Pee belongs in a toilet—not on your carpet. Still, urine can end up on your carpet, especially if you have pets or young children.
Therefore, it’s essential that you know how to get urine stains out of the carpet, otherwise, you’ll have to live with an offensive odor and an unsightly stain until the carpet is removed from your house.
Fortunately, getting rid of urine stains and the offensive smell that accompanies them is relatively easy. Just follow the step-by-step guide below to get the urine stain and smell out of your carpet.
Key Takeaways
First, select an appropriate carpet cleaner. Next, use a clean cloth or paper towel to soak up as much urine as possible. Once you’ve thoroughly blotted the stain, apply your cleaning solution to the stain.
When the stain has been soaked with urine remover, wait 30 minutes. Subsequently, rinse the carpet. Finally, let it dry for at least 24 hours.
How to Clean Pee From Carpet
Step One: Gather Your Cleaning Materials
A variety of carpet cleaning solutions can effectively remove urine from carpet, including:
- Baking soda
- White vinegar
- Dish soap
- Hydrogen peroxide
- Ammonia
- Carpet Shampoo
Of course, some of these solutions are stronger than others, so make sure your carpet fibers can handle the solution you’ve chosen before you start cleaning. Bleach, for example, can discolor carpet fibers and even break them down.
Similarly, if you choose vinegar, it’s best to dilute it with 1 cup of warm water before you start spraying. Applying vinegar directly to the fibers may just replace one bad odor with another, even if you rinse the carpet thoroughly later on.
Step Two: Blot the Stain
Once you have all your materials, it’s time to blot the pee spot. This should be done with extra-absorbent paper towels or a clean cloth.
We recommend paper towels because you can just throw them away after you’ve soaked up as much urine as possible. With a cloth, you’ll have to ring and rinse repeatedly, elongating the overall process.
This is an important part of the cleaning process, so take your time. If you don’t blot enough, you may end up enlarging the stain during the next stage.
You should notice a reduction in the smell of urine as soon as you start blotting, but don’t expect blotting to do the bulk of the work; you’ll need to spray the stain with the cleaner to get rid of the smell completely.
Step Three: Apply Your Cleaning Solution
If you’ve decided to use a baking soda-borax mix, sprinkle it over the area of the carpet that’s stained and smelly. It should sit for 30 or so minutes.
If you’ve chosen a baking soda and vinegar solution, spray the urine stain thoroughly. The combination of vinegar and baking soda will break down the urine so it can be easily rinsed off. Again, let the solution sit for at least 30 minutes.
The same process applies if you’ve chosen vinegar and water. After you fill up a clean spray bottle with this carpet cleaner, spray it onto the urine stain.
No matter what cleaning solution you choose, it’s important to let it sit. While it’s sitting there, the solution will penetrate deep into the carpet and thoroughly break down the urine.
Step Four: Rinse Your Carpet
Once your cleaning solution has had enough time to break down the stain, it’s time to rinse the carpet off. We recommend doing this outside, as you don’t want to make a mess indoors.
However, if your carpet can’t be taken outside, it’s best to get help from a professional carpet cleaning company. They’ll use carpet-drying equipment, after giving your carpet a thorough rinse, to ensure no soapy residue is left behind. After all, a damp carpet can be a breeding ground for mold and mildew.
Step Five: Let the Carpet Dry
After the carpet has been thoroughly rinsed, hang it out to dry. If you don’t have a clothesline, drape it over a deck or staircase railing.
The carpet should dry for at least 24 hours. When it’s drying, do your best to keep it away from direct sunlight, as this can fade the carpet.
Once it’s had enough time to dry, whack it a few times with a carpet wand, as dirt and dust may have landed on the carpet while it was drying.
Tips for Removing Urine Stains From Carpet
Don’t Try to Scrub Stains Out
Some think scrubbing is the key to removing urine from carpet fibers, but this is a misconception. You should avoid rubbing any kind of stain, as doing so will just force whatever is causing the stain to go deeper into the carpet, where it’ll be much harder to remove.
The key is to absorb the urine by blotting. Once most of the liquid has been soaked up, the cleaning solution can break down what’s left.
Address the Stain as Soon as You Notice It
The worst thing you can do is ignore the stain. The longer it has time to set, the harder it’ll be to remove. If you address the stain while it’s still wet, there’s a good chance you’ll be able to remove it completely.
Hire Professional Carpet Cleaners
If you lack the skills, tools, and know-how needed to get rid of the urine smell, bring in professionals. They’ll make your carpet spotless and sanitary in no time at all, and they’ll also share useful tips you can use to keep your carpets stain- and odor-free.
Final Thoughts
To remove a pet stain from the carpet, first blot it so it’s easier to remove later. Next, apply the cleaning solution you chose. The cleaning solution should sit for at least 30 minutes, as it’ll need time to break down the urine.
After 30 minutes have passed, rinse the carpet off. Rinse until you no longer see soapy water dripping off the carpet’s edge. Finally, let the carpet air dry for at least 24 hours.
