How To Clean Dog Urine From Carpet With Vinegar & Baking Soda?

Last Updated: May 30, 2022

However, there are ways that work consistently using ordinary household items.

White vinegar has many uses, including removing stains from carpet, upholstery, and fabric. Baking soda (bicarbonate of soda) is also useful. With vinegar it creates a foam that lifts stains.

In this article, you’ll learn how to clean dog urine from carpet with vinegar and baking soda. This is one of the most effective and also a natural way to remove pet waste out of carpet.

You’ll also learn about how to deodorize your carpet so that it smells fresh.

Also Read: How To Clean Dog Vomit From Wool Rug And Carpet?

• This is a natural and non-damaging method.

• This is cheap yet really effective for any kinds of pet stains and odor

• There is no permanent chemical interaction.

1. Protection for Your carpet and floor:

• Liner or pad for the carpet: This protects your floor and absorbs fluid and stains. It should be colorfast.

• You need natural sponge and maybe a rubber mat to put under the carpet to protect padding or flooring.

• Don’t use newspaper to blot your carpet. Blank newsprint is ok. The ink in newspaper stains and adds chemicals to your carpet.

• Don’t use any heat such as the hair dryer because it’ll lock in the smell

• Electric fans for drying the carpet.

• Clean dry colorfast rags or towels: These are for dabbing the spot with cleaner or dabbing it dry.

• White Vinegar in a spray bottle: This is safe for any carpet. It is a weak acid, but not a bleach.

• Baking Soda: Baking soda is a base, and neutralizes acid and stops action. With vinegar it makes foaming bubbles to float out stains.

• A soft flat paintbrush or very soft toothbrush: This is used to push safe cleaners or water into the fibers for cleaning.

• Corn Starch: Corn starch was used in hospitals as dry shampoo, because it’s non-toxic.

• Medical grade hydrogen peroxide: This can remove yellowness from light areas. We trust and recommend this one.

• A natural sponge: Natural sponge is absorbent and doesn’t react with cleaners.

• A blunt scraping tool, such as a dinner or butter knife or a tablespoon: Dog urine crystallizes to a shiny solid residue, so scrape away before adding any liquid that could dissolve it.

Step one: Use your blunt scraper to remove shiny yellow solids. Then use a small vacuum to suck these up so they will not dissolve.

Step two: Sprinkle corn starch on the carpet and gently push it into the fibers. Leave an hour and then vacuum with strong suction. Use your crevasse tool to concentrate the suction on spaces between the fibers.

Step three: Put a cloth or mat under the stain. Use clean cloth or natural sponge to blot in warm plain water until it is damp, not runny wet. Use dry cloth to blot the moisture out and a fan to dry for an hour.

Step four: Sprinkle plain baking soda on the stained area to finish. Gently beat this in with clean paint brushes or soft toothbrushes. 

Step five: Use a small vacuum that can reverse the air to push it out right against the carpet to push between the fibers.

Step six: Spray the area with white vinegar. It will foam up and urine will float up with the foam. Once the foaming stops, blot the area with clean dry cloth. Use fans to dry it. Lift the edges with small blunt objects if you need to get air underneath.

Step seven: Once it is dry, examine for any yellowing. If you notice yellowing then apply 3% hydrogen peroxide with a cloth blotter or cotton swabs. Leave 20 minutes then blot out. Peroxide stays active only a few minutes. It removes leftover yellowing.

1. Tools you’ll need to get started:

• A blunt scraper like a butter knife: This scrapes crystallized solids before applying cleaning solutions so you don’t dissolve urine in the cleaner.

• A rental or purchased machine: Rental machines are bulky and expensive, and only good for large areas. A small machine like these is better, and useful for other things.

• Dry white or colorfast rags or old towels: Even using machine cleaners you will need to blot.

• A natural sponge: These don’t react chemically with cleaners or dyes.

• An electric fan for drying: Never use heat to dry carpets.

• Old towels, sheets or a pad: These go under the rug to absorb stains and keep the floor dry.

2. Steps to follow using a commercial or small home machine:

Step one: Dust your stained area with corn starch and gently beat in. Wait 20 minutes and vacuum thoroughly with a soft carpet vacuum. This prevents dry material from dissolving into the cleaner.

Step two: Use a commercial type machine with your commercial cleaner on the stained area. It will stay dry, because machines suck up their solutions into the “used” side. Don’t use hot water!

Step three: The commercial machine you rent or buy will come with directions for use. However, there is more to it than how to use the machine. 

Step four:  For delicate rugs of any size you need to clean against the nap on the underside if you can turn the carpet over. If it is too large then make sure you have weights on each corner of your carpet.

Step five:  Dry your rug slowly not in sunlight with no heat. Check the underside for dryness after 1-8 hours. (You might want to elevate it while drying on empty boxes.)

Note:  This method is very effective for cleaning old dog urine stains from wool rugs and soft pile carpet.

You can also apply the following homemade solution to remove pet urine stains from carpet and delicate rugs. This is one of the best homemade carpet cleaning solution for dog urine stains and pet vomit. 

• 1 tablespoon of liquid dish soap

1. Mix 1 part of white vinegar, 1 fourth part of water, 1 tbsp of liquid dish soap into a spray bottle.

2. Shake the bottle properly to prepare the solution.

3. Apply the solution directly on the stain

4. Leave it for 20 minutes

5. Put a clean cloth dipped in clean water on the spot. This will remove the solution from the carpet.

6. Dry the area with fan.

1. Deodorizing Tools And Cleaners:

• Baking Soda: Use this dry

• Clean wide brush: This is to beat the baking soda into the carpet.

• Commercial Deodorizer: See our trusted pet urine deodorizer here.

If all the previous cleaning did not remove the urine odor from your carpet, you need commercial deodorizer. Use the commercial deodorizer as directed on the label. Make sure that, it has no bleach. 

You can try dry baking soda gently beaten into the stain (with the wide brush) area and several surrounding inches overnight.

Alternative ways to remove odor from your carpet naturally:

Chamomile tea is a good deodorizer. Make strong Chamomile Tea and cool. Blot your cooled tea into the carpet with protective padding underneath. Leave in and dry. The tea won’t stain or damage the carpet.

Q1:
Does vinegar remove dog urine smell from carpet?

Yes, almost always this is all you need. However, you should use white vinegar for that purpose. It breaks down the uric acid present in pet urine. Consequently, it successfully removes smell from carpet and rugs.

Q2:
What is the best dog urine stain & odor remover from carpet?

There is no best for all carpet. Generally it is best to try the homemade cleaners first as described above.

Q3:
What’s the best enzyme cleaner for dog urine?

These change so often as science discovers new one that you need to read the labels on commercial enzyme cleaners. You cannot make your own. However, we trust and recommend the ANGRY ORANGE Enzyme Cleaner for removing tough pet stains from most carpet and rugs.

Q4:
Why does my carpet still smell like dog pee after shampooing?

Shampooing only removes the pee and other contaminates, but odor is still in the carpet fibers. This needs to be chemically neutralized. You can use commercial cleaner that includes a deodorizer.

https://www.hgtv.com/lifestyle/clean-and-organize/how-to-get-pet-stains-out-of-carpet

https://www.apartmenttherapy.com/vinegar-baking-soda-cleaning-mixture-myth-36880375