Oops, your furry friend did it again: She puked on the carpet, and now there's an icky mess to clean up.
Part of you wants to flee the scene. Because dealing with vomit? It's about as fun as getting your wisdom teeth pulled.
(Also, you're probably already retching at the mere thought of handling it. 🤢)
The other part is freaking out, on the verge of tears. Why the carpet, of all places?!
BEFORE YOU PANIC: You don't have to throw anything away yet! You've got this guide on how to clean up vomit from carpets and other household surfaces.
Why pets vomit
Whether you have dogs or cats, cleaning up vomit is just another part of the pet parenting experience, albeit one of the less pleasant parts of it. 😬 Still, if you want to avoid or minimise its occurrence, it helps to know why pets vomit.
Canines and felines barf for many reasons:
- Overeating
- Eating too fast
- Eating something they shouldn't have, like hooman foods, foods gone bad, toxins
- Exercising too soon after eating
On top of that, they may puke due to motion sickness, stress, and various medical conditions, including parasites, heatstroke, and parvo. Meanwhile, cats also throw up hairballs—loose hairs that have accumulated in their tummies from their personal grooming process.
In other words, you'll encounter sick more often than you'd like. 😛 Sorry!
The trouble with vomit
It doesn't matter if it's pet barf, infant vomit, or you had too much fun with the girls last night (and the evidence of it is now staining your carpet)—puke is problematic in more ways than one.
It's a biohazardous fluid: Vomit can carry infectious pathogens that contaminate surfaces and spread in the air. Exposure can make you ill.
Vomit is damaging to surfaces: Consider the composition of throw-up. It's gross food chunks/hairballs/grass, digestive enzymes, stomach acid, and sometimes bile. Meaning it's almost always highly acidic and guaranteed to discolour or damage surfaces if you let it linger. Shoutout to natural stone (marble, travertine, terra cotta) and hardwood floors—materials most prone to staining!
It stinks: Sick is an organic mess, making it a breeding ground for odour-causing bacteria. The persistent kind that's, in one word, vile. 😣
How to clean vomit quickly and effortlessly (a.k.a the ideal scenario)
You won't find dish soap, baking soda, vinegar, or hydrogen peroxide recommendations here. Those DIY hacks can cause more irreversible damage than you'd like. Instead, I offer you the path of least resistance.
Mask up
See vomit, smell vomit, touch vomit—you vomit. That's pretty much how it goes for most of us! But that's not all. As you now know, vomit can transmit illnesses, so protect yourself (and prevent the spread of disease) by wearing a face mask and using disposable gloves. 😷
Scoop up chunks
Whether it's on your floor, carpet, upholstery or fabrics – act fast. Start by removing the large blobs or bulk of the throw-up.
Cut cereal boxes into cardboard scoopers for this task. It's low-cost and single-use!
Start from the outer boundary, gently working your way in to prevent spreading the mess. You also don't want to push the puke deeper into the surface, especially if it's soft, like carpets, rugs, and upholstery.
Dispose of the solid bits in a sealed plastic bag.
Pre-clean the area
Use paper towels/microfibre cloths to blot up the remaining sick. Absorb as much liquid as possible to prevent it from seeping into porous surfaces. Then, moisten the affected spots with cool water. Use a spray bottle for the best results, repeating the blotting-to-dry process. What you're doing here is "rinsing" the area in preparation for the next step.
Apply cleaning solution
When it comes to puke, you holler, "SEND HELP!"
So we did, in the form of PetLab's top-rated enzymatic cleaners, formulated to painlessly resolve the worst imaginable messes—minimum crying involved. 😄
Just spray the affected area and wait for it to effortlessly lift stains and wipe out unwanted odours.
✔️ Vomit on floors/upholstery: Apply Urine Stain & Odour Remover.
✔️ Vomit on washable fabrics: Pre-treat the item with Urine Stain & Odour Remover before laundering with Eco Laundry Liquid. Do not pop items into the dryer until completely clean!
✔️ Vomit on rugs/carpets: Pre-treat the rug/carpet with Urine Stain & Odour Remover before shampooing with Eco Carpet Shampoo.
Disinfect the area
Sanitise with Healthy Habitat, our pet-friendly disinfectant, and you're done! ✨
No vomit. No germs. No stench. No problems. Now that's pet parenting made easy, all thanks to enzyme-powered products—the only solution that TRULY works on all surfaces. Use now or weep later. 🤪
