When your home is carpeted, it is important to keep the carpet clean and free of foul odors. Vomit and cat urine are two of the worst odors that can get into your home's carpeting. If not cleaned properly from your carpets, these odors can linger behind and stink up your home for weeks. Here are some tips at removing these two horrible smells so your home can stay pleasant-smelling.

Vomit

The CDC estimates that each year norovirus causes 19 to 21 million illnesses. Statistics show you will get gastroenteritis from norovirus an average of five times during your life. With all these cases of stomach flu every year, your home's carpeting can be at risk of being soiled by vomit. Besides the vomit in your carpet being stinky, any norovirus in the vomit remaining in your carpeting can be transmitted to other family members in your home if you don't clean it up properly. It is important to eliminate the vomit smell and the contamination from the virus.

Always wear rubber gloves when cleaning up vomit on the carpet to help reduce the risk of spreading norovirus to others or yourself. Then, make sure and clean all norovirus-infected surfaces with soap and warm water. 

Scrape up as much of the vomit as possible with a dust pan and large spoon or spatula and dispose of it into the toilet. Rinse the dust pan and utensils in hot soapy water. 

Sprinkle baking soda over the soiled area to completely cover it. Allow the baking soda to sit for twenty to thirty minutes while it soaks up the moisture and some of the odor. Vacuum up the clumps of baking soda and discard the vacuum bag. If you are using a bagless vacuum, rinse out and disinfect the vacuum canister with hot soapy water.

Next, mix one tablespoon of white vinegar and one tablespoon of liquid dish soap with two cups of hot water in a spray bottle and apply it liberally to the soiled carpet. Scrub this around with a sponge to lift up any remaining stain in the carpet. The vinegar in this solution will neutralize any remaining odors from the vomit and the soap will eliminate the norovirus. Blot up the excess moisture with a wet towel or sponge.

Cat Urine

The smell from cat urine is very unmistakably strong smell, and you don't want it in your home's carpeting. If you do have a cat that urinates in your home, you will need to clean up the mess to prevent them from repeating the behavior. When a cat smells its urine in an area of your home, it will continue to pee there, so it is important to get rid of the odor as soon as possible.

If you cannot tell where in a room your cat has been urinating, shine a blacklight in the room and the affected areas will glow under the blacklight. If the area is still wet from fresh urine, blot up as much of the moisture as possible with paper towels.

Mix together equal parts white vinegar and water in a spray bottle and spray it over the soiled area until it has soaked down to the base of the carpeting. Use a dry towel to blot up this vinegar mixture from the carpeting. 

Next, spread a layer of baking soda over the soiled carpeting. Then, mix together three teaspoons of liquid dish soap with two cups of 3% hydrogen peroxide in a spray bottle and spray it over the baking soda-covered carpet until it is wet. Work this mixture into the carpeting with a scrub brush. 

Use a fan or a space heater to help dry the carpeting and cleaning mixture, then vacuum up the baking soda. You may need to loosen and break apart the baking soda with the scrub brush for the vacuum to pull everything out of the carpeting.

Use these tips to clean up two of the stinkiest carpet stains. If you've got one of these messes or another on your hands and no time to take care of it yourself, you may want to contact a 24 hour emergency cleaning services to get it cleaned up as quickly as possible. 

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