Do an Emergency Urine Clean Without Damaging Your Carpet

9 May 2023
Est. Reading: 3 minutes
What's in This Guide?
Cleaning Items You'll Need.
Rubber gloves
Wet-dry vacuum
Cotton towel
Spray bottle
White vinegar
Water

Introduction

This cleaning guide shows you how to remove urine stains from a carpet without using harsh chemicals. We use a 50:50 vinegar and water mix to neutralise the pet urine, which is cheap and non-toxic. Followed by a wet-dry vacuum to extract the moisture.

When it comes to carpet stains, urine can be one of the toughest to remove. The good news is that knowing what to do can make stain removal relatively simple. Fortunately, there are steps you can take to get rid of urine stains and odours from your carpet.

Why You Should Stop Using High Alkaline Cleaners on Woollen Carpets

A client called us with a pet urine emergency, and unfortunately, they used the wrong product to clean it.

The carpet is a woollen carpet, and the urine may have damaged the fibres. Added to this, they used an oxy cleaner and a regular household cleaner, which also may have chemically burned the carpet. Essentially meaning you cannot remove the stain.

Our goal is to use a 50-50 acid-white vinegar mixture to neutralise the chemical burning and reverse the damage. You do not need much of the acid mix to do the job, only enough to activate the enzymes that have been put on the carpet.

Vinegar stops uric crystals from forming as the urine denatures, as well as neutralizing the odour from the urine. Even cat pee!!!

Pro Tip...!
Never use oxy action cleaners on a wool carpet. The oxy cleaner/oxygen booster with is sodium bicarbonate or hydrogen peroxide, is highly alkaline. Meaning the pH is way too high for the wool fibres. Which will chemically burn the wall as it denatures and crystals form.

Step-By-Step Instructions

How to remove and clean pet urine from your carpet in four easy steps.

Step One: Blot the Stain
The first thing that you will want to do is blot as much of the urine as possible. Use an absorbent cloth or paper towels to soak up the urine. Press down to remove as much liquid as possible. Make sure that you do not rub the stain, as this will only push the stain further into the carpet fibres.

Step Two: Apply a Neutralizing Solution

  1. Next, you’ll want to apply a neutralising solution to the stained area. Dilute 50% vinegar to 50% water in a spray bottle.
  2. Once you have your solution ready, lightly spray the mix on the outer edge of the stain. Leave for a couple of minutes.
  3. Now spray a heavier concentration on the urine stain. Be sure to cover the entire stained area.
  4. Let the mix dwell for about five minutes to allow the enzymes to do their work.

Step Three: Extract and Vacuum
After the neutralizing solution has had time to work, you’ll need to extract it. Use a wet-dry vacuum to remove it from the carpet.

Our notes: We used a total of 250ml of acid mix and extracted 200ml of slurry. Leaving only 50ml on the carpet. Which is perfectly fine.

Step Four: Groom with a Cotton Towel

  1. The final step is to dry the carpet. Use a clean cotton towel to blot up as much moisture as possible. A microfibre towel will not work for this, as a cotton towel is much more absorbent.
  2. Groom the carpet pile in a uniform direction, remembering to change the cotton towel to a clean side often.
  3. This process will allow the carpet to dry nicely and evenly.
  4. You can also use a hairdryer on a cold setting or air movers/fans to help speed up the drying process.
Pro Tip...!
To dry the carpet even quicker, put some compression on it. Lay a dry cotton towel over a wet patch and stand on it. Giving the towel a little bounce helps the towel absorb water. It looks hilarious, but hey, it works!

Conclusion

In conclusion, cleaning urine stains out of a carpet can be a challenging task, but it is not impossible. By following these steps and using a neutralizing solution, you can get rid of the stain and odour and restore it to its former glory.

In the video below, we tackled the three issues of the soiled carpet by neutralizing the pet urine, the high pH of the OxiClean, and the alkalinity of the cleaning agent. This is effectively done by using the acid rinse, followed by extracting it and allowing the carpet to dry. Essentially, this is chemistry in action.

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