The luxurious, comfortable atmosphere of your home can be badly affected by pet odours, especially pet urine smells on the carpet. From dirty paws to rolling in puddles, and smells caused by glands or oil on fur, pet odour can linger and cling to the fibres of your carpets. But let’s face it, while it can be off-putting when your four legged friend is causing an offensive smell, there’s no way your family pet is being left out in the cold!
So, to keep your pet warm indoors and restore the freshness to your home, here’s how to remove dog smells from your carpet and how to get rid of cat pee smell as well, below.
How to get pet odour and urine smell out of carpet
We pet-lovers all know how unpleasant it is to have pet smells lingering on your rugs and carpets. But, from air fresheners to steam cleaners, there are many different ways you can easily remove these pet and urine smells from your carpet. So, to make your job that much easier, we’ve provided some of the best tips for removing these pet odours. From cat urine smells in the carpet to wet dog pongs in the rug – these tips work for all kinds of stench!
1. Vacuum regularly
Want a quick and easy way to get rid of dog smells in your carpet? Well, we have one word for you - vacuum. Regular vacuum cleaning is a fantastic way to get dog smells out of your carpet and keep on top of removing the dirt that’s causing nasty smells in your carpets too. And our top tip is to make sure to invest in a pet vacuum, one specifically designed with pet owners in mind. That’s because pet hair can be particularly tough on vacuums. So, if the vacuum cleaner you invest in has been made to get rid of pet hair specifically, it makes removing the dog smell from your carpet that much easier.
Ideally, as a pet owner you should be vacuuming your home every day, but if you haven’t got the time, try to do it three times a week if possible.
2. Freshen your carpets
Dog smells can be caused by a variety of triggers. For example, glands behind their ears can cause a yeast like smell, while naturally-produced oils, which help with fur shedding, are a common cause of odour too. But what gets rid of dog smells from your carpets? When vacuuming alone doesn’t do the trick, it’s time to give the carpets a good old clean. And you can use baking soda to get rid of dog smells in your carpets or rugs!
Gently brush it into your carpets and leave it for at least half an hour. Once it’s soaked in, vacuum the carpet, repeating if necessary, until you have removed the dog smells from your carpet. This is a great tip for removing urine smell from your carpet too! Whether from your cat or dog, this trick will ensure any old urine smell in your carpet is minimise or even removed completely.
TOP TIP: mixing your baking soda with a hint of baby powder will give your carpets a truly fresh finish!
3. Shampoo
One good way to remove dog smells from your carpets and rugs is to eradicate the smells before they can set into the fabrics. And you can do this by simply washing your pet. Searching for a shampoo guaranteed to leave your dog or cat smelling fresh as a daisy? Well, if they’re in need of a deeper clean, deodorizing shampoos are great for keeping pets clean and smelling great.
Earthbath’s natural shampoo is recommended by vets to combat not only bad odours, but skin irritation too. While BarkLogic shampoo is vegan, cruelty-free, and made from natural and plant-sourced ingredients. Their sulphate-free formula is known for soothing skin and relieving stress too.
TOP TIP: make sure you also brush your pet regularly – it’s amazing how much of an effect grooming can have on getting the dog smells out of your carpet.
4. Air fresheners
Now, what gets rid of that carpet urine smells and other pet odours in the short term? Well, choosing a great smelling air freshener is a cost-effective way to get the cat pee smell out of your carpet, as well as dog smells too. Put air fresheners in the worst effected rooms. And whether you want a blast of citrus or wafts of peppermint, the choice of air freshener is entirely up to you. Be warned though – an air freshener is only a temporary fix to remove dog smells and get cat pee smells from your carpet, this shouldn’t be used in place regular cleaning and vacuuming!
What’s more, Gtech's pet vacuum cleaners all use scented cartridges to keep your home smelling fresh and odour free! So, you can vacuum and freshen as you go.
5. Steam clean
Want to get dog urine out of your carpet and increase the lifespan of your carpet at the same time? Why not consider steam cleaning! This may seem radical, but it will totally transform your carpets, making it feel as though they’re brand new. And the good news is, this isn’t something you’ll need to do regularly, perhaps only even once a year.
But if your pets are particularly messy, you might want to do it a bit more often. Seeing the difference in a carpet before and after steam cleaning will amaze you, you’ll want it that clean all the time – just make sure you keep any unwashed pets away!
TOP TIP: it’s best to use other methods first to remove urine smells from your carpet, like the ones we’ve gone over. If you have puppy pee or want to get cat pee smells out of your carpet, then steaming before other cleaning methods can set the stain for good.
6. Put your pet on a natural diet
Wiping down muddy paws before you let your four-legged friends in the house will only get you so far – the smell may still linger! Research from Tasteforlife concludes that switching up your pet’s diet can help get dog smells out of your carpet as well as cat pongs too:
“I’ve been feeding my dogs a raw diet for many years now. Since I made the switch, they always smell good and need to be bathed less often.
They are also less prone to ear infections, which cause bad odours in many dogs. This diet helps keep their teeth tartar-free, which means healthy gums and good breath.I believe many dogs smell bad because their bodies are constantly detoxifying the poor quality, unnatural ingredients in many processed dog foods.” – Nancy Strouss, People Training For Dogs, New York.
If you struggle to prepare a raw food diet for your pet, you could always swap their current food for an upgraded quality of meat-based food, with low-grain content that is soy-free. With the dog smell out of your carpet you might be looking for more cleaning top tips like how to remove makeup from your carpet or how to stop dust allergies by cleaning. For more cleaning top tips head over to our blog.