Pet urine can be especially tough to remove from carpet. Pet owners hoping to protect their carpet from pet urine must monitor their pet and their carpet diligently to identify accidents when they happen and to clean up stains right away. These tips will help you remove pet urine from your carpet. 

Find the Stain

Hopefully, you can catch the stain when it's still fresh and wet. If this is the case, you'll be able to feel the wetness in the area where the stain is. If urine has already dried on the carpet, find the stain by using a black light. To do this, wait until it's dark and turn off the lights in the room. Turn on the black light and walk slowly up and down your carpet looking for bright areas on the carpet. These areas are the parts of the carpet that have been stained by pet urine. 

Soak up the Stain and Rinse

If the stain is still wet, soak up the stain with paper towels or rags. Press the cloth into the carpet as firmly as possible, standing on the cloth if necessary. Next, rinse the carpet with clean water and blot again. If the urine stain has already dried on the carpet, rinse the carpet with fresh water and then blot the water up. Repeat this process several times to rinse the urine out of the carpet.

You'll be able to tell later if you've gotten the whole stain because it will no longer appear under the black light. If the pet urine stain remains, repeat the rinsing and blotting process. When cleaning the pet-urine stained area, avoid using chemical carpet cleaners that mask smells, as this may encourage your pet to reinforce his or her own smell over the chemical smell. 

Neutralize the Smell

Once it's dry, sprinkle the area with baking soda and allow the baking soda to absorb the smell of the pet urine overnight. Vacuum the baking soda in the morning and then smell the carpet. If the scent of pet urine remains, sprinkle the area with baking soda again and give the baking soda more time to soak up the urine smell. Repeat this process as necessary. 

Some hard-to-remove pet urine stains are best treated by professionals, like the ones at Darling's Carpet & Floor Care. If you have hard-to-remove stains, contact a reputable carpet cleaning service in your area. By maintaining your carpet in this manner, your carpet should look (and smell) great for years to come.