How do you get dog smell out of carpets???

Question

We have 2 large dogs and carpeting in our living room that is less than 2 years old.  It smells horrible, like old dogs.  This is not a urine smell.  i have cleaned the carpet multiple times, the smell comes right back.  Help!!!

Carroll A · Answer

Pet smells are hard to get out. It might not be the carpet, my guess would be the pad under the carpet. I have had good luck with a product called Spot Out. I found it in the pet department at Walmart. But if it's in the padding I am not sure you will ever be able to get the smell out.

Woodbridge Environmental Tiptophouse.com · Answer

First suggestion is to borrow a black light. Like the ones we used as kids to make everything glow. Use that on the carpet first. If your getting any green glow and its isolated in a few spots its urine from past mistakes. Natures miracle will remove those odors. http://www.natures-miracle.com/ For more doggie types from body odor etc. the cleaning process may be causing all the issues. Using carpet cleaners that utilize water only pushes the soils further down in the carpet fibers. After the carpet gets damp mold begins to develop as well. The only correct method is to use a professional that has specialized cleaners and deodorizers to remove the smells for good. And personally I am not a big proponent of that. I am also sure many will suggest using some sort of vinegar solution combined with perhaps baking soda, but none of these home remedies will remove the mold that has developed in the backing and padding of the carpet. Most only mask odors and not remove the source of them. The unfortunate thing about all of this, the odors will come back once the pooches are allowed back in the room. So all the cleaning will be for naught. If you have small toddlers grand children etc. running around. I would remove the carpet completely and replace it. Then not allow the dogs on the carpet at all. Or simply remove the carpet and install a solid floor that can be properly cleaned. You can still have a large area rug that can be taken out and professionally cleaned when it begins to get dirty, but no wall to wall should remain. The reason behind this thinking is you need to understand how children breath and the areas in which they hang out. Most kids sit on floors, they lay on them playing with their toys. They fall asleep on them. Their breathing zone is down low where all the dirt, germs, mold and odors are located. Not a good mix. Look how many times kids get earaches. Studies found that dust mites are often the cause. A dirty damp doggie carpet is the perfect breeding ground for these and other insects that you cannot see to develop. The bottom line is if the odors remain you have not cleaned the source. I would also suggest a book written by someone I have had the pleasure of meeting on several occasions the book is called 'My House Is Killing Me' This well written book will provide you with all sorts of solutions on how to make the house healthy and safe.

Deborah Peterson · Answer

Thanks Carroll & Woodbridge I will try those things.

Debbie Dean · Answer

If it is the pad, you can get some of those organic type odor eliminating products and a hypodermic needle and inject it into your pad. I did this once and it worked for a while. Otherwise, you can have the carpet pulled up and that new odor absorbing padding installed.

Deborah Peterson · Answer

Interesting idea Debbie. Thanks. Any particular Organic product in mind?

Deborah Peterson · Answer

I ended up cleaning the carpet with my bissell and used some X-O in the water this has worked very well. It has only been a couple of days. I will let you all know if it lasts. Thanks everyone.

Ann Jacobs · Answer

use vinegar in your carpet cleaner -- dilute it with hot water.. you can add lemon to it to take away the vinegar smell (once the carpet dries the vinegar smells goes away).

Woodbridge Environmental Tiptophouse.com · Answer

Adding water to a carpet is a sure way to develop mold and increase dust mite development. If an enzyme cleaner such as Natures Miracle does not remove odor, discard the carpet.. As a microbial person I can tell you with firm evidence a carpet harbors more things than an old godzilla movie. Adding water will only help these tiny microorganisms to develop even more.

Deborah Peterson · Answer

So then how do you suggest cleaning a carpet, I thought that is why they made carpet cleaners such as bissell?

Woodbridge Environmental Tiptophouse.com · Answer

All carpet cleaners are really garbage. Even those that pros use. The reason is simple. When you spray water onto a carpet, with chemicals etc, the moisture soaks down into the pile and into the padding as well if to much water has been applied. The vacuum part of the system does not remove all of the moisture. Much remains. If the water was removed as it should the carpet would be dry or very close to it. This does not happen with the machines you buy over the counter and with very few of the truck mounted systems. 
This is not to say your not removing dirt from the surface of the carpet, you are, but if your suffering from allergies and or have small children you need to be careful on how much moisture you place into the carpet. Over time this will increase the amount of dust mites and other microbes that need moisture and dust, skin cells and the like to grow.

Think of it this way. If the carpet cleaning companies told you that they can clean the top of the carpet and during that process they will leave moisture behind that could develop mold issues, would you use them? Think of all the carpet cleaning commercials that tell you their machine cleans deep down. Not so, the moisture is drawn towards the dryer parts so more moisture is used to wet the top surfaces. The carpet remains wet for a long time after. All of that is dirt and stuff that has been flushed towards the pads.

While the surface of the carpet may look good, its the stuff near the floor side that starts to get ugly. If your going to use a carpet machine, use a little water as possible. Then run the machine over and over again until the carpet feels dry. Although that is not the perfect thing as moisture still remains, it is much better then just running over the carpet quick and allowing it to dry on its own for several hours afterword.

Lastly this amount of remaining water depends upon the type of carpet your working on. Short pile synthetic types tend to soak water deeper as the piles do not absorb the moisture due to the plastic properties. While the deeper pile natural types soak up more moisture in the fibers near the top. In the case where doggies have made their marking the moisture has soaked down to the pad and perhaps even onto the floor below. And soaking the carpet with enough water to get to that and then try to draw it out with a machine it is impossible to do. When we dry carpets after a water event we remove one edge of the carpet near a door opening. We then place a long small hose under the carpet and padding and use pressure blowers to fill the carpet like a balloon to push the moisture out from behind to the surface where its evaporated away.

Purchase a book called My House is Killing Me. Jeffery May. This book will give you some additional insight on how to keep a healthy home.

How do you get dog smell out of carpets???

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How do you get dog smell out of carpets???

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