How To Remove Dog Urine Odor From Carpet

Without question, a dog can be oh so cute, except, when there is dog urine odor in the carpet. Until the smelly odor is removed, the dog is less than man's best friend.

Insufficient urine odor removal is an open invitation for the pet to go back to this marked territory.

Permanent staining of the carpet can result the longer this unsanitary contamination remains untreated.

A common statement from many a dog owner is: "I have repeatedly cleaned the urine affected area but the odor is still there".

Why is odor from dog urine so difficult to remove?

One of the main components of dog urine is uric acid. This uric acid forms uric acid crystals, otherwise known as urine salts, and is the reason for the offensive odor.

As the liquid content of the urine evaporates, the odor from the urine salts is minimized. When the uric acid crystals absorb moisture from humidity in the air or from a cleaning product, the urine salts give off the foul odor.

Dog urine is excreted on the acid side of the pH scale. As the urine dries, however, the urine changes from the acid side to the alkaline side of the pH scale.

This is important to know because most carpet cleaning products are formulated on the alkaline side of the pH scale. Alkaline based cleaning products have little cleaning ability on alkaline based soils. Acids neutralize alkalines and vice versa.

If you catch the dog in the "act", the immediate use of an alkaline based (pH over 7) cleaning product would be an appropriate choice to remove the dog urine and associated odor. Alkaline based cleaning products become less effective the older the urine gets, which can be shortly after excretion.

Urine odor can persist even after cleaning the carpet because the urine in the carpet backing and padding has not been addressed. Cleaning the carpet surface may make us feel good but will do little in removing the offending odor.

What are the procedures to remove dog urine odor?

1. locate the odor source:

   Dogs tend to excrete in the middle of the room. They will occasionally pee against a wall or even on furniture like a chair leg or sofa skirt.

• Look for visible evidence in the form of spots or discolorations. Visible evidence is not always present in urine contamination odors.
• Use a "black (ultraviolet) light" to locate the odor source. In a darkened room, the salts found in urine become fluorescent in the presence of ultraviolet light.
• The use of an electronic moisture detector is helpful in locating the sticky residues and moisture found in urine deposits.
• The black light and moisture detector are two tools common in the carpet cleaning industry for finding urine deposits. The most available and practical method of locating urine problems is your nose. Don't be afraid to get down on your hands and knees to seek out urine problems.
2. remove the odor source:

   Generally speaking, the smaller breeds seem more likely to be "carpet wetters" than larger dogs.

   Even though a larger dog can release more volume, a smaller sized dog can excrete enough urine to wet the carpet face, the backing, the padding (if present), the wooden tack-less strip (if present on wall to wall carpet installation) and the sub-floor (hardwood, plywood or concrete).

   The extent of the dog urine contamination will determine the course of action taken to remove the dog urine odor source.

• In cases of isolated contamination, the problem can usually be effectively treated without the need to remove and replace the padding, tack-less strip or seal the sub-floor.

  This article is a reference to correct the isolated contamination odor problem

• In cases of large area and overall contamination, the carpet should be disengaged from the tack-less strip and inspected from the back to determine the scope of the problem.

  Once the severity of the contamination is evaluated, the cost to correct verses the cost to replace the carpet can be determined. If correction is more cost effective, discard the contaminated padding and tack-less strips.

  The scope of treatment to correct cases of large area and overall contamination is more involved than an isolated incident. Complete procedures can be found in the article entitled: How to remove severe urine odor contamination.

3. clean the surface where the dog urine odor exists:

   The process of cleaning the surface begins by removing the urine salts which cause the odor.

   • For fresh (wet) urine an alkaline cleaning solution can be used. Before any product is applied to the urine contamination, remove as much of the urine by blotting with an absorbent cloth, or use an extraction machine such as a "wet/dry vac" or professional carpet cleaning equipment.
   • For dried urine an acidic product such as acetic acid (vinegar) should be used.
   • saturate the affected area with the appropriate alkaline or acetic acid solution. The purpose is to liquefy the urine salts so they can be rinsed away. Enough solution needs to be applied to reach all the contamination. Apply enough to recreate the "crime".

     Use Caution as to not over-wet the carpet when dealing with a wood sub-floor.

     Generally, the urine contamination is not discovered until it is at least partially dry. Treatment with an acetic acid solution for dry or even wet urine deposits would be beneficial.

   • Remove as much of the moisture from the saturated carpet as possible by blotting, or through extraction.

4. apply a suitable deodorizer to eliminate any remaining dog urine odor:
• The most popular types of deodorizers for urine odor are enzyme based and oxygen based.

Enough chemical must be applied to completely wet out the contaminated areas. Follow the manufacturer's directions for proper results.

• Depending on the severity of dog urine odor, treatment may need to be repeated.
5. clean face fiber of carpet
• some types of deodorizers leave a residue which should be cleaned to return the carpet to a healthier condition. Clean with an alkaline cleaning solution (pH 9-10), remove as much moisture as possible and allow carpet to dry.