Entries Tagged as 'Carpet'

Getting Gross With Home Ec 101

November 17th, 2008 6 Comments

Dear Home Ec 101,

My two year old has started potty training.  She’s very good at taking off her clothes and getting naked, not so good yet at actually making it to the potty on time.  So, I was wondering if you had any brilliant tips for cleaning toddler poop out of carpet?  I do not have a wet/dry vacuum or steam cleaner or anything else fancy.  Do I need to get some special cleaning product for this job?

Thanks,

Na-Na-Na-Na-Poo-Poo-Head

Ivy says:

I have three cats, a dog, and three kids. If there’s anything I know better than cleaning poo off the floor, I don’t know what it is. Now, if it’s of the solid variety, no problem. Pick up the solid stuff and spray a little Nature’s Miracle (expensive, but the best) or Kids N Pets (less expensive, pretty good, but not as fabulous as Nature’s Miracle) on the area, go on with day.

It’s when it’s the not-so-solid variety that it’s kind of a problem. This is the very reason I have mostly laminate floors, I despise cleaning up this kind of poo. Anyway, get a couple of paper towels. Scrape up as much poo as you can. Then get out the Nature’s Miracle or Kids N Pets and SOAK the area. Then take either a nice thick rag (This is why I cloth diapered my kids. I have the best rags in town.) or else some paper towels and BLOT the area up. If it doesn’t all come out at first, repeat the process.

Have..er…fun.

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Cats in the Carpet

May 7th, 2007 4 Comments

Dear Home-Ec 101,

Our cat marks all areas of our house by peeing especially when another animal comes to visit or where she last marked. We are at our wit’s end…. is there any solution to this problem?

Signed,

Kitty Mama in Kalamazoo

retrochick.JPGIvy says:

I know way more about cat behavior than any normal person should. You name a strange cat behavior and I’ve had a cat that has done it. Go figure.

Female cats who mark indoors is indeed a strange cat behavior. My vet told me less than 10% of spayed female cats mark indoors. Outside, it is a way for a cat to attract a mate. Inside, it is generally a behavioral problem caused by stress and frustration.

I’m assuming your cat is spayed. If she’s not, that is the very first thing you need to do. Please comment and let me know if you need a link for low-cost spay and neuter service- I have the link around here somewhere.

Clean the area throroughly with en enzymatic cleaner that does NOT contain ammonia in it. Ammonia one of the primary ingredients in cat urine, so any cleaners with ammonia will cause them to come back in the area over and over. Spray some Feliway in the area, that will change the scent from the marking scent to the cheek gland scent (you know how cats rub their cheeks on everything? It’s not because they’re showing they love that item, they’re showing they OWN the item.) and calm your kitty down.

Make sure the cat is as unstressed as possible. Try not to have a bunch of other animals traipsing in and out of your house, and if you do have a reason for having a lot of unfamiliar animals coming in and out, make sure there are lots of places where she can get up and out of the area. My cats like the tall bookshelves I have.

Try moving her food and water bowls near the area of the spraying. Sometimes this will stop it.

If none of that works, you’ll probably need to take her to the vet for some kitty valium. I had a girl cat once that sprayed and NOTHING we did stopped it. I took her to the vet, and the vet prescribed a mild tranquilizer for her, after awhile we were able to wean her off of it, and she never marked again.

Good luck, I hope one of these suggestions work, I know how frustrating it is!

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A two-fer: Grass stains and puppy pee

May 2nd, 2007 No Comments

Dear Home-Ec 101,

My daughter has a grass stain on her pretty little, made with love by Grandma, Easter dress. How can I get it out before we see Grandma again?

My 13 year old dog has recently urniated on our carpet, for reasons unknown to us. How can I get that horrible odor out before I go and purchase some doggy Depends?

Thanks!

Stink and Stains in Smyrna

WinkIvy says:

First of all, I totally read that as “My 13 year old urinated on our carpet”. I was totally about to suggest counseling, but when it’s a 13 year old dog, I understand. But let’s get to the grass stains question first, shall we?

The very best grass stain getter-outer, I have found, is automatic dishwashing detergent. My personal fave is Cascade, but you can use any brand, probably. Dishwasher detergent has bleach-like powers, so be sure you spot test first.

What I do is get the item and soak it in a bucket with a couple of gallons of the hottest water the garment can stand and about a half cup of dishwasher detergent overnight. I doubt you really have to soak it that long, but that’s how I do it. Then you just toss the garment in the washing machine as usual, and the grass stains will be gone just like that.

Now for the doggy odor problem. It’s very important to get the smell entirely out of the carpet. When the dog has an accident, you want to take a towel, and soak up the urine. Press down hard to make sure you get as much as possible. Blot! Don’t rub!!

Once you’ve soaked up as much pee as possible, use an enzymatic cleaner like Kids N Pets on the spot. If you have a carpet steam cleaner, you can use that on the spot. If you don’t, it might be a good time to rent a Rug Doctor. I find the Rug Doctors work quite well for getting your carpet really clean- be sure you are using an enzymatic cleaner in the Rug Doctor.

