Ways to remove pet odor/general odors

[sommersa]

Parts of my home have quite a bit of pet odors. Im not about to remove carpet. Does anybody have any frugal solutions. Where my nicer carpet is I use Nature's miracle. This area doesnt have the nicer carpet and see's alot of dog traffic. I do have to say nature's miracle does work, but is pricey, and until its just me in my home, that will be just used on the good carpet. Waiting to hear some ideas.

[pollypurebred39]

The laundry additive febreeze (not the spray bottle) is around $10 a bottle. I make up my own homemade febreeze with it and it's amazing. I just put some in a spray bottle and fill the rest with water. I add it to buckets of scrubbing solution for smelly/messy jobs and I've never been disappointed. Just a nice clean, fresh smell. For a carpet I would add it to a shampooer, it would totally kick that doggy smell. Then I'd spray the carpet/area with the homemade febreeze once to twice a week to keep it smelling fresh. This stuff totally rocks!

[old_lady_in_the_shoe]

My hubby is a professional carpet cleaner and we have owned our own business for over 17 years...with that said please don't put any over the counter cleaners, or smelly good stuff on it...it is really bad for your carpet and the glue your carpet is put together with.

I would suggest looking for a rug doctor display that has all the "chemicals" available to sell and look for the product that is for dog odor removal...I don't know the exact name of it, but it is an odor removal product and it has an enzyme in it, so read the bottles and you will find it...

Read the lable, and it says how to mix it, but mix it stronger than the bottle says....

now to apply it, you should use a spray bottle and there are a few things you might not know, first off usually when you have a smell problem from dogs, the carpet is not the real issue, it is the pad under the carpet or even the subfloor... then once the urine is there, it crystalizes and if you think of sugar in crystal form. Just adding water to it will not make it dislolve...you have to keep adding water to make the crystals dislove. with that said, what you need to to is add water to the carpet smell area, and work it gently making sure you get it wet and try to get those crystals back to liquid and out of the carpet, you will need to add water, work a bit and suck it out or use towels and step hard on the area to soak it up and do it again and again , then with it that way you will want to spray the doggie gone that you mixed up in the spray bottle over the whole area making sure it is wet...the enzyme will work as long as the carpet is wet, it quits working once the carpets is dry. If you pet smell is just from smelly dog and not urine, then you can do this the some way, just not so much water on the carpet, becasue the smell is just on the carpet, not down under it.

Now that I told you all that, you need to know a few other things...
if your carpet is very light in color, you might not want to do this as, light or white carpet can "brown out" if it stays wet to long.

With all that said, i will end with this... Carpet is very expensive and most people don't really think about it but if you had to replace all of the carpet in an average home, it would be the next expensive thing most people own after their house and car... so some professional treatment and the expense of it may sound like a lot, but it can be worth it. If you decide to go professional, pm me and I will give you some tips on what to ask and what type of cleaner is best to use, who should be non toxic and stuff like that.

Good luck.

[madhen]

I don't have a big odor problem, but I do have all sorts of "biologicals" that get tracked on the carpet from the ground floor up. It is a very labor-intensive process, but I just use a bucket of warm water and some d/w detergent. I take the sudsy bucket of water and a washcloth, dip the washcloth in the water, wring it out to where it isn't dripping anymore, then just blot and do very small circular scrubs until the area looks/smells clean. The only thing you have to really pay attention to, is to let the area dry COMPLETELY before walking on it, or the damp fibers just seem to suck the dirt back in. Once it is dry, however, it looks better than anything I've gotten from the multiple carpet-cleaning services I have tried.

[old_lady_in_the_shoe]

madhen,
you may want to "rethink" the dishwashing liquid...soap can be a real problem for carpet. It you can't rinse it all out, then it stays in there and will be come a sticky residue for dirt to just grab onto and your "spots" will come back bigger each time. I would suggest using the warm water and just a touch of white vinegar, it will work just as well and will not leave any residue and the vinegar will actually break up any soap or residue already there. of course, that is jmho!

[madhen]

Thanks OLITS,

I have heard that before, but haven't experienced it in the areas where I have cleaned. (Mostly the stairwell and a couple of spots in the livingroom.) Maybe because I wring the washcloth out pretty well before using it, I think it picks up a lot more than it leaves behind.

I tried the vinegar solution when my bunny had a little litter-box learning disability and decided to go behind one of my chairs, and I didn't feel it cleaned the area (could still see the colour of her urine in the fiber), although it did mask the smell enough that she didn't want to go back there anymore.

Maybe, the next time I need to spot clean, I'll try wiping the area down with a wrung out water/vinegar cloth afterward, just to help pick up any residue of soap.

