Has your dog done its toilet business on the carpet? Here's how to clean it up
by Cheryl Dunn
Sometimes a dog has an accident, whether it's because they're a new puppy that isn't quite house trained yet or you've been out a bit longer than usual and the poor canine couldn't hold it in anymore. You walk through the door and immediately you're faced with a big wet patch of urine or a brown lump on the carpet, or both. You need to begin carpet cleaning immediately in order to clean up the mess, prevent any stains and eliminate the odour before it seeps in and leaves a permanent whiff around the house.
Cleaning up dog pee
First, you'll need to soak up as much of the wetness as possible. The best way to do this is with paper towels or an old towel or rag that you don't mind throwing away afterwards. Put on top of the pee and weigh it down, either with a heavy object or by standing on it. Leave for a minute or two so it absorbs as much as possible and repeat if necessary. The sooner you clear it up after the occurrence, the more you will be able to absorb. When the area is nearly dry you should soak with clean water and then pat dry.
Once you have got the urine up you can clean the area. If possible, you should use a basic carpet cleaner followed by a good quality pet deodouriser for this. You can use a mixture of vinegar and warm water but that will not remover the smell like a carpet cleaner and deodouriser would. You may not be able to smell it anymore but your dog may and could urinate in the same spot again if its scent is still there.
When you have thoroughly cleaned the area you should rinse with clean warm water and then blot with clean paper towels until it is pretty much dry.
Cleaning up dog poo
Firstly you'll need to pick up the dog faeces as much as possible if it's not possible to get it all up. Use rubber gloves, a plastic bag or a dustpan and brush for this. Scrape the area with a lolly stick or something similar if any remains. Make sure to wash your hands after you've done this.
The next step is to use a decent stain remover, preferably a pre-wash laundry stain remover but again a mixture of vinegar and water can be used. Put this onto the stain and leave for about five to ten minutes to properly soak in.
Then, using cold soapy water, you should scrub the area thoroughly. Making sure to rinse the cloth out regularly so that you are not just rubbing the poo back into the carpet. Once it looks like the area is completely clean you can rinse with clean water and soak up the liquid using a clean cloth or paper towels.
After that you need to make sure the smell is gone, even if you cannot smell it anymore it may still be there. Do this by putting bicarbonate of soda onto the affected area, leaving overnight and then vacuuming it up in the morning. This should completely absorb the odour out of the carpet.