it-Yourself Method

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.

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

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

• 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.

• 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.

• 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.

• 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.

Article Source Reference

How to Remove Carpet Stains

Most carpet manufacturers recommend “Hot Water Extraction” to clean their brands of carpeting – including Shaw (the worlds largest manufacturer), but that may not be the best solution for all cleaning needs.

Simple Carpet Cleaning Guide Facts:

• Hot Water – effective cleaning requires Hot Water – in the neighborhood of 140 degrees delivered to the carpet surface (about the same as your dishwasher). Always buy a machine that heats the water. This is the most important carpet cleaning tip – hot water!

• Lift – Vacuum Lift is measured by how far up a glass tube the unit can pull a vertical column of water. Commercial grade equipment will lift in excess of 100 inches.

• Noise – Here is a carpet cleaning tip almost everyone overlooks: carpet cleaning equipment can make considerable noise – be sure to wear hearing protection if you are going to be cleaning for an extended period of time.

• Chemicals – Chemical cleaning should be applied to the carpet BEFORE the hot water extraction process. The carpet extraction equipment then lifts out the chemicals pH Balance – When using chemicals be sure to check with your dealer to make sure you use the proper Acid rinse (most chemicals have a high pH base and this needs to be neutralized in the rinse process).

• Dry Cleaning – all cleaning methods use some amount of water! Dry cleaning methods rely upon chemicals to bond to the dirt then are “dry vacuumed” later. Some dry cleaning companies also employ “brightening” agents to make the carpet appear cleaner. We recommend hot water extraction not dry cleaning.

Your dealer or janitorial supply company can help you pick the right cleaning chemicals and purchase or rent the right equipment.

Comparison of Carpet Cleaning Methods

Prepared by Donald W. Terry, Sr. Bane-Clene ®

There are four basic methods for cleaning carpet:

• Carpet Shampooing
• Dry Powder Method
• Bonnet Cleaning
• “External Extraction”® Method

Shampoo Method

The theory in the shampoo method is to generate a lot of foam in the carpet, allow this foam to dry, have the resulting residue attract the soil, and vacuum up the residue and soil the next day.

Carpet shampoo products must have the following characteristics which dictate their ingredients:

• Very high foam levels to reduce wetting.
• Very stable foam.
• High lubricity to reduce damage to the carpet fibers from the brushes.
• Dry to a non-sticky residue.

Therefore, a carpet shampoo must contain a very foamy chemical. The most common ingredient is sodium lauryl sulfate or one of its relatives. Sometime when you’re taking a shower or bath, look at the ingredient statement on your hair shampoo bottle. It will say “Contains sodium lauryl sulfate” or some similar wording. Sodium Lauryl Sulfate and its relatives exhibit a very high and very stable foam and are only fair detergents. The problem is that they dry to a soft, sticky residue which will cause resoiling.

Because of the resoiling problem, carpet shampoos will frequently also have an anti-resoiling additive such as a resin to reduce this resoiling tendency.

Because shampoos are actually very poor detergents and basically simply bury the dirt, they frequently also contain high levels of optical brighteners which take invisible ultraviolet light and convert it to visible light, thus making the carpet appear cleaner and brighter than it really is, for a while. It will eventually give the carpet a yellow cast and the yellow cannot be removed.

Two primary types of machines are used for this process:

• Cylindrical Foam
• Rotary Shampoo

The Cylindrical Foam Shampoo machine uses an air compressor to create dry foam before the foam is applied to the carpet and the carpet is then agitated with a revolving cylindrical brush which combs the foam through carpet pile. This method will leave dirt trapped in the carpet pile. Carpet must be thoroughly vacuumed before and after cleaning.

The Rotary Shampoo method uses an ordinary rotary floor machine (the same kind used for stripping wax), sprays shampoo onto the carpet from a dispensing tank, and a rotary brush whips the detergent to a foam. Most carpet mills and carpet fiber producers discourage the use of rotary brushes on carpet because of the potential damage that can occur. Overwetting is common with this method which can cause jute straining, shrinkage, and odor.

Shampoo methods are inferior due to poor cleaning plus resoiling problems. The Rotary Shampoo method can damage the carpet, especially cut pile (which is what most residential carpet is).

Absorbent Cleaners

This method is often called “dry cleaning” since virtually no water is used.

In this method, dry absorbent compound (containing small amounts of water, detergent, and solvent,) is sprinkled over carpet or worked into the carpet with a machine. This purpose of this cleaner is to attract and absorb soil. Mechanical agitation from a brush works the cleaner through the carpet.

These products usually contain an absorbent carrier, water, detergent, and solvent. The theory is that the liquids dissolve the soil and this soil/detergent/solvent mixture is absorbed into the carrier and is then vacuumed up. They are often used with a detergent pre-spray in heavily soiled areas.

