House cleaning is an essential part of having a home. Pets are also wonderful to keep in at home. There are here some cleaning tips for pet owners.
With a pet at home, some particular household chores may be centred on keeping the home clean. They cheer us up, bring us joy, and are an overall blast to be around. As lovable as your pets are, whether it is a dog, a cat, hamster or rabbit, they can cause havoc to your carpets as the fibres trap the unwanted smells, dirt, fur and fleas.
Pets do have a particular reputation when it comes to cleaning. It goes without saying that if you keep a pet, no matter how well-trained it is, a mess will happen — your pets can’t help this, it’s natural to them!
Every pet owner understands the ongoing effort it takes to keep a home clean when animals are roaming around. The cleaning tasks seem to keep adding up from emergency messes to dirty paw marks and pet hair. Never the less, having pets doesn’t mean you have to remove your carpet to avoid the accumulating pet hair, odour and stains that seem to come with pet ownership.
To keep your home hygienic, there are some essential tips you need to consider as they will go a long way to make house cleaning easier for you.
Accidents
No matter how well trained a pet, there are sure to be accidents when it is not feeling well or may have a loose bowel movement. When you find yourself faced with accidental messes caused by your pet, your first task is to keep your cool. The pet didn’t mean for the mess to happen, nor did it want to annoy you intentionally. So, “Keep your cool! Accidents happen”. When it happens, instead of shouting at your pet, focus your energy on taking care of the mess on your carpet. It is best to immediately scrub away at the accident area with some potent cleaning agent that will not harm the floor or the floor covering.
Tiles, stone and other hard floor areas can withstand bleach, but wood and carpets may not do so. Some soap may do the trick with wood floors and temporarily for carpets. However, the carpet may need to be professionally cleaned.
Fur
Pet hair can accumulate on anything in the house, especially carpets. The best way to deal with excessive fur or hair found on the carpet, a sweep with the vacuum cleaner may do the trick. It is also a good house cleaning idea to groom your furry pets properly; it will limit the amount of pet hair that finds its way into your carpets and upholstery.
A shedding pet can leave a trail of hair across the floor that can quickly clog your vacuum cleaner. Another good cleaning idea is wrapping masking tape around an old paint roller and attaching it to an old broom or mop handle can act as a giant lint roller to remove some pet hair before you vacuum. Alternatively, you can rake your carpet with a rubber-bristled carpet rake to collects the pet hair in clumps by hand before vacuuming.
However, vacuum your carpet at least three times a week to reduce the amount of pet hair left in your carpet.
Pet Urine
Unfortunately, we have to live with one of those things when keeping a young pet is house training. Pet urine quickly seeps into the carpet fibres and penetrates the carpet backing and flooring below, leaving a very unpleasant odour if not cleaned immediately.
And more often than not, your household pet will urinate in a similar spot several times – reacting immediately to urine accidents can help minimize the damage. You can stand on an old terrycloth towel laid over the urine, it will help remove much of the moisture, but you still need to clean the area with three or four drops of pet-friendly washing detergent added to 1 cup of warm water. Apply the mixture into the urine stain.
But if you need deep cleaning, you may need to contact a professional carpet cleaner that offers steam cleaning services. They will be able to carry out a full treatment in just a couple of hours, leaving your carpets clean and free from odour.
Fleas
Fleas are a common problem for pets and their owners. Once fleas enter your home, it is so difficult to get rid of them. Although fleas do not live on/in the carpet primarily, they can become a problem, particularly in the larval stage. The first step to take if you suspect your pet or home to have a flea problem is to take your pet to the vet for a check-up and contact a professional cleaning company for deep steam cleaning.
The carpet cleaner will provide high filtration vacuuming and thorough steam cleaning to ensure that your home is flea free. Once the treatments have been carried out on your pet and carpet, it is crucial that you keep an eye on your pet and set up a regular carpet maintenance plan.
Stains
Pet-created stain caused by their urine, faeces, vomit and bloodstains can present a challenge to clean from your carpet, especially if the stains are older. First, you must avoid using steam cleaners on the stains, as the heat can make the stain nearly impossible to remove. There are cleaning products on the market specifically formulated to remove set-in pet stains. To get these stains out of your carpet, may take more than a squirt and a dab, so renting an extracting carpet cleaner to force clean water into the stained area of the carpet and extracting out the dirty water can also help.
Odour
A good home recipe for the odour problem is warm water and vinegar at a 3:1 ratio. You can also use powdered odour eliminators on a dry carpet, or apply liquid urine odour removal products with a tank sprayer to cover larger areas. These types of odour neutralizer utilize bio-enzymatic ingredients to eliminate the bacteria that cause odour. Some of the liquid odour removals require immersing the carpet with the product and allowing them to dry for about two weeks without sponging or extracting the product. You can even apply liquid odour eliminators with a tank sprayer to cover larger areas. Nonetheless, the service of a professional carpet cleaning company may be necessary.
Some Quick Carpet Cleaning Hacks for Pet Owners:
Wet Messes
For handling any wet mess, you can use:
- One cup of water
- One cup of vinegar
- Two tablespoons of baking soda
- A spray bottle
- A clean towel, cloth or rag
- Your trusty vacuum cleaner
Mix water and vinegar, and pour the mix into your spray bottle, grab your rag and head over to the spot.
Solid Messes
For solid messes, you can get the best results by using:
- Two tablespoons of baking soda
- A putty knife
- Your trusty vacuum cleaner
Cleaning Your Carpets with Vinegar
- White Vinegar
- Baking Soda
- Clean towels
- Essential Oils of your choice (for the disinfecting effect as well as the smell)
- Vacuum Cleaner with appropriate attachments
Whether you have one pet or several pets, tackling accidents when they occur, spot-cleaning when necessary, keeping on top of shedding fur, and using odour eliminators can help keep your carpet clean. It is also essential to understand that to keep your home healthy and hygienic hire a professional carpet cleaning company once in a while for thorough carpet cleaning.
