Freaking out about all kinds of stains on your carpet?
Welcome to the club! 🎉
Biological stains are stubborn pet messes that tarnish surfaces, wreak total havoc on textiles, and cause malodours in the home.
But with the right technique and bioactivated products, you can get rid of them. 🙌
Here’s what you need to know.
Types of pet stains (and why they're a challenge)
If you have four-legged companions, these biological stains are unavoidable.
Urine
This one is a triple threat, but not in a good way.
First, there's the physical damage urine causes. It's corrosive, and its composition can affect fabric dyes.
Second, moisture weakens the bonds between fibres. Seams may fray, and the backing may detach over time.
Third, there's the lingering odour. Ammonia's no air freshener! If not dealt with at the source, pee leaves behind hydrophilic crystals. They "come back to life" when exposed to moisture.
Faeces
Poop stinks. It's unhygienic. It leaves unsightly smears behind. Don't even get us started on diarrhoea! Count your blessings if you've never encountered that. 🙏
Vomit
Pets seem to have an unspoken rule: If you must vomit, do it on the carpet. This sucks because puke contains stomach acid and bile that discolour and degrade fibres.
Blood
During your pet's oestral cycle, you'll find blood here, there, and everywhere. Here's the problem: Haemoglobin causes blood to clot when oxidised; it quickly binds to any surface it comes into contact with. The longer it sits, the harder it is to remove.
Anal gland discharge
If your dog "scoots" on the carpet, he may leave a colourless or yellowish secretion. It's hard to find and, therefore, tough to spot clean. But the accompanying rotten fish smell will make you want to throw your carpet out! Yes, it's that bad. 😖
How to get pet stains out of your carpet with carpet shampoo
Different messes require slightly different handling, but this painless guide to eliminating biological stains from carpets walks you through the essentials.
Reminder: Check your carpet's care guidelines before you start cleaning!
Step 1: Prep
Assuming no fresh stains, prepping your carpet for shampooing involves the same tasks as your weekly cleaning routine.
Remove pet hair and dander from your carpet. PetLab's lightweight rubber broom creates a static charge that effortlessly pulls pet hairs out of low and high pile fibres without stirring up a tornado of dust. The broom's flexible bristles also agitate built-up grime, which makes it easier to pick up residual dirt with your vacuum cleaner.
Next, vacuum the carpet in a north-south followed by an east-west direction to remove loose debris.
Step 2: Shampoo
Shampooing tackles deeply engrained residue, including microbes and pests like dust mites and fleas. But first things first: What kind of carpet shampoo should you use? Here are some suggestions.
✔️ Make it enzymatic.
Bioactive solutions—natural enzymes—break down protein-based stains and eradicate odours. Chemicals/DIY concoctions don't.
✔️ Choose non-toxic.
Everyday household cleaning products contribute to a large number of accidental pet poisonings. (They also typically contain irritants, volatile organic compounds, fragrances, and caustic or flammable ingredients that are best avoided.)
✔️ Check for certification.
Trusted products undergo testing, verification, and approval by international laboratories—like PetLab's range of cleaning products!
How to shampoo your carpet
With your carpet prepped, you can now get to shampooing.
You'll need:
- A combined or twin-tank carpet shampooer
- Eco Carpet Cleaner (one 2L bottle is enough to clean a surface area of 2000 sqm)
- Warm water
Instructions:
- Remove furniture from the area before you get started. Don’t return anything until the carpet has completely dried.
- Start with a full, clean water tank.
- Prevent a foamy disaster by following this how-to guide.
- Like vacuuming, make a slow forward wet pass and then a backward pass (north-to-south motion), repeating this process until the extracted solution and section look clean.
- Resist the urge to over-wet your carpet!
Reminder: Instructions may vary depending on the brand and model of the carpet washer. Refer to the manufacturer's manual for detailed instructions.
Step 3: Dry
Moisture invites mould and mildew—two conditions you never want to contend with! Best case scenario: They're the ultimate hassle to eradicate. Worst case scenario: You'll need new carpets. 😭 That's why drying is just as important as shampooing.
Tips:
- Pick a practical time for this chore. Start late afternoon, so it can dry overnight, or very early in the morning, so it can dry while you're at work.
- Help speed up drying time. Open windows and doors for air circulation, get the fans going, adjust your thermostat (increase the heat) or switch off air conditioning, and keep indoor humidity levels low.
And that’s it!