The absorbent cleaner most commonly is organic, but may also be polymers. The compound is supposed to absorb the dislodged soil and is then vacuumed away. Carpet must be thoroughly vacuumed before and after cleaning.

Very thorough vacuuming should be used to ensure that most of the carrier comes out of the carpet. With the extremely fine powder types, indoor air quality can be reduced. If a white powder starts appearing on shoes and cuffs of pants, too much was used and it was not thoroughly vacuumed up. A common problem is for this white powder to reappear after wet extraction cleaning.

This cleaning method has the advantage of no drying time for interim maintenance, since little water is used. This makes if a common maintenance cleaner.

Host®, Capture®, Love My Carpet®, Arm and Hammer®, and Carpet Fresh® would be included in this category.

Bonnet Method  “Carbonated Cleaning”

This method is sometimes called “dry cleaning”, which is a misnomer, since water is used.

Bonnet Shampooing is simply an adaptation of hard floor spray buffing to carpets.

This method for carpet maintenance consists of the use of a rotary or oscillating brush adapted with a stiff brush or drive block designed to drive wet, damp or dry pads. The carpet can be sprayed with the cleaning solution and/or the pads can be soaked in the cleaning solution and squeezed lightly before placing the pad under the driving brush.

The maintenance brochure published by the world’s largest carpet manufacturer, Shaw Industries, suggests not using this method, especially on cut pile, due to pile distortion and fiber damage. This method has very limited capability for soil removal and leaves much of the detergent in the pile since it employs no real extraction. As a result, rapid re-soiling often occurs. Another disadvantage is that the spinning bonnet may distort the fibers of cut pile carpet, fuzzing the pile and leaving distinct swirl marks.

Sometimes, carbonated water is used to (in theory) give better soil suspension and bring down the pH. Companies using this method frequently use “scare” tactics to convince consumers that extraction cleaning or steam cleaning will destroy the carpet.

Check with your carpet manufacturer because many leading carpet mills recommend against this method of cleaning.

“External Extraction”®

This method is often call “Warm Water Extraction”, “Hot Water Extraction” or “Steam Cleaning” and is the cleaning method nearly all carpet manufacturers and carpet fiber producers recommend.

This is the only cleaning method classified as “deep cleaning”. All the others are considered “light surface cleaning” because they are incapable of removing soil deep in the pile. Also, all other methods leave large amounts of cleaning agent in the carpet after cleaning.

The maintenance brochure published by the world’s largest carpet manufacturer, Shaw Industries, recommends this method, because its own research indicates that it provides the best capability for cleaning.

This method is frequently called “steam” cleaning due to the fine spray of water used to force dirt out of the carpet which is sucked up by the vacuum slot immediately in front of the spray. Seldom is real live steam used, however. This process consists of spraying a solution of water and detergent into the carpet pile and recovering the water and soil with a powerful vacuum into a holding tank. This can be done from a truck-mounted unit outside the home with only the hose and floor tool brought inside, or by a portable, system brought into the home or office.

From a health standpoint, the truck-mounted system is preferred because the dirty air and humidity are exhausted outside rather than recirculated around the house. Additionally, truck-mounted systems usually are more powerful than portable units and do a much better cleaning job and get the carpet dry more quickly.

With some truck-mounted systems (called PTO’s), the vehicle itself must run in neutral during the cleaning and in many others a separate engine (sometimes with a propane or oil-fired heater) is used to power the unit and heat the water. In both cases, the van MUST be parked well away from the house and positioned so that exhaust fumes do not enter the house. All-electric systems, such as the Bane-Clene systems, do not have this problem.

Depending upon the equipment, temperatures may range from cold tap water to boiling hot water and even super heated water over 200 degrees F. Of course, with extremely high temperatures, there are dangers of scalding should a solution line break.

The choice of the proper cleaning system is extremely important. Some systems leave residues which promote re-soiling and defeat the whole purpose of cleaning. Some methods actually damage the carpet fibers and shorten the life of the carpet. Check directly with the carpet manufacturer for recommendations.

Cleaning Frequency

If carpet is cleaned before it becomes too unsightly, the cleaning chore will be easier and more successful. Allowing the carpet to become overly soiled may result in irreversible damage. It is a common myth that cleaning the carpet before it is absolutely necessary will cause it to get dirty faster. This goes back to the days when the shampoo methods were the most common.

Carpet in a typical household should be professionally cleaned every 12 to 18 months depending upon the number of residents, amount and type of activity, and whether the carpet is light or dark color.

