Carpet Cleaning Tips Pet Owners Should Employ Right Away 

Owning a pet means you will be facing the occasional mess, but in most cases, those won’t be something you’ll struggle with. Luckily, there are many ways you can keep your floors looking fresh.

Carpet Cleaning Tips to Follow as a Pet Owner

How to Fix a Wet Mess

The first and most important carpet cleaning tip for pet owners is an actual tool: the handheld extractor. Buying a handheld extractor to suck up liquid messes from the carpet will solve many headaches. It works better than trying to absorb anything with rags or paper towels. The extractor is made for that specific task, so you should simply buy one. It is easy to clean and far more portable than a vacuum, allowing you to reach harder places and deploy it as soon as you spot the mess.

Don’t Press on Paper Towels

Though paper towels can blot a surface liquid, they may still leave quite a bit of it inside the carpet. Resist the urge to press down on the paper towels, as it will only spread the mess within the carpet fibres. Forcing the liquid down into the carpet padding and the subflooring is the last thing you want to do. Use the aforementioned extractor instead of a vacuum to ensure the smells won’t linger and do it as quickly as possible. 

Use a Bio-enzymatic Cleaner

If you have a carpet and pets in the mix, then you probably wondered how you can completely rid your carpet of animal urine. Finishing up cleaning requires a urine-specific, bio-enzymatic cleaner. Using one of these will allow you to neutralise the urea and uric acid in the liquid, eliminating the proteins and starches inside. Your regular brand of carpet cleaner doesn’t have that ability, so a bio-enzymatic cleaner is necessary to eliminate the stain permanently. Liquid messes spread inside the carpet, so you will need to treat a larger area than the original spot.

Using Carpet Stain Removers

If the stain remains after cleaning, then you should look for a carpet stain remover. Enzymatic stain removers can solve most pet stains, but if the spot is impossible to clean, you can try cutting out a chunk and replacing it entirely as a worst-case scenario.

Using a Putty Knife for Solid Stains

Sinking the edge of a putty knife into the carpet and the edges of the mess can give you a chance to lift it. Just push it forward and scrape away the solid mess into a dustpan. Getting the solid mess out of the carpet before working on the spot with cleaners will help a great deal. Scooping up solids with paper towels and rags may force them into the carpet. Instead, you should use the putty knife and dustpan combination.

Using Oxygenated Pet Stain Cleaners

For solid messes, you should saturate the stain using an oxygenated pet stain cleaner. Let the cleaner work for about 45 minutes, allowing it to separate the solids from the carpet fibres. Once that happens, you can clean up the solids. Bio-enzymatic cleaners take a long time to work, so have patience. Let the treated area air dry, then vacuum it up to remove the bits.

Avoiding Home Remedies

Homemade cleaners using vinegar and baking soda may seem like a good solution, but they only mask the odours for a short time, with the underlying cause still being present. Buy a product that is specifically made for your type of pet mess.

Using Enzymes

Spending more time to get a product with enzymes will ensure you have a better chance of solving small surface stains. If you are dealing with a larger stain, you should use a product possessing an oxygen booster and enzymes.

© Carpet Cleaner Ltd