You love your pets. But you don’t love the messes they sometimes leave on your carpets and furniture. From hairballs to pee puddles, it can be a pain to find the right cleaner to eliminate these stains. With all of the products on the market today claiming to be the best pet stain remover, it can be a daunting and expensive task to find one that truly works. Not to mention many cleaners on the market have questionable chemicals in them. So, how do you eliminate pet stains naturally and effectively? Is that even possible? Yes! We have rounded up the best recipes for pet stain solutions for you!
Hairballs
If you have a cat, you’ve most likely battled the gross, wet stains hairballs can leave on your carpets. While you can remove the bulk of the hairball, there’s still the dark mixture of food and stomach acid left behind to deal with. You not only want to remove the stain, but you want to ensure the area is disinfected as well – especially if you have little ones crawling around and playing on your carpets.
1. Remove the bulk of the hairball off of the carpet
2. Blot up as much moisture from the stain as possible with a paper towel. Make sure you are just blotting and not scrubbing so that you don’t work the stain further into the carpet fibers.
3. Pour warm water over the remaining stain.
4. Squirt a dab of natural dish detergent, such as Seventh Generation, onto the wet stain and scrub it in a swirling motion with a hard bristle scrub brush.
5. After thoroughly scrubbing the stain, blot up remaining water and detergent with paper towels or an old hand towel.
6. Repeat until stain is gone, making sure you’ve reached the bottom of the carpet fibers. Be sure to blot up the remaining moisture from the carpet thoroughly so that it dries properly.
Urine and Feline Spray
Urine and feline spray is the absolute worst when it comes to pet stains. Its strong, pungent smell can linger in your entire home for months if you don’t clean it properly. So many companies claim to have the best pet urine removers on the market, but very few actually live up to their hype, and use a ton of toxic chemicals.
The key to eliminating a urine or spray stain and smell completely from your carpets is to tend to it immediately. The sooner you clean it after it happens, the better.
1. Blot up as much moisture from the urine as possible with paper towels. (You don’t want to use old bath towels, because the smell will linger in them long after you wash them.)
2. Sprinkle a generous amount of baking soda onto the area once you have thoroughly blotted it. Let this sit for at least 30 minutes. The baking soda will absorb the remaining urine and deodorize the smell. After it has dried, sweep it up.
3. Pour a mixture of 1 part cold water, 2 parts distilled while vinegar onto the stained area. (Note: Always use cold water. Warm or hot water can actually make the odor stronger)
4. Let the water/vinegar solution sit for 30 minutes.
5. After 30 minutes, sprinkle a generous amount of baking soda onto the stain again and let sit for 10-30 minutes.
6. Repeat steps 2-5 as necessary.
Remember that all stains are different, and some might require more care than others!
Photo credit: With A Red Bird On My Shoulder
