Annoying pet stains and odors can ruin the interior of your home. They destroy your furniture, and make your house appear dishevelled and unkempt. We all love our furry friends but you will search to find a single pet owner who hasn’t had at least one negative thing to say about hair strewn all over the furniture and carpets, the incessant scratching, or litter kicked out of the tray all over the place! As pet owners, we love our pets more than we love people, so to keep our houses sanitary for us and our little friends, we must employ expert measures!

Keep Your Pets Safe and Use Gentle Products

Pet stains and odors can often be very difficult to remove without employing harsh chemical agents. There is an abundance of multi purpose steam cleaner products on the market, so it is important that you buy the right one. In a home with pets it is never advised you employ harsh chemical agents in your cleaning, they could prove detrimental to the long-term health of your furry friends, and yourself. Gentle products like steam cleaners can be soft and easily managed.

How Do I Remove Stubborn Odors?

Pet urine if left untreated has proteins that can create both terribly potent odors and attract the bacteria necessary to promote mould growth. In addition, they damage your carpet under padding and surface. If you immediately steam clean without first applying a tincture to kill the bacteria you will hit a serious issue. By doing this you inadvertently bond these proteins and make it nearly impossible to ever remove the stain or the smells. So pre-treat and immediately apply a steam cleaner. The chemicals held within can actually mask the smell and make your pet more inclined toward further urination on that exact spot!

Blot, Blot, and Blot!

The first step before applying your steam cleaner is to blot. Many pet stores and even some supermarkets sell carpet cleaning products that contain enzymes designed and cultivated to break down the proteins that cause the potent urine smell. You first want to, with a tissue, smudge and collect as much of the urine as possible before it dries. You can do this by applying a newspaper to the affected area or paper towels. Repeat until the carpet is as dry as you can make it.

And the ultimate benefit of a steam cleaner

After you have dried the surface area it is important to use a hoover around the affected area. This is just in case there is any grime or bacteria. If you steam clean these patches they will bind to the carpet fibers and possibly damage your carpet irreparably.

When using the steamer, it is important to use it with the nozzle away from your face to release the cleaning agents. They slowly draw it back toward you to remove water from the carpet. You should do it in a full circle, similar to your hoovering. Then allow the area to dry thoroughly.

After the carpet has been cleaned properly it is recommended you go over it with a 50/50 tincture of white wine vinegar and water. This will remove any traces of cleaning agents or residual bacteria.

You must exercise caution when using steam machines as often. The steams can be very hot. Be careful not to scald your skin. It will cause significant damage and excruciating pain, winding up on a trip to the emergency clinic. The same goes for your pets. Keep pets in a separate room when operating machinery like this. This will make sure they wont burn themselves or interfere at all with the cleaning process. There is a wide range of steaming machines available on the internet with just a little bit of research!

FURTHER READING ON HOME CLEANING AND HOME MAINTENANCE

At Housesitmatch.com we like to share useful blogs and practical advice about home maintenance and organisation and house sitting. We hope you find this small selection of our blogs useful.

Enjoy a spotless home without lifting a finger

How to get organised at home

Home maintenance – How to fix hidden problems

Planning your holiday home and pet care