Typically, when our customers call us asking about the power of distilled white vinegar, we are all in favor. It’s an amazing household cleanser that has a pH strong enough to break up oils and generally not damage finishes. It’s really great to use on almost any type of spill to remove both stains and odors.
As a professional carpet cleaning expert, I have used distilled white vinegar in my own home for my pets’ accidents. A number of years ago I had an aging dog with kidney failure. She had accidents faster than my technicians could come over to clean them, so I used an at home steam machine, and a diluted solution of distilled white vinegar in between cleanings by our team.
However, this is a “do not try this at home folks” kind of scenario. Leave this to the professionals – or at least follow the steps outline by an expert (read on.) I have been training technicians and studying and writing about carpet cleaning full time for a decade – I know proper products, dilutions and chemistry to use based on the severity of my situation. I have a team professional carpet cleaners at my fingertips that can back me up if I mess up. If you do not have this combination of experience and direct access to a professional cleaner, this is not something that you should try on your own.
Can we guide you through it? Yes! Should you do it unassisted, no!
Rule #1
Only attempt an at home treatment on a fresh puddle
Rule #2
Do NOT over saturate the area or you will just spread it out and grow your problem
Rule #3
Do this on a day with low humidity and not at night if you can help it.
Rule #4
Make sure to have an extractor of some sort on hand to remove the liquids.
How to do it
- Remove as much of the liquid as you can by starting from the outside and working your way in toward the center. Best to use a towel for this step. Be gentle here- don’t press down with too much force or you will push the urine deeper.
- The rule of cleaning fibers is first in last out, so this step is important. RINSE before you treat. Take a cup or two of water and lightly moisten the area and extract the moisture as you did in the first step outward and working your way in. You can either use a towel for this step, make sure it’s clean, or you can use your extractor.
- Check now for odor. If it was a small spot or already diluted, water might be enough to rinse it out. If the spot had time to dry, then water will not be enough.
- If needed (partially dry spots or ones that have a strong odor) dilute your vinegar 2:1 (two parts water and one part vinegar.
- Put the vinegar in a spray bottle and mist over the affected area. If the urine has saturated deep into the carpet, you can be generous with the amount you apply
- Gently brush it into the carpet fibers. Keep spraying and brushing so that it works its way down without over-saturating. The complication here is that you are adding acid to acid, so not overdoing it and rinsing is key to success.
- Allow the vinegar to sit on the carpet for about 10 minutes and then extract using your hand extractor.
- Follow the hand extractor with your towel method from step one.
- Now you want to repeat step 5 but without vinegar just using water as a rinse.
- Finally, repeat with a clean dry towel again always working outward towards the center. I like to then leave a dry towel sitting on it for an hour or so to wick up any remaining moisture OR put a fan next to it. Not pointing directly at it because you don’t want to direct dirt onto the wet spot, but just moving past it.
It’s not a quick mop up and go, but I have found it to be effective if you have an accident prone pet – because calling your carpet cleaner out every couple of days/weeks is not realistic. What I also recommend is doing your best at home, and still having your professional carpet cleaner come out to do a deep clean every 3 to 6 months or so. Just make sure that you show them exactly where those spots are so that they can see whether or not your home treatment was successful. The last thing you want is for bacteria to still be having a party in your carpet.
