How to Clean Up Pet Stains

Whether you’ve always enjoyed having a furry companion or you were ambushed into it by your children, we all know that pets can cause some major headaches in the home. Pets can dig holes in your backyard, chew your shoes, claw your couch, and leave presents for you on the floor.

Today I’m going to give you a few tips to help you prevent your home from smelling like a barn.

• The first and most important thing to remember about pet stains is to do something about them immediately. The longer you wait to clean the spot, the more it can stain/ the worse it will smell.

• If your pet has an accident on something that is washable, immediately put the item in the washing machine. Add two cups of baking soda along with your regular laundry detergent to really combat the stain/ smell.

• Soak up new urine stains with newspapers or paper towels. Stack up multiple layers and stand on top of the pile and wait a few minutes to soak up as much as you can. Repeat this process until the area is barely damp. Don’t ever scrub or rub stains on carpet, which can often make stains a lot worse.

• If you’re having trouble finding the stain, buy a black light to easily find them. Turn off all the lights in your home and you should be able to spot them in just a few minutes.

After you have spotted and soaked up the pet stain, the best option for your floors is to get them professionally cleaned. Over-the-counter products and regular dish soap can potentially ruin your floors. Plus, depending on how long the pet stain has been there, it could have potentially soaked down into the padding. Before your professional comes over, soak up as much of the stain as you can.

The best way to clean up pet stains is to prevent them in the first place. So remember:

• When house training a new puppy, be sure to put puppy on a regular feeding and drinking schedule. If you control your puppy’s body, then it won’t surprise you.

• Put your cat’s litter box in a good spot. Cats are very particular about how and where they go to the bathroom, so respect their wishes and play around with a few options until your cat is happy. Just a note: cats typically don’t like their litter boxes to go on top of something or next to something noisy. Also, be sure to keep their food away from their litter box (I mean, you wouldn’t want that next to your food either!)

Do you have any tips or tricks to clean up pet stains or to prevent them?

Information provided by The Humane Society