Solving Carpet Odor Problems in a Green Way

Have you tried sprinkling Baking Soda on it, leaving it overnight and vacuuming it up? I would try this, say every night for a week and see if it helps. also if the humidity is high the odor might be worse.

Clean the carpets with distilled vinegar and water ( 1/2and 1/2). Let dry overnight. Get a spray bottle filled with Rubbing alcohol and generously spray the carpets from about 6 inches away, tough smell spots just pour it right on the area then blot out excess with a clean towel. Let dry completely then sprinkle the whole room with baking soda and agitate it into the fibers with a broom. Leave it for an hour or so and then vacuum it up. You can mist the carpets with alcohol at night before bed whenever you want to keep them smelling fresh. Works on cat pee so it should work on anything. Also check your local rental laws, if your home was occupied for over 14 months since the carpets were installed your landlord may he required by law to replace the carpets. In Florida when a rental property was occupied for 14 consecutive months before a new tenant takes possession existing carpet must be replaced. Check your landlord/tenan statuates online if it really bugs you. The landlord is required to at least have the carpets professionally cleaned between tenants otherwise. But if you don't want to worry with all the hassle I don't blame you. I've gotten cat spray, coffee, dog pee, and red wine out of carpet and furniture with this trick.

I absolutely love a product called "Ant Icky Poo". It has an unusual name, but it really works and the smell is a clean fresh scent. The folks that make it know their chemistry and smells really break down and disappear.

Amazon has it and you can Google to find their website.

edit: for the stains, I have great luck by creating my own 'mini steam cleaner' for spots. Take a basin of clean water (no soaps or anything), an old towel and an iron set to its highest setting. Wet the towel, put it on the stain, put the iron on top and let it steam. Rinse and repeat. Sometimes it takes about 20 minutes of steam baths, but I've gotten out all kinds of stains, even a coffee stain on an off-white rug.

I have two ideas.

#!: I think it may be "back" because the stain is in the padding under the carpet. If you can pull up the carpet and clean the padding, or cut that part of the pad out and replace it.

#2: Clean with an enzyme.

Having just got a pup I'm all over this. Petco has a wide range of cleaners that really seem to work. Most of them are safe for animals and children too. Just go in and ask for advice. (We've just thrown out empty bottle out or I would recommend a specific brand.) They also have a web site you can check out.

I agree with Jennifer. Solumel will remove any odor, ANY odor....She's right, nothing comes close. I used it when we moved into a house that had been sprayed by a male cat....talk about nasty. Between the Solumel, and the black light to find it, we got it all and you wouldn't know there had ever been any animal in the house.

Solumel is sold by an online company so you need additional information. Call Jennifer or me and we'll walk you through it all!

M.

Unfortunately, anything in the right quantity can be toxic to children/pets. So, chemicals aren't always bad, they just need to be used appropriately.

That being said, I was doing laundry last night and saw something on the side of the Borax box about neutralizing pet odors.

It's worth reading through the following links to better understand whether or not you believe it to be a green product and would like to use it in your home:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borax
http://www.20muleteamlaundry.com/about

I second checking out Petco. When we moved in to our place years ago, we had not noticed there was a smell in the living room. I don't know if it was pet or not (the tenants we had to evict did not have any but maybe before) but whenever we closed the door to room, the smell was awful. I used a rug doctor 5 times and it would not go away. Another thing you can try is using a vinegar solution. I use vinegar to wash smelly stuff and it works pretty well and never had a vinegary smell after. Unfortunately, I did not know about the vinegar thing and I ended up ripping out our carpet.

I had trouble with cat odor in one apartment, and I used to put baking soda on the carpet and let it sit for an hour or two and then vacuum it up. It really helped!

Hey - check out this website - I just googled it and found it - has green ideas for anything carpet! Good luck girl, that dog smell is nooot yummy.

This Recipe Kills Odors

I have used grocery store rental carpet machines before and have come up with my own "recipe." Use one scoop of OxiClean, one cup of generic Fabreeze or one cup of vinegar, and the recommended hot water. The outcome is not only clean, but it also kills all odors. I used this formula on a very used couch that smelled of dirty dogs so bad that I would not even bring it into my home and the outcome was wonderful. Do not worry about using vinegar. Once the vinegar dries, the smell is gone.

and then the website is http://www.stretcher.com/stories/03/03aug04b.cfm

Sol-U-Mel from Melaleuca. It's Liquid GOLD....and removes odors naturally and gets the job done..also kills mold and mildew! It is GREAT!
Send me a private email and I'll tell you how to order it!
I know of nothing that comes close!

Rent a Rug Doctor and don't use the chemicals - the smell is in your pad and needs a heavy duty machine to suck it out :-)

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