Here's How to Remove Dog Poop and Stains From Your Carpet in a Few Simple Steps
Sometimes our best friends make big mistakes. Here's how to get rid of the evidence so it doesn't have to haunt you forever.
Published March 13 2024, 1:20 p.m. ET
Although we all love our pups, they are not above making mistakes just like us. Whether you're still potty training them or something else is to blame, there could be a time when your best friend poops where they are not supposed to. It may be easier to clean up their mess on a tile or wood floor, but carpet can be a more difficult task.
When this does happen, there are a few methods to clean up — but which ways are the best? Here's how you can clean dog poop out of a carpet in a way that won't leave any smells or stains behind, and will leave your rug looking good as new.
Here's how to clean poop out of a carpet.
We're walking you through the steps you should follow in case your pup has an accident.
First, spot check your disinfectant — ideally, before a pooping incident.
Before you start using a new disinfectant on your carpet, Good Housekeeping recommends a spot test first. Let the cleaner sit in a spot out of sight just in case there's an issue with the color from the fibers transferring. After a few minutes and before the area dries, dab it with a clean cloth.
If there's no color transfer, wait 24 hours to make sure nothing is wrong. If there is still no damage to your carpet, then this disinfectant is safe to use. To make sure you have the time to truly test each cleaner, you may want to do this before your dog has any accidents so you can have a set battle plan in place.
If your dog poops on a carpet, remove the dog and their mess ASAP.
When your dog does poop on the carpet, you want to clean it up as soon as you can. Guy Peters, owner of Mop Stars Cleaning Service spoke to Reader's Digest and said the first step is to get your dog out of the area to avoid them stepping in their mess. Then, pick up as much of the poop as if you can. If it's runny or your dog had diarrhea, Peters says you can use paper towels. But be careful not to push the poop deeper into the fibers.
Choose the right cleanser for the job.
Next, you should spray an enzymatic cleaner all over the affected area. It's suggested you that should also dampen a towel with this cleaner and leave it on the stain for about 30 to 45 minutes. "Once the spray is released from the bottle, the probiotics are activated and begin working," Jay Kellis, a chemist for Consumables Development at Bissell, told Reader's Digest.
The longer you leave a towel with the enzymatic cleaner on the stain, the more the probiotics multiply and eat away at the poop. The last few steps are to scrub the stain, blot it, scrub a light layer of baking soda to the area, let that dry, and vacuum it all up. Repeat certain steps if needed.
Additionally, The Spruce points out that you shouldn't leave any soap residue in your carpet once it's clean. That will attract more dust and dirt to the area. Once that's gone, make sure everything is dried completely, since mold can grow under carpets.
What if the stain is still there?
If you have cleaned everything up but the stain of the dog's poop persists, The Spruce says for colored carpets you can use 1 cup of warm water with 1 tablespoon of OxiClean (or an equivalent). Mix them and then apply it to the stain leaving it for a least one hour. For a white carpet, use 1/4 teaspoon of hydrogen peroxide via an eye dropper on the stain.
And as a last resort, you an always call in a professional carpet cleaning company to get the job done.
