removing pet odors
ju-ju
Help! I have a small apartment within my home. We recently decided to take over the space, adding more living space for us. When our tenants left, they left behind an unpleasant cat 'aroma'. The entire space and all of the carpets have been professionally cleaned, I've used 2 odor neutralizing foggers, 4 bottles of febreze, and fresh paint on the walls. While the odor has dissipated quite a bit, it is still there. Is there anything that can be done short of tearing up all of the carpeting? New flooring is an expense I'd rather not take on right now! Any advice would be appreciated.
redtoe
I need help too! Anyone have a "sure things" that will remove urine smells from dogs on my carpet? I hope you have found something. mail me at calwoman@hotmail.com
bubalou
hello...it seems when i try to remove pet odor from my carpet with my shampooer..it makes the smell worse, my husband seems to think that it is brought to the surface...ugh!!!
catwoman708
I have an ionizing air purifier machine that works wonders on odors, but they are expensive (ours was $600). I loan ours out occasionally, but make sure I get it back right away. I also have a friend that swears by this stuff she gets in gallon jugs at PetsMart called "Biozyme", specifically for pet odors. Personally, I've found that if having the carpet cleaned once or twice, and repainting don't help, then you have to replace the carpet and the padding. If you can't go to the expense of new carpet right now, you might try cleaning the carpets one more time, pull it up and air it and the padding out, clean the floor underneath, then replace the carpet. You may need professional do the work, someone that specializes in carpet cleaning and restoration, they can retack and stretch the carpet back out, and can pretreat for pet odors. Also, putting a bowl of fresh ground coffee in the room can help absorb odors, like putting a box of baking soda in the freezer, coffee works just as well (just don't make a pot of coffee with it!)
Jwoo
You will probably need to have the carpet professionally pulled up and cleaned from the bottom. This way you get to the root of the problem. Talk to a professional carpet cleaning company and find out how they work animal smells. One guy came to my apartment once that he used a wand to find all the areas that had urine in it. Then he pulled up the carpet and treated the pad and the carpet from underneath. About 1 week later he came back and cleaned the carpet. Before this I was unable to sit near the floor without throwing up because it stank so bad. Afterwards you couldn't tell there was an issue.
NalasMama
New rescue puppy+white carpet=disaster! I tried Resolve, Nature's Miracle, vinegar, Folex, and a few other carpet cleaners before I read about Get Serious (I bought it at Petsmart). I bought a little bottle to test, and it removed both the stain and the odor from both types of potty accidents. I now keep a gallon bottle on hand, even though puppy is getting better about going outside to do her thing. Our carpet cleaner also came and lifted the carpet to clean the pad underneath, and that really removed the lingering odors.
joejen
My mother-in-law had the same problem in her rental property. This might sound crazy, but it worked. She took an aluminum pan from Wal-mart, added charcoal and ketchup and left it overnight. For some reason, it attracts the smell. You should also change the air filters. I found some stuff at Sam's called Odorban that works really well. You might try wiping down the walls with it.
88dumptruck88
I too use the "Get Serious" from PetSmart. Works great and now we use it on other stains on the carpet. I agree with the other posters - the padding is your worst offender and is most likely what's trapping the odors. Also, if the cats sprayed on the walls or baseboards - might have to scrub them down then put a coat of primer on it before repainting, but since you put down a fresh coat of paint - sounds like it'd be redundant now :)
HunkyDorey
We had that cat smell too when we moveed into our new home. What you need to do is replace the carptet and padding.....and then after that's all ripped up you should paint what they call Kilz2 on the floor. It's a type of sealent for mold and mildew and other things. Then after that drys you can put new padding and carpet down. Works wonders.
MonnyKat
Go to pet's mart and get Simple Solution Stain and Odor Remover. My two cats peed all in my front room and it stunk so bad. I SOAKED the carpet with the Simple Solution and then after it dried, went over it really good with the carpet shampooer. Smell is all gone. Before that I'd tried professional cleaning, vinegar, etc. to no avail. Unless the carpet is extremely stained and smelly, there should be no need to replace it. Just make sure you soak it good all the way down to the padding!
