If you have a dog or a cat for a family pet, there may be times when they have accidents and they urinate on your carpet. Sometimes this happens in a middle of a room or in a corner.
Most of the time when pets urinate on a carpet it is because you have left them alone for a while. Sometimes the the pet has not yet been housebroken or has a behavioral problem. A dog needs to be let out for a walk when they get the urge. Cats sometimes run into behavioral issues and will urinate on the carpet if they don’t like the type of kitty litter that you are using. The real problem can be with locating the stains once they have dried because frequently you can no longer see a discoloration that indicates the source of the odor.
It is fairly easy to locate pet urine or vomit stains or any type of biological stains if you use an ultraviolet flashlight. These are also called UV flashlights or black light flashlights. Select a model with at least 12 LEDs. You will need this to generate enough ultraviolet light to make biological stains really stand out.
Use the UV flashlight in a dark room so the stains really stand out. Keep in mind that ultraviolet light is on the edge of the visible spectrum and is much brighter than it appears. Never shine ultraviolet light you anyone’s eyes.
After darkening the room, turn on the ultraviolet flashlight and scan the light across the carpeting and furniture. Any types of biological stains, including human stains and most food stains, will begin to turn fluorescent. This means that they will glow in the dark, which makes them easy to spot. Use small pieces of paper or masking tape top mark the locations of the stains.
After marking the locations of the stains, you will need to identify which ones are due to your pets. Unfortunately, the only reliable way to do this is with a sniff test. Urine stains will give off a strong odor when your nose is about six inches from the stain.
Removing Pet Stains From Carpet or Furniture
There are two main methods for neutralizing the odors using common household products. Use either vinegar or lemon juice. Apply either liquid full strength and directly to the stains. Make sure that you cover the entire diameter of the stain. Follow up by scrubbing the area with soap and water. We use lemon scented dish-washing soap diluted in water.
Let the areas dry and then follow up with another sniff test to see if the pet stains are still giving off an odor. Sometimes the urine has penetrated so deeply that it may take more than one cleaning to completely neutralize the odor.
If this does not work, there are commercial products that you can try. However, from our experience, using either vinegar or lemon juice will do the trick most of the time.