How to Keep Your Carpets Clean If You Have a Pet

Sometimes when you own a pet you really have your work cut out for you, especially if you allow your pet inside your home. Owning a pet can seem like a full-time job. You need to care for them, feed them, wash them, walk them and most importantly LOVE THEM! In addition to caring for your pet, you need to care for your home, this includes your carpet.

Having those extra paws walking over your carpet can wreak havoc on its appearance. After all, pets don’t know how to wipe their paws after coming in from outside with wet, muddy paws. Of course, your animals don’t mean to cause problems, they just don’t know any better and they can’t really take their shoes off before they walk in can they?

Here are a few ways you can keep your carpets looking clean and fresh, even with pets.

Vacuum your carpets regularly. For homes, without a pet, you can generally vacuum your floors once a week. If you have pets it’s better to increase the number of times you vacuum to two or even three times a week. Not only will this remove pet hair from your carpet it will also help keep dirt and fur from getting ground into the fibres.
Vacuum any tiled floors and furniture. If you don’t keep these areas/items clean you will be just transferring dirt and fur from one place to the next as the humans move around the home. You will be amazed how regular vacuuming can help keep dirt and pet hair to a minimum.
Professional house cleaners know that accidents can happen, so if your dog or cat does use your carpet as a toilet, clean up the area straight away. The quicker you deal with the problem the better the chance will be that you can remove the mess completely and leave the area clean and stain free. To clean up urine, start by removing the liquid as fast as you can by using either paper towels or a shop vac. If you are using paper towel apply weight and allow some time for the urine to be absorbed. Once the urine is removed use an over-the-counter stain remover or you can make your own by mixing 3 parts of warm water to one part vinegar – apply it sparingly to the spot using a clean dry cloth. Don’t saturate the carpet as this can cause more damage and don’t rub the stain into your carpet. Once you have cleaned the area use a shop vac or more clean paper towels to blot the carpet dry.
If you find there is still some odour sprinkle with baking soda, let it sit for a while and then vacuum it up.