By Catherine Haug, Feb 21, 2015
Thanks to K. Britton for this useful hint. See also her Kitchen Hint: Vinegar-based solution for bathroom surfaces.
Dog urine (or cat?) in nice plush carpet? This works perfectly for me with my synthetic carpet. I certainly would NOT try it with wool or other natural fibers.
I have a dog with separation anxiety, and had to do this repeatedly. It has never failed me. The carpet has survived beautifully. The commercial stuff I tried is a joke and doesn’t get the urine out of the pad.
It only takes me about 15 minutes, start to finish, and has saved me from having to replace my carpet!
Cleaning/deodorizing pet urine on carpets
Needed: 16 gallon wet/dry shop vac with filter removed; Dawn dish soap; vinegar; med-hot tap water; 1+ gallon bucket.
- Mix dish-water concentration of Dawn and hot water in bucket, and add 1-2 cups vinegar, depending on amount of water used (at least a gallon).
- Place vacuum hose in center of urine-soaked area and pour the solution around the hose so the urine and solution is pulled through the center of the urine-soaked area and into the vacuum.
- After you’ve thoroughly saturated and sucked the area, smell around the perimeter for missed spots.
- When you know every bit has been saturated and the solution sucked out, then take the vacuum and suck the entire area in a spiral from outside toward the center to remove as much solution as possible.
- Smell again! You don’t want to leave any untreated spots as an attractant to further “accidents”, nor leave urine in the carpet/pad/underlayment to wreak it’s havoc.
- Now repeat this process with the same amount of clean water to get out the soap and vinegar. Suck as dry as you can. When you remove the suction there will be water there that will settle back into the carpet. I stand on a folded bath towel over this area to get that water out.
- Put a fan on the area to aid in drying.
Thanks for giving me a forum to pass this process on to someone.