Professional Cleaning versus “Do-It-Yourself” Cleaning

The maintenance brochure published by the world’s largest carpet manufacturer, Shaw Industries, recommends professional cleaning over “Do-It-Yourself” because of the potential problems that can occur from using rental equipment – such as yellowing, overwetting, fiber tip damage, severe resoiling, overuse of detergents, etc.

Most rental units available do not adequately clean and may actually damage the carpet.

Locator Services

Call the Bane-Clene locator service at 1-800-428-9512 for the name and phone number of a trained certified professional carpet cleaner in your zip code area.

Carpet Cleaing Tips and Advise from the experts: Always clean up spills quickly to avoid permanent stains. Clean the spill with cold watter by blotting NOT by wiping. Use clean white terry clothes or paper towels (make sure the towels do NOT have a design on them as the designs often “bleed” color into the carpet. If it’s a dry spill try vacuuming first with a canister vacuum NOT an upright as the brushes may distribute the spill and create a blurry stain.

If you are going to use a cleaner be sure to “spot test” an in conspicuous spot first. You don’t want to use a carpet stain remover only to find out the stain is made worse by the chemical. Carpet stain removal is part art part science. The same method doesn’t work for all kinds of stains. If you are cleaning a carpet spot be very careful not to spread the stain by reacting without thinking. You need to think about what you have spilled and how it might react BEFORE you act.

Always start with the weakest formulation. That is water, then water with mild detergent, then move up to the harsher chemicals as needed. You want to clean a carpet spot not create a bigger mess. Be sure to read all instructions. Carpet spot removal products are chemicals designed to lift and remove carpet stains and may remove your skin or cause a severe rash. Wear rubber gloves and make sure there is plenty of ventilation. You do not want to breathe the fumes.

If you needed to use a chemical carpet stain remover be sure to rinse the spot with water afterward. We recommend everyone own a carpet spotter, and our choice is the inexpensive Bissel “Little Green Machine”. It’s a bit noisy, and not all that powerful but it does exactly what it’s designed to do. You won’t use this to detail your car but it’s great for coffee stains, dog urine, cat urine, and those other everyday type stains that just happen. The key is to act quickly. And as far as pen ink goes – you may not get the stain out and will need to find products to cover or dye the stain, but that’s a different subject entirely.

Cleaning Carpet Spots and Stains Caused by Specific Substances

Cleaning Carpet Spots Caused by Permanent Marker

How do you remove permanent marker stains from carpet? Well, the bad news is that it’s called “permanent” marker for a reason. Depending on how new and how deep the stains are, you may not be able to remove them completely. You can almost always lighten stains, though, and sometimes make them unnoticible. There are other things you can do to hide the stain as well. Start with the method here to get out as much as you can.

First, thoroughly vacuum the area. This removes any loose dirt, dust or other substances that might give you trouble when you work on the stain. For the carpet stain removal solvent, use rubbing alcohol or a non-oily hairspray. Use a small amount on a clean white cloth, and dab at the stain. You should see transfer of the stain to the cloth. Use another dry cloth to blot up the solution between applications.

Just apply the solution and blot it up several times. Then rinse the spot with clean water and blot that up. Finally, dry the area thoroughly. Get out the remaining carpet stain without a carpet stain remover.

If you couldn’t get it all out, and if the stain isn’t too deep, it’s time to cut out some carpet – just a little. Try snipping away the stained edges with small scissors or with a razor blade or exacto knife. Use tweezers to carefully pull out severely stained fibers. When you try the latter, you might want to remove clean carpet strands from another, hidden area in the room, and then glue them into the stained area. Then leave a heavy object on the spot for several days before walking on it. That’s how you remove permanent marker in all but the worst cases.

Removing Candle Wax from Carpet

You really can get candle wax out of carpet. It’s not always easy, but wax can be removed with patience. Dyes from the wax are a different matter. Getting those out depends on what’s in the particular dye. Start by scraping as much wax out of the carpet as you can, with a spoon. Afterwards, put an ice cube or two on the wax to freeze it, leaving them there for a minute. This should harden the wax enough to break it up and get more of it out.

To get the rest of the candle wax out of the carpet, cover the spot with a clean brown paper bag, and place a clothes iron on it, set on low. This liquefies the wax and lets it transfer to the paper. Use a new paper bag as often as necessary until you get all of the wax. This can take some time.

Wax Dyes In The Carpet. When the first three steps don’t get all of the wax out of the carpet, you can try rubbing alcohol. Be sure to use the clear alcohol, not the colored ones. Rubbing alcohol can also help remove stains from dyes in the wax.

Take a white cloth or a plain white paper towel wetted with the alcohol, and dab at the area. Continue this with a fresh towel until you get no more transfer of the wax or the dyes to the towel. When done, whichever method you used to get the candle wax out of the carpet, rinse the area with clean water. Blot up the excess water, and dry the area quickly. A fan can help with this. Quick drying prevents any of the dye stains deeper down from wicking up of the surface.

