Taking care of your puppy includes a large list of chores but the main issue has always been one – pee stains everywhere around the house. While a puddle of urine in the middle of your corridor isn’t that bad, when it lands on the carpet things can get a little tricky, especially when it comes to taking it out of there. Various pet carpet cleaners exist that are well-equipped for the task and can buff out any fresh or old stain, but what if you don’t have a carpet cleaner at hand? These are the scenarios we will emphasize on here and we will give you the steps on how to clean dog urine from your carpet.
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5 Simple Tips to Get Dog’s Urine Out of Carpet
Pet stains, whether they are from urine or not, are essentially two types:
- Wet (fresh) stains
- Already dried out stains
Each of those two requires a different approach, so we will split this article into two parts. Let’s start with the fresh stains, since they are easier to tackle and are also more common since the pet owner usually notices the emergency straight away.
Removing wet (fresh) stains from Carpets
There are 5 steps to this process, although you can easily add a step or two if you want to be meticulous about the whole process. Here is what you need to do:
- Blot the area with a wet towel
- Extract the remaining urine
- Using a detergent
- Extracting the stain
- Rinsing
Let’s take a look at each of those steps in further details now…
Blotting the area with a wet towel
Before you start with any type of detergent work or cleaning the area with a carpet cleaner, you need to blot the stain with a wet (clean) towel. Paper towels are easier to use here since they are usually more absorbent but they can also become too mushy and make more of a mess than you started with.
“Avoid using steam cleaners to clean urine odors from carpet or upholstery. The heat will permanently set the stain and the odor by bonding the protein into any man-made fibers.”- Humane Society
Speed is crucial here, since the more time passes by the deeper the stain will get into your carpet.
Start extracting
After you have blotted the area well, it is now time to start thinking of a way to extract the remaining urine from the spot. Carpet cleaners or other types of wet cleaning vacuums are a great solution for this issue. If you don’t have any of those, carry on with the next steps.
Carpet cleaners or other types of wet cleaning vacuums are a great solution for this issue.
If you are looking for a good carpet cleaning model for the job, we recommend checking out our Hoover SmartWash Automatic Carpet Cleaner Review.
Using a detergent to remove dogs urine
During this step you need to use the help of a dishwashing detergent. Mix a teaspoon of it with a cup of warm water and apply it directly onto the stain. Bonus points if you use a spray bottle to pour the solution over the area. Make sure you aim directly onto the carpet.
Another thing to make sure before moving on with this step is that you aren’t using a laundry detergent (or kinds of dish soap). These often have bleach or lanolin in them which can alter the color of your carpet.
“Another thing to make sure before moving on with this step is that you aren’t using a laundry detergent (or kinds of dish soap).”
– Carpet Obsession
Wait a few minutes for the detergent to really dig into the stain before proceeding to the next step.
Extracting the stain
Once again, after you are done with the detergent, you will need something with which you can extract the remainder of the stain from the carpet. Shop vacs are a great solution, although they are quite expensive. The best “homemade” solution for this is using paper towels or any other type of cloth that is absorbent.
If your pet is potty trained and has just started having frequent accidents in the home, make an appointment with their vet to rule out any health-related problems that can lead to inappropriate elimination, such as UTIs.Rinsing the area
After you are done with cleaning and extracting the stain, it is time to move on to the final step which is rinsing the whole area. Use warm water for the rinsing and if necessary repeat the steps above again until the stain fades away.
For added effect you can rinse it with a mix of ammonia and water, although strong-scented detergents tend to make your puppy want to pee over that area again after you are done cleaning it.
Removing already dried out stains from Carpet
Stains that have been on the carpet for a while and have dried out are a completely different type of challenge. They are harder to remove and can also bring odor and discoloration to your carpet. Still, here are a few tips that you can put into use when dealing with those type of stains:
- Once you clean the area, make sure you use an odor neutralizer to remove any unwanted residue odors.
- If the stain has set in deeply, renting a carpet cleaner might be your best and quickest way to deal with it.
- If you have the steps for cleaning a wet stain and it is still persisting, consider using a carpet cleaner with wet cleaning and drying capabilities.
- Avoid steam-cleaning at all costs! This is one of the biggest rookie mistakes we often see. The reason for steam to be a huge no-no here is that high temperatures combined with moisture bong the proteins from the dog’s urine to the fibers of your carpet. That will permanently set the stain in there, along with any odor that previously came with it.
Enzymatic cleaners can help prevent a dog or cat from repeating episodes of inappropriate elimination in the same spots, since these products work by completely eliminating the bacteria in pet urine, removing any trace of odors.- Strong scented detergents (such as vinegar or ammonia) might encourage your dog to pee over the stain once you are done with it to reinforce its initial urine marking of the area.
If you want to learn how to remove cat hair from your furniture, head over to our full article on the topic!
Final Words on Getting Old Dog Urine Stains Out of Carpet
Knowing how to clean dog urine from your carpet or other parts of your home is a challenge that every pet owner will face at least once during his dog’s first few months. The major takeaway is that cleaning a fresh stain is far easier than dealing with an already set-in one. This is why it is important to keep an eye on your pupper and to also teach him where he can go to the toilet and where it is forbidden. It is also important to not treat the stained area with strongly scented chemicals as that will only make your puppy want to pee there again to mark the area again. Scolding him after he does it is also not a good approach, since it will only leave him confused. Instead, reward him every time he does the right thing and does his job outside.
