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I recently made some homemade pet carpet cleaner because my dog had an accident on our living room rug. If you keep reading, I’ll share the recipe. it was made with three things I already owned, including orange essential oil.

I can’t blame my dog for going in the house. This happened when he was very sick. There was some question as to whether he’d pull through and live to see 2016.

Fortunately, he’s made an amazing recovery. But, at one point, he had severe diarrhea. He’s such a good dog. As sick as he was, he still tried to go out. But he didn’t always make it. So we spent the better part of one day cleaning up “accidents” on our kitchen floor. But at least they were easy to clean.

 

Homemade Carpet Cleaner for Pet Stains

 

However, he also had one “accident” on the rug. At this point, though, the rug took a backseat to his desperate condition.

As I mentioned in our last post, I thought we were going to lose him. In fact, I had resigned myself to saying goodbye. As sad as it was, I took comfort in the fact that  he’d lived a good long life. At 14, he’s already exceeded the average for his breed.

However, I’m of the mind to never give up on your dog. My mother always told me, “Where there’s life, there’s hope.” I never liked the idea of putting dogs down just because they’re old, or they can’t get around well. I believe when you make a commitment to a pet, you’re in it for the long haul, for better and for worse.

We’d been using homeopathy on our dog for years. I’ve been really impressed with how well he responded. Could it work again this time?

(Please understand that I’m not giving medical advice, nor suggesting that homeopathy alone can help a sick animal. The symptoms I’m describing call for expert veterinary care. So please don’t attempt to treat a sick animal yourself, with homeopathy.)

Working with our homeopath, we tried several remedies that sort of helped. One did help, but he needed another one, because he developed diarrhea.

 

Homemade Natural Carpet Cleaner

 

So he took a remedy often recommended for the stomach flu. What happened next was nothing short of amazing. Our dog slept a lot for two days after giving it to him. But he was willing to drink water, if we brought it to him. He also ate a little food.

The good news is, his stools returned to normal. The bad news is we noticed this after he relieved himself on the living room rug.

 

Homemade Pet Carpet Cleaner

 

I tried to get most of the stain out with natural peppermint castile soap. But I clearly needed something stronger. For the largest stain, I broke down and used a chemical cleaner. Then I immediately regretted it. That’s because I knowingly sprayed toxins in my house. And I could smell them.

So I vowed to find something natural. I did some research. Some people recommended baking soda and white vinegar. But I also wanted something with enzymatic action. Some of the natural pet carpet cleaners on the market say they include natural enzymes. However, they also don’t tend to divulge their ingredients. I suspected this enzymatic action comes from essential oils.

One natural carpet recipe called for soaking orange peels in vinegar for a couple of weeks. But this was much longer than I wanted to wait. Plus, I already owned some orange essential oil. This would make a great substitute for soaked citrus peels.

Here is a picture I took of our carpet right after I applied the DIY natural carpet cleaner. If you look closely, toward the top right, you can see that it appeared to lift the stain almost immediately.

 

 

Anyway, here’s the DIY carpet cleaner for pet stains recipe I can up with.

• Mix one cup of white vinegar with four drops of orange essential oil. (available here)
• Put as much as you need of this on your carpet so the stain is soaked. This might take up to a couple of days.
• Cover the spot with baking soda and wait until it dries.
• Wipe up the excess and then vacuum.

Make sure to test this first on a small patch of carpet to make sure it doesn’t stain. Just for the record, essential oils are not real oils. (So I wasn’t worried about putting an oily substance on my carpet.) These volatile plant extracts that quickly evaporate, especially if they are pure. Aura Cacia orange oil is the brand I had at home and the one I used for this job. It’s sold by a company that guarantees the purity of its products.

This method of stain removal is totally natural. But it might take a couple of treatments. When the mixture dries, it can be a little hard to remove. (You may have to add more vinegar to dissolve any leftover baking soda.) For me, though, this is a small price to pay for not having to use potentially toxic chemicals.

Disclaimer

Women who are pregnant or nursing should not use essential oils unless directed to do so by a healthcare professional.