Beer Stains, Wine Stains, Cola Stains, Coffee Stains

Blot with a paper towel to remove as much of the stain as you can, then neutralize with a white vinegar solution made up of 1/4 cup white vinegar in 3/4 cup of water. Soak the spot with white vinegar solution then blot to remove the excess moisture. A spray bottle works well for applying the solution. If you the stain has still not lifted mix 1 teaspoon of dish detergent such as Joy into 1 quart of water and apply to the area. Blot to work the detergent into the stain, then blot again to lift the stain. Repeat until the stain is gone. Then rinse with water and blot excess water up. Do not use dish soap that contains bleach or lanolin as it will damage your carpet.

Fruit Juice Stains and Berry Stains

Remove as much of the spill as you can by scraping the excess up with a dull knife. If you have a wet vacuum it works well for sucking up the excess. If the spot has already dried you will need to saturate it with water so that you can lift the excess. First try removing with water by spraying the area and then blotting with paper towel. If that doesn’t completely lift it then apply a small mix up 1/2 teaspoon dish soap in 1 quart of water and apply the mixture to the area. Continue blotting to lift the stain.

Continue applying until the stain is completely lifted. Then rinse area with water using a spray bottle, and blot to remove excess water. If the soap mix did not lift the entire stain then moisten the area with 3% hydrogen peroxide and let stand for on 2 hours. Blot and repeat the hydrogen peroxide treatment until carpet the stain is gone. When exposed to light hydrogen peroxide returns to a water state so you don’t need to rinse just dab up the excess moisture.

Blood Stains Catsup Stains and Vomit Stains

Blot up as much of the stain as possible then neutralize with an ammonia solution made up of 1 tablespoon ammonia and 3/4 cup of water. Using a spray bottle saturate the spot with the ammonia solution but make sure not to get the carpet backing wet. Then blot with a white paper towel to remove excess moisture. All solutions for removing blood should be cold. First mix up a solution of 1 quart water and 1/2 teaspoon dish soap. Then apply a small quantity of detergent solution to the spot. Blot to work the detergent into the affected area. Continue applying and blotting until the stain is fully removed. If the soap mix did not lift the entire stain then moisten the area with 3% hydrogen peroxide and let stand for on 2 hours. Blot and repeat the hydrogen peroxide treatment until carpet the stain is gone. When exposed to light hydrogen peroxide returns to a water state so you don’t need to rinse just dab up the excess moisture.

Chewing Gum Stains – Glue

The quickest way to clean up these types of stains is to “freeze” them first. The quickest easiest way to freeze these materials is with canned air (ike you would use to dust computer equipment). Spray the can upright and it sprays air, hold it upside down and it sprays freezing cold air. Easy, quick and useful. If you don’t have canned air then take an ice cube and apply to the gum. This will freeze the gum. Shatter the frozen gum with the handle of a knife then vacuum up.

Chocolate Stains

Remove as much of the spill as you can by scraping the excess up with a dull knife and the blotting with paper towel. Blot up as much of the stain as possible then neutralize with an ammonia solution made up of 1 tablespoon ammonia and ¾ cup of water. Using a spray bottle saturate the spot with the ammonia solution but make sure not to get the carpet backing wet. Then blot with a white paper towel to remove excess moisture. If the stain has not lifted mix up a solution of 1 quart water and ½ teaspoon dish soap. Continue applying and blotting until the stain is fully removed. When stain is gone rinse with clear water and blot.

Crayon Stains Paint Stains and Cosmetics or Makeup

Remove as much of the crayon by blotting with paper towel. Use a dull knife to scrape up what you can. Then apply rubbing alcohol to a white cloth or cotton ball and blot. You may have to apply extra if the crayon goes deep into the pile but make sure the backing doesn’t get wet. First mix up a solution of 1 quart water and ½ teaspoon dish soap. Then apply a small quantity of detergent solution to the spot. Blot to work the detergent into the affected area.

Continue applying and blotting until the stain is fully removed. If the soap mix did not lift the entire stain then moisten the area with 3% hydrogen peroxide and let stand for on 2 hours. Blot and repeat the hydrogen peroxide treatment until carpet the stain is gone. When exposed to light hydrogen peroxide returns to a water state so you don’t need to rinse just dab up the excess moisture.

Remember always follow the manufacturers instructions for stain removal. Combined with these carpet removal tips you should have no problem lifting the toughest of stains.

John Murray makes it easy to go through the carpet buying process and provides tips to keep your carpet lasting long. To learn more and receive your free mini-course visit the carpet rugs website.

Additional Resources

• How to Remove Carpet Stains
• Carpets Guide