I am shampooing the carpet in the house I am renting. The landlord said they did days before I moved in, but given how grungy the place is and how much the carpet reeks, I am sure they didn't do it. That gripe aside, the previous renters had an animal that peed on the carpet for starters, and for second, I don't think the carpets have ever been shampooed. House was built in '78, but i'm sure the carpet isn't that old. I bought a bissel pro heat 2x to do the carpets with...the manual says do keep doing passes until the water is clear, but no matter how many i do, it is still brown, dirty, sandy, nasty water. It is not RED or BURGANDY like the carpet color, so I don't think the carpet is bleeding and causing it. It is just really GROSS carpeting...I think I went over the same pass for over 30 minutes and 2 or 3 tanks of water on high traffic setting, but not clear yet...slight improvement maybe...hard to tell. Am I expecting too much? After shampooing over the spot that was peed on MULTIPLE times, I can still touch it and smell animal pee on my hand (I'm using pet and odor formula solution). Any advice? Ideas? Words of encouragement like "keep at it and it will get better"? ...or the inevitable "don't bother because the animal pee smell never goes away no matter how many times you shampoo and the carpet won't ever get clean anyway?"
Okay, after reading a few responses, I've decided to add a little bit to my request. My landlord told me that they had the carpet shampooed just like a day or two before we got our keys, but there is so much dirt and grime and stink that I know they didn't. I don't really know how to approach them on this because the carpet is so disgusting and because it smells so bad. We JUST moved in like 2 or 3 weeks ago and I'm not too keen on moving all our stuff around so they can replace the carpet or even have it shampooed, but I don't see much of a choice. What do I say to a landlord that told me they had it cleaned when it is so disgusting? The smell won't go away. I used to have pets and I NEVER let them pee inside. This is like, I don't feel like taking care of my pet, so I'll just let it pee in the house kind of smell...but it's been in there for a long time.
Okay,so I finally got fed up enough to email my landlord and they are planning on replacing the carpet in the next couple weeks...now all I have to do is figure out what to do with all my stuff when they have it done! LOL
I would probably hire a professional to come clean it first..you can try using some vanilla in the clean tank to help eliminate oder..but it would probably be best to hire someone if they are that bad!!
If you can afford it I would use a professional carpet cleaning service like Stanley or ChemDry, they have a much more powerful suction and have special solutions that can eliminate pet odors. It is amazing what they can do and is well worth the price, have them use scotchguard to make cleaning again later much easier.
You machine you bought is more for getting spills as they happen not older stains because it just doesn't have the power required. Also if you haven't ever seen a carpet after rip out and before the floor is swept it is amazing how much dirt is not gotten. I ripped a carpet out once and it looked like a sandbox underneath the pad.
Good luck and I hope you figure something out, if nothing seems to work then I would hold your landlord accountable for replacement especially if you have no pets of your own.
I'm kind of astonished that everyone is giving advice on how to clean the carpet. I have done my fair share of carpet cleaning, but this is beyond the scope of a tenant. It is the Landlord's responsibility to restore the place to a livable condition and, if it is not livable, it is your responsibility to insist that they fix it. I realize that this can be a bit inconvenient now, but what about the long-term affect? Pee in the carpet? EWWWW! This carpet should be replaced. If you insist on cleaning the carpet, then you should try my method.
Vacuum, vacuum, vacuum. Using a bagless vacuum will allow you to monitor just how much debris you are pulling up. Focus on one room at at time.
Use the Bissel with a mixture of water and vinegar, NO SOAP. Don't go more than 1/2 with the vinegar. Let it sit for a bit then go back and RINSE with just water. I will work on one room at a time, since it can take a lot of time to clean the areas. Don't rush the process. I will keep the machine over a spot for a while (like 10 seconds or so) watching all the little spots of water coming up. You may have to do this a couple of times.
Go back over the carpet with the soap mixture and use the High-Traffic setting on the pre-treat option. Let it sit and then go back over and rinse REALLY REALLY well. Soap residue is a magnet for dirt, so make sure you get it rinsed. Again, station the machine and let it soak up for 10 seconds or so. If I am doing a large area, I will move very slowly to remove as much liquid as possible. It can take about 4 hours to clean an 8 ft x 8 ft area, but it is pretty clean at the end of this process.
Good luck with this. If I were you, though, I would insist on the manager replacing the carpet.
I would spend the money to have them professionally cleaned initially and then do the occasional spot cleaning yourself. I think you'll feel better about having your son play on the floor if you have it done... think of it as an investment!