If you find you have tried everything and the odor is still there, you may need to take drastic steps and rip up the carpet. There’s a good tutorial on cleaning urine stains from subflooring on my Curbly blog.

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Carpet Care: Can it be saved?

April 20th, 2007 3 Comments

Please help me, ladies!

We’ve been in our new townhouse for about eight months. We have neutral-colored wall-to-wall style carpet in our living room. There are a couple of stains from who knows what – beer spillage, chocolate drool from a friend’s happy baby, etc. I spot-treated them (the stains, not the babies) and sometimes they have come out, sometimes they haven’t. Yesterday, the sun was shining in for the first time in a while and I saw stains all over the place. Anyway, I cannot get them out! I tried Resolve Foam Cleaner, no dice. I have a Bissell small steam cleaner and that isn’t helping much, either.

Is there any tried-and-true method for spot-cleaning a carpet and KEEPING it clean? There’s nothing worse than mystery stains that return every few months.

Thank you,

Spotted in Spencerville

Heather says:

Such is the life of builders’ grade carpet. We are currently saving to replace the carpeting in our bedroom. The original homeowner knew they would sell quickly and did not invest in upgrades  and compounded the problem by selecting a shade of cream. As I have severe allergies, we’re saving for hardwood as a replacement.

Spot treating:

Always test your carpeting in an inconspicuous area before attempting spot removal!

One of the biggest problems with many commercial stain removers is they offer a temporary solution and may leave the area more vulnerable to oils in the future or worse, leave a sticky residue that attacts more dirt. For water soluble stains, I have had the best luck spot treating with vinegar diluted with warm (NOT HOT) water. I pour a small amount over the stain and blot gently with white rags. When the surface dirt is completely gone, I place several white rags over the spot and weight them down with a heavy object for a couple of hours. The cotton wicks the moisture from the carpet and helps prevent the pad from becoming saturated, thus avoiding the potential for mildew growth.

Oily stains are more difficult to remove. Use a small amount dilute dish detergent and blot the stain. Remove as much moisture as possible then follow with the vinegar solution, blotting and wetting until all soap has been removed.

In each case, I suggest running a fan in the room for several hours after removing the weighted rags to help the area dry thoroughly. Vacuum to restore the carpets texture.

There is a chance the stain will wick to the surface and “reappear.” Simply repeat the steps.

General cleaning:

Frequent vacuuming is essential to carpet longevity.  Dirt destroys carpeting and frequent steam cleaning will substantially reduce a carpet’s life. Most builders’ grade carpeting is made of nylon which will stain unless treated with a product such as Scotchgard Carpet Protector. These products should be used immediately after a steam cleaning to protect the fibers from new stains. Other products such as DuPont’s Teflon Advanced Carpet Protector must be professionally applied. Personally, I find there is a trade off with these products, spot free carpeting, but a possible increase in chemical exposure.

Builders’ grade carpeting is often warrantied for five years, but will begin to show wear in less time.
Good luck!

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Cleaning up after the dog

March 21st, 2007 3 Comments

Dear Home-Ec 101,

How do you get chewed up plastic off the carpet? My puppy and my big dog chew everything! When I had hardwood it was easy. . . carpet, not so much.

Also, I have trained the puppy for the most part to pee outside, except for one area of the house. She insists on peeing there. How can I get the odor off the linoleum so she does not pee there any more?

Signed,

Puppy Power!

girl.jpgIvy says:

This joke has very little to do with your post, but my son told me this joke recently, and I have to include it:

This three legged dog walks into a saloon in Texas and says, “I’m looking for the man who shot my Paw.”

Feel free to groan.  All bad dog puns aside, having dogs that chew everything up is no laughing matter! There are 2 things you can do to help this problem.

First, train your dogs to chew things they are supposed to chew. Make sure they have lots and lots and LOTS of chewy toys. My dog absolutely loves munchy sticks and rawhide bones. I find when he has these to chew on, he doesn’t chew inappropriately. The other thing I would do, if you aren’t already, is crate your puppy when you are not available to watch her. But make sure you don’t leave her with a rawhide bone or anything she can choke on in there.

That in and of itself should curb the chewed up plastic on the floor issue immensely, but if you do still end up with chewed up plastic on the carpet, just use a broom to sweep it up. I know a broom on carpet sounds odd, but it really works!

Cleaning the linoleum is no problem when you use Kids N Pets.  It works to get rid of the smell entirely so your dog won’t think to pee there anymore. If she still insists on going in that spot, I’d consider putting puppy pee pads down there so you can easily clean up the mess. Some dogs just insist on going in one spot in your house no matter what you do, I really don’t know why. I used to have a dog like that, when I put the puppy pee pad down, it saved a whole lot of cleaning! Good luck on your dog training, I know how hard that can be.

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