Oh No! Where Did Fido Go? What Can I Do?

Even the Most Well Trained Pet Can Have Accidents on Your Fine Area Rugs.

Pets urinate on oriental rugs for all kinds of reasons. Maybe you stayed away a little longer than expected. Maybe you dog has separation anxiety. Maybe your dog is ill. There are so many reasons that pets urinate on rugs. So prevention is often a better alternative.

One of the easiest things to do is to purchase inexpensive pet fences. Confine your pet to an area where there is an easily cleaned hard surface. Pets prefer soft surfaces like your lawn on which to do their business, so it only stands to reason that they prefer your Persian rug when they are indoors. Confining a pet to an area of your home when you are gone or when they are ill can save your rugs and carpets from what could become permanent damage. You can provide them with a pet bed and toys to make them more comfortable, but one thing is certain, your pet will prefer being confined for a short time to being scolded after they have an accident on your favorite rug.

Despite our best efforts at prevention, sometimes pet urine accidents happen anyway. What can you do? You may have a spotting tool in your home or garage to take care of a pet urine problem. That tool is a small, one to two gallon wet/dry Shop-Vac which is easy to store and access. If you don’t already have one, they can be purchased at your local home improvement store for under $50.00.

If you catch the pet urine accident when it’s still wet, use your Shop-Vac to vacuum out as much of the urine as possible. After this take a white cloth press on the rug’s pile for a minute or two. If you see dye on the rag do not proceed any further and call a rug washing professional who has a full service, off site facility. If you don’t see any dye on the cloth you may proceed as follows to flush out the remaining urine.

First put something down to protect the flooring underneath the rug. Next make a 50% solution of cold water and vinegar. When you apply the solution, make sure to go well beyond the surface spot, because urine spreads out in the rug’s pile and cotton foundation. Get that rug nice and wet. Use your Shop-Vac to remove the solution. Repeat this process three to four times. Now take a dry towel, place it on the damp area, stand on it for a few seconds and repeat with dry areas of the towel until little or no moisture remains. Finally put something underneath the rug to raise it up and aim a fan at it so air travels under and over the rug until it is completely dry. Even rugs that remain slightly damp can develop mold, mildew or dry rot which are unhealthy for both your rug and your family.

This process is great for one or two fresh spots, but if there are many areas or if the urine has remained in the rug for a period of several days, it is best to call your local rug washing specialist who is experienced with urine contamination and odor removal. One thing you should never do is use store bought cleaners that contain ammonia or Oxy (bleach) anything. These cleaners can strip the color from your rugs and cause permanent damage. If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to give us a call.