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If you’ve ever had a dog, or any pet at all, you’ll know all about the dangers of stepping into something disgusting in the middle of the night. Making sure your dog is housetrained is one of the most important things you can do with your pet. It will almost certainly save your carpet from disaster, and it will definitely save you the effort of cleaning it.
How to get dog poop out of a carpet? Getting dog poop out of a carpet isn’t as scary as it sounds. The best measure is always prevention, but there are lots of ways you can clean your carpet if the worst does happen. So how do you do it? Well, let’s find out!
Safety First!
Cleaning up your pet’s poop stains isn’t the sort of thing that you want to do without gloves on. Always remember that dog poo is a waste product and can be harmful to you and your household. This also applies to every other animal you might have, such as if you were cleaning up cat poo.
So first things first, get yourself a pair of rubber gloves! You can always make do with a plastic bag, but for this sort of mess, I would really have to recommend you get a pair of gloves.
Depending on the smell, you might want to put on a mask, but it isn’t necessary if you think you can stand the stench. And believe me, it can be bad.
The next thing you need is a place to put it. Obviously, you don’t want to keep this sort of thing in the family trash can. So make sure your local public trash cans have plenty of room. You might even want to check if you are even allowed to put it there!
After you’ve taken care of all that, you’ll want to get your hands on disinfectant and an air freshener. If you’d like a quick look at some of the best carpet cleaning solutions for dog poo, I’ve looked into that too. This is where you can have a quick look!
Once you’ve got all of these steps clearly laid out in your mind, you’ll be able to deal with your pet’s mess quickly. What’s more, you will be able to do it without making it any worse!
Let’s get into the thick of it!
Get Rid Of The Solids
If you’re lucky, your dogs’ mess is solid. How to get dried dog poop off of a carpet? It’s quite simple really. You slip on your gloves and start picking up the pieces. You’ll want to do this as fast as possible of course, but you should also be careful.
If the poo is dry when you pick it up, you might end up breaking pieces off of it. Talk about making a bad situation even worse. So be sure to use a gentle hand when you’re doing this, and you’ll be finished in no time at all.
You always want to be as quick as possible when dealing with this type of issue. Getting old dog poop stains out of your carpet is a lot harder than getting rid of new ones.
If you’re unlucky, and your dog has eaten something suspicious, your dog might have diarrhea. Getting runny dog poo out of your carpet is a bit more of a task. You also have to take into account what type of carpet you have when this happens.
For instance, if you have a wool carpet or any other type of special carpeting, always make sure to do your research. Some carpets require different care than others. So how are you going to get your dog’s diarrhea off of your wool carpet, or any other carpet?
I’ve put together a small list of steps that you should take when cleaning up this sort of mess. Once you’ve got those solids taken care of, these are the next steps.
Get a solution
You can definitely mix your own solution at home, but for a problem like this, with your health at risk, I would leave it to the professionals. I’ve always been a big fan of Bissell when it comes to this sort of stuff. Here’s a short article I put together highlighting some of the best products for the job.
If you have no products at home, this is what you can do.
- Mix a common dishwashing liquid with a tablespoon of vinegar.
- Stir it all together with three cups of hot water.
- Put it all in a spray bottle or a bowl.
This mix should be able to take care of the problem if you don’t have any domestic products at home. Whatever you do, make sure to use something. You need to have something to disinfect your carpet after cleaning up the dog poop.
When dealing with a potential health hazard like this one, I always try to stick with known products. After all, how can you tell if your homemade product is effective? The problem with domestic products is that there are just so many of them.
I did a quick breakdown of some of the best cleaning sprays for carpets, and what you should be looking for in them. Hopefully, it will allow you to save some time looking for that perfect product. You can take a look right here!
Start Blotting
Once you have your solution ready, and the solids out of the way, you can start the real cleaning. Apply your solution to the affected area lightly.
Start blotting at the stain, very gently, and keep doing this until you have all of the mess lifted.
Enzyme Cleaners
Enzyme cleaners are some of the best products out there when it comes to breaking down nasty stuff. Once again, there are tons of these products out there, and you’ll have to go with your gut. You should certainly find what you need in the article about Bissell products above.
Simply follow the instructions on the package of your product, and you should be good to go. Generally speaking, you might have to give the cleaner some time to work. Enzyme cleaners are especially effective, so you can be confident they will do their job.
Once you’ve given it time to work, you can blot up any remaining liquid.
Finishing the job
The last thing you’ll want to do is give the area a bit of a hoover. Do this, and you’re pretty much finished.
All you have to deal with now is that smell. Using an enzyme cleaner as mentioned above should have removed it, so getting that poop smell out of your carpet is very easy.
Just the thought of it having been there can make me grimace, so I like to give it a quick spurt of air freshener anyway.
The End
Hopefully, you’ve found this article helpful. Remember, always wear gloves and don’t panic! Work quickly and work safely, and it will all be over in no time.
Thank you for reading.
Further Reading