LilySkye
We too had a puppy that had several accidents, I used Resolve Carpet Cleaner for Pet Stains and now although the smell is mostly gone...we have brown marks where we used the resolve! Can these brown spots be removed by cleaning the carpet with a machine or any other suggestions?
kilevias
Before my cats were spade/neutered, they used to urinate right in the middle of my bed! I used "Nature's Miracle" from the pet store. You have to use it full strength, saturate the area/fabric/carpet, sponge it, then let it dry. I never had another problem. The scent went away and the cats are living happily ever after. The spaying/neutering usually cures the need to "tag" everything with their scent. Good luck.
NalasMama
I also used Resolve and ended up with huge brown stains! Get Serious is the only thing that took them out. I tried Folex, Nature's Miracle, etc., but it just made it worse.
Miss-Adventure
I agree with a previous poster- you need to clean or replace the padding, and definitely seal with Kilz. No matter how clean the carpet is, if it's sitting on urine soaked pad the room will stink!
sighthoundlover
Being a "pet expert" (8 dogs and 3 cats), we have only had success with really bad smells/urine stains by pulling up the carpet, shampooing the back along with the top, and replacing the piece of padding. Once the smell is in the padding, it's virtually impossible to get the smell out. I've replaced padding with pet-proof padding (it's plastic sealed). And my favorite rug guy told me to stop using rug cleaners on stains...they do turn the rug spot brown. He said white vinegar only. And he was right...
used2stink
Go buy a gallon of vinagar. Add about 2 cups to each gallon of water in your steam cleaner. Smells bad for a couple of days but it takes out all of the urine smell. Be sure to go over the carpet in 2 directions to get it all.
BarbaraK
As for painting, my cousin buys old mobile homes, renovates them and sells them. No matter whether it's animal odors or smoke damage, he uses a primer called KILZ. It covers any odor. I also heard on HGTV that you can buy packets to add to your paint that acts like a room freshener. It emits aroma from the paint for months.
ju-ju
Well, after all of your suggestions, including multiple trips of the carpet cleaning man (Jose...we're on a first name basis now!!), an ionizing air purifier, numerous hours of painting (which did help a bit), leaving coffee out over night (several times), etc, etc, etc...I ended up simply removing the carpet, and scrubbing the cement subfloor (the apartment is in the basement) with hot water and bleach, and laying down new carpeting. The expense wasn't as much as I anticipated as we layed it down ourselves and used industrial carpeting we bought at the home depot. Now the space is liveable and the smell is now much better.
Lemonylion
For neutralizing pet odors in our home I have used Arm Hammer Pet Hair Release. I have a Lab and a Schipperke, both male, and they shed and tend to get "excited". I originally tried it to help with the pet hair, it worked SO well that I do not vacuum with out it. As far as the little puppy spots, it works great with those too!
frant1111
I just received a wonderful book from Reader's Digest "Extraordinary Uses for Ordinary Things." It features many household remedies. So, here is a few for carpet stains: (Some should help eliminate odors too) Rub light carpet stains with a mixture of 2 tablespoons salt dissolved in 1/2 cup of white vinegar. Let the solution dry, then vacuum. For larger or darker stains, add 2 tablespoons borax to the mixture and use in the same way. For tough, ground-in dirt and other stains, make a paste of 1 tablespoons vinegar with 1 tablespoon cornstarch, and rub it into the stain using a dry cloth. Let is set for two days, then vacuum. To make spray-on spot and stain remover, fill a spray bottle with 5 parts water and 1 part vinegar. Fill a second spray bottle with 1 part non-sudsy ammonia and 5 parts water. Saturate a stain with the vinegar solution. Let it settle for a few minutes, then blot thoroughly with a clean, dry cloth. Then spray and blot using the ammonia solution. Repeat until the stain is gone. I hope this info is helpful.
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