As a professional carpet cleaner in Tampa FL one the biggest headaches I run into for home owners is how to clean up pet urine from carpet. Pet owners easily forgive their pet for accidents in the home, but the stains left behind are troublesome. There are several ways to treat pet urine in carpet and some are more effective than others but you have to choose the right solution for your problem.
If you can get to the pet stain right away while its still wet you have an excellent chance of getting it out before it becomes a problem. Time is of the essence and can really make a difference in success pet urine removal. So if you catch your pet mid stream quickly blot it up with a towel. Don't scrub, or rub the spot you will only move it around. After it has been blotted up you can then use my favorite home remedies to remove the rest of the urine.
Here's how to clean per urine from carpet:
Sprinkle baking soda on the spot and leave it there for about 1 - 6 hours. Then take a 1:1 mixture of white vinegar and water, about a cup each, and pour it over the baking soda. You will see quite a reaction, a lot of bubbling will occur. Now here is the difficult part. You have to wait 1 minute before cleaning it up. Simply blot it up with a white towel until it is dry. this should take care of any odors or stains.
How to clean dried pet urine from carpet:
If you find the pet urine stain after it has dried, then you will want to take a different route to clean it. Most likely it will have soaked down into the carpet pad underneath before drying. Cleaning the surface spot will no longer work and you will have to clean both the carpet and pad with a lot more solution.
I recommend using carbonated water and vinegar for this solution. Mix about 2 cups of carbonated water and 2 cups of vinegar. Pour it directly on the urine stain and then step on it to make sure it gets down in to the pad. Let it sit for about 1 minute, then use a white towel to soak it up. Blot the spot with a lot of pressure. I recommend standing on the towel to squeeze as much out of the carpet pad as possible. Don't be surprised if you have to do this 3 or four times to remove the stain and the odor.
It will take a few days for the carpet to dry completely and you will probably smell some residual urine odor while the spot is still wet. If these remedies don't work its time to call a professional carpet cleaner.