Best wishes :)
Try using Urine-Be-Gone, specially formulated to neutralize human and animal pee. If that carpet hasn't ever been shampooed and is so terribly grungy, it probably will not come clean, especially if you are soaking it down to the padding. Beware of leaving a carpet and padding too wet because it could then start to grow mold and the odor can get worse. What is under that carpet? Would the landlord be willing to rip it out? It sounds like a genuine health hazard. Hardwood or even vinyl flooring would be better than that. Level with the landlord that your place smells like animal pee and that you really don't want to get stuck smelling that, especially if you have shampooed it so many times.
H.
It sounds like this carpet is well used. Using the high traffic setting on the carpet cleaner will put down more soap. Go slow, don't pull the trigger and let the brushes work the soap in, then pull the trigger and go over it again with more soap solution. Change the setting to water/steam only and soak the carpet with the water, suck it up, do it again and again. Go slow and don't pull the trigger to suck all the water out of the carpet. With regards to the animal urine, the urine no doubt has penetrated the padding beneath the carpet. Everytime it is rehydrated, it will smell. You have to neutralize the urine. There are solutions out there sold by veterinarian supply companies that do work, but it takes time. You have to pre-treat the carpet with these solutions before you shampoo, soak the soiled area then extract it with toweling, your carpet cleaner. You can find some of these same cleaners at pet shops. Give them a try. It's important to remember to vacuum your carpet after you have shampoo'd it and it has dried. Soap residue will attract more dirt quicker than a dirty carpet. Your shampooing has loosenen dirt and now is the time to get it up and off the fibers. All else fails, talk with your landlord about a professional cleaner coming in and taking care of the situation. Best of luck!
Hi L. - I'm sorry to hear about your situation. There's enough stress with moving into a new place, without worrying about having to clean the carpets multiple times! I'd suggest, though, that you give some natural cleaning methods a shot - particularly since the chemical detergents aren't working for you. Chemical carpet cleaners may be linked to a rare disorder in children called Kawasaki disease, so it's much safer to use only steam cleaning or hot water extraction. Whatever carpet cleaning method you use, don't let your little boy play on the carpet for several hours afterwards. For some natural cleaning suggestions, check out this web page http://www.checnet.org/healthehouse/education/top10-detai... from the organization now known as Healthy Child Healthy World - a great clearinghouse of information on all children's environmental health issues. Good luck!
get "Kids n Pets" it is great for the animal spots, but you can use it in the machine too. You can get it at Safeway. You may be expecting too much on the first try. This sounds like you will have to do it a few times. They may have gotten new carpet, but did they get new padding underneath? If not then you are pulling dirt up through that. You want to make sure that you don't get the padding too wet so that it will dry before it mildews. Make sure that you remove all the water before you add more. And let it dry completely before you try to smell it again, I think we need to give the products a chance to work.
Good luck!
get a spray bottle and fill it up with half white vinegar and half water. Spray it on the stains, wait 5 minutes and then plot with a towel..It works great for pet stains and odor. It will smell like vinegar at first but after it dries it takews the other smells with it. I had a Bissell and I think you should just keep at it or hire someone. It sounds like the carpet it gross and you may just want to bite the bullet and pay someone to come out and use their high powered tools to clean it this first time.
i hate to be the bearer of bad news... most likely will not ever be completely clean..... vaccum a lot with a bagless vac over and over again emptying the container every time. carpet cleaners dont work in those situations in my opinion. the best solution is to rip out the carpet. Easy if there is hard wood underneath. we had to do that in our house due to gross negligence of the carpets for over 10 years (rarely vaccumed, 3 cats from previous owner)
I have 2 big dogs a new puppy and several inside outside cats plus husband and two girls I shampoo my carpet quite frequently sometimes more than once a week have a dark green rug in my living room and the girls bedroom has hot pink shag carpet when I shampoo the carpets I put a little bit of bleach in my tank and dilute with the water while I'm filling it up and that's how I make sure there's no animal smell in the house when I first tried it I tested it on the carpet in my room because it's a very light tan color and did it where my bed would be on top just in case the bleach did make it turn white but it was fine just don't overload the bleach
L., Even if they had professional cleaners clean the carpet they only go over it once and so all old dirt stays in there. We I used to rent I always got a rug doctor and did it my self. They are more powerful than bissels. I had to do it
about 6 times before the water would come clean and that is when you could tell they had it professionally cleaned it. there is a spray that you can use on urine spots called "urine gone" that works really well but the smell is probably coming from the pad and is much harder to get out. Another alternative is to use about 5 cans of carpet fresh on the old carpet and then get large area carpets and lay on top of the old carpet so you are not coming in contact with the old carpet. But as long as you are vacuuming up brown water the carpet is still dirty. good luck. keep trying
try to use the pet urination remove odor at petsmart. my son was urinated spread the toliet and smelled on the floor around the toliet stand. I checked the internet to remove the urination odor. I found out use pet urination odor remove. it works good. try to use the pet bottle ok
K.
