Remove Pet Odors from Carpet

Carpeting often has thick padding under it so even if you remove the surface stain and odor, the urine sinks in and odors linger. If left on too long, the urine will remove the carpet’s color, too.

Here are some very helpful tips from myself, a lifelong dog owner, and from Dr. Jon Rappaport, a veterinarian and the Founder of Petplace.com.

1. Locate the overlooked or “invisible” spots with a black light in a darkened room. They will glow in the dark.

2. If any area is still wet with urine, absorb as much leftover moisture as possible with clean cloths. Try placing light-colored, preferably white, absorbent cotton toweling over the spots and drawing out the excess urine with heavy pressure. (Dark colors can transfer dye onto the carpet. I have also discovered I can use my body weight to my advantage by standing on the toweling and twisting my body-weight gently, or vigorously, depending on the thickness of the carpet and padding.)

3. Use a good carpet shampoo and clean the area thoroughly. If you use a spray or liquid, try one with enzymes that “digest” protein spots. These are also good for blood and vomit. If you have a carpet shampooer, use the recommended product and clean the carpet as well as you can before you do the next step.

4. Use an odor removal product. Dr Rappaport and his team highly recommend a spray product called Zero Odor. There is a 4-minute video ad at http://www.petproductadvisor.com/store/default.aspx of this product in action with regular street people. (Look under Dog or Cat Odor Removal products.) For the purposes of the ad, volunteers bring in diaper pails filled with dirty diapers, soccer shoes, a skunked dog, and a car seat apparently ruined with spills and deep, long-standing odors. The people smell their own contributions before and after using the product.

From a “before” of mostly “tens” – on a 10-point scale – to the “after” when about two dozen people said they could not smell anything – absolutely zero – the product is impressive. (I like the product, but certainly never had enough personal experience to recommend this item for so many uses.)

According to the ad, “Zero Odor works in a very different way, seeking out and bonding with pet odor molecules of just about every kind, changing them into molecules that can never cause odor again.

According to the site, Zero Odor costs $29.95 for two 22-ounce bottles, plus two 4-oz. “travel bottles,” and they are, at the beginning of March, on sale for $3.00 off. The site is marked with the BBB seal of accreditation, and the product is offered with a money-back guarantee for a full refund.

You might not trust the single recommendation of an individual, but with Dr. Rappaport’s team backing this product, you apparently have nothing to lose. You might be able to save some expensive carpeting – among other things you thought were ruined – which would surely be worth the price of the product.

Sources:

Dr. Jon Rappaport, Veterinarian since 1982; CEO and Founder of Petplace.com “with over 10,000 veterinary-approved articles” at http://www.petplace.com/about-us.aspx. “Dog Crazy” Newsletter from Petplace received 3-1-10.

Zero Odor. Site at http://www.petproductadvisor.com/store/. Retrieved 3-4-10.