Tips for cleaning stained rugs

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Do you have a dog that isn't house trained yet? Tired of leaving the room for a minute and returning to an accident on your clean rugs? Take a look at some of these tips when it comes to cleaning up after your dog.

• Consider renting an extractor or wet vac to remove all traces of heavy stains in carpeting (get one from a local hardware store). This machine works much like a vacuum cleaner and is efficient and economical. Extracting/wet vac machines do the best job of forcing clean water through your carpet and then forcing the dirty water back out. When you use these machines or cleaners, carefully follow the instructions. Don't use any chemicals with these machines; they work much better with plain water.
• Use a high-quality pet odor neutralizer once the area is really clean (available at pet supply stores). Be sure to read and follow the cleaner's directions for use, including testing the cleaner on a small, hidden portion of fabric first to be sure it doesn't stain.
• Try any good carpet stain remover if the area still looks stained after it's completely dry from extracting and neutralizing.
• Avoid using steam cleaners to clean urine odors from carpet or upholstery. The heat will permanently set the stain and the odor by bonding the protein into any man-made fibers.
• Avoid using cleaning chemicals, especially those with strong odors such as ammonia or vinegar. From your pet's perspective, these don't effectively eliminate or cover the urine odor and may actually encourage your pet to reinforce the urine scent mark in that area.

Read more at The Humane Society