I had a professional cleaner I really loved when I lived in southern California, but since moving up here, I think I've discovered where all the slackers go to set up business. After 3-4 attempts, each time with a different company, I gave up and just started cleaning the carpet myself, rather than paying a couple of hundred dollars to just have the spots reappear a few hours after the cleaners left. I used the d/w method because my carpet is NOT quality, and I didn't really care if I ruined it, especially in the stairwell leading down to the dogs' room, but I haven't had any negative results doing it this way.

[TigerGirl1226]

I just borrowed MILs Bissell 2X Carpet cleaner...wow!! It works awesome. I can't wait to be able to buy one myself. Even without a solution it works great because it heats to water.

[fixer]

I am no help on this. A few years ago we removed all of our carpet. It has worked very well for us. Plus, my allergies aren't nearly as bad as they were with carpet.

[shoiji]

I use baking soda when I want to freshen my rugs. Vacuum rugs well, and on a dry day sprinkle rug with baking soda. I usually leave it in overnight. Then vacuum really well. I did this a couple times when my dog was sick. It really works well. You just need a large amount of baking soda. Fortunately it is pretty cheap.

[mombottoo]

My daughter swears by plain old baking soda. She sprinkles it on the carpet leaves it set & then vacuums. When she shampoos her carpet she adds distilled white vinegar to the water to help get rid of the pet smells.

[old_lady_in_the_shoe]

I use baking soda when I want to freshen my rugs. Vacuum rugs well, and on a dry day sprinkle rug with baking soda. I usually leave it in overnight. Then vacuum really well. I did this a couple times when my dog was sick. It really works well. You just need a large amount of baking soda. Fortunately it is pretty cheap.

I hate to sound like a negative nelly here, but that is not really good for you carpet either!
Carpet wears out differently than most people thing... what happens is the main paths ways "look dirty" and seem worn out...it is actually losing fibers and the carpet pile is thinning... it is sort of like this...when dirt, sand, baking soda gets left in the carpet (and it is very hard to remove all that baking soda) and you walk over it, it sort of cuts the fibers in the pile of carpet...with the edges of the dirt/soda (what ever is in it) then you vacuum next time, it removes those little bits of cut fibers and eventually your carpet starts to look warn or "darker" in the traffic areas. Some of it is dirt and soil, but a lot of it is just that you can actually starte to see less of the carpet piles itself and are looking down at the backing of the carpet more and it also doesn't look "fluffy" in those traffic areas becasue of this. There is no such thing as to much vacuuming of carpet even though most people thing otherwise. If you add solids to your carpet you must get it all out and almost all vacuums just will not do it. Do a test, get a small rug with similar style carpet, lay it on concrete, linolium or something like that, add baking soda, let it sit there for a while like you normally would, then vacuum the rug without moving it and when you are done, move the rug and see how much baking soda is left of the "ground" under the rug, and that will let you know much stuff you are leaving behind after you vacuum.

[madhen]

I like fixer's idea best, and that is what I'm working on for my house - at least for the first two floors. I'd like to keep the upstairs carpeted, because it gets much less traffic, and in the winter, I like getting out of bed and having a thick fluffy carpet to step out onto. (I guess I could just get a sheepdog....)

[happy_paws_haven]

This is what we use at Happy PAWS Haven (it is better than any commercial product we have ever tried). Believe me we are cleaning up every day after the animals. It has taken smells out of carpet that have been there for years....

Ready?



Ingredients:
* 16 ounces hydrogen peroxide
* 1 teaspoon dish-washing liquid soap
* 1 tablespoon baking soda

Directions:
1. Using any plastic container, mix the solution in order given, apply or spray a generous amount where needed.
2. After a day or two vacuum.
3. It works wonders, no stain, no ODORS.
4. Caution: do not store leftover mixture, it will build up and can explode.

[Palooka]

I am no help on this. A few years ago we removed all of our carpet. It has worked very well for us. Plus, my allergies aren't nearly as bad as they were with carpet.

I agree with this. I would love to have all hardwood floors.

This is what we use at Happy PAWS Haven (it is better than any commercial product we have ever tried). Believe me we are cleaning up every day after the animals. It has taken smells out of carpet that have been there for years....

Ready?



Ingredients:
* 16 ounces hydrogen peroxide
* 1 teaspoon dish-washing liquid soap
* 1 tablespoon baking soda

Directions:
1. Using any plastic container, mix the solution in order given, apply or spray a generous amount where needed.
2. After a day or two vacuum.
3. It works wonders, no stain, no ODORS.
4. Caution: do not store leftover mixture, it will build up and can explode.

Thanks for this. I will try and see if it helps with my rebellious moody cats.

[sommersa]

Thanks for the answers. Still undecided about what to do. I dont want to hurt these carpets, but dont want to spend alot on cleaners. Roommates use areas and there dogs soil the carpet (not very nice carpet to begin with) After they move out I would have them pay for a professional carpet cleaner come out and hopefully that will fix the problem but need some solution in the meantime to the smells from driving me crazy.