How to remove old dog urine from carpet

[Rupster]

In the strong summer sun, our carpet smells odd. I suspect it's dog urine from the previous house owners from more than two years ago.

How can I remove the smell?

Thanks.

You could try bicarbonate of soda, it’s a good deodoriser. Buy a tub, or 6, sprinkle a few drops of essential oil in it (if you want to add a scent) and leave the drops to dry then, before you go to bed, sprinkle the bicarb all over the carpet and then hoover up in the morning. You can do it with just plain bicarb without essential oil, it is good for absorbing smells.

However, I suspect that it’s probably soaked down to the underlay so it may only be that replacement of carpet and underlay gets rid of it completely. I’m assuming that isn’t an option so do try the bicarb, it’s only 59p for a tub in Aldi.

Wouldn't you just remove the carpet? Can't imagine living with someone's else's pissy dog smells tbh.

Start with a professional carpet cleaning person and get them to spot treat it.

Also consider at least taking up the carpet to inspect the underlay and subfloor, and possibly replacing some of the layers completely.

@Destroyedpeople

Wouldn't you just remove the carpet? Can't imagine living with someone's else's pissy dog smells tbh.

Not everyone has the hundreds of pounds that it costs to to buy replacement carpet and underlay.

Thanks everyone.

@whathappenedtojoosters...I do know that thank you....better than most. I would rather live with bare floors than pissy old carpets personally.

Hey Rupster. I know it's not the same but when I moved into my place the carpet was ruined as the radiator had had a massive leak before we moved in. Anyways its been like it since we moved in. It looks rusty and smelled musty. Last week I pulled half of it up, got some £2 carpet cleaner from Tesco and scrubbed. Left it up for a few days so it was completely dry and put it pack down today. Looks brilliant. However, the carpet was brand new, it's just the builder refused to replace it after the leak so it's not that old. Just thought I would share with you. I was actually going to replace the carpet but the £2 cleaner worked brilliantly. Good luck.

Hi OP - it's fairly easy to clean pet smells out of furniture/carpets.

Like a PP said - bicarb is really good but you need to leave it on for a while - maybe leave it overnight or pop it on before you go out for a day. Let it settle on the carpet then vacuum it thoroughly. I would maybe do it 2-3 times if the urine is old. You can also buy something called Simple Solution (available from most pet shops or Amazon) which is designed to dilute the enzymes but I'm not sure how effective it would be on really old urine. However it's not expensive so may be worth a go!

Definitely no need to buy new carpets or live with bare floors.

Thanks everyone. I've tried bicarb overnight, but it hasn't made much difference. I'll probably try carpet cleaner next.

Unfortunately if pee has soaked into the underlay, no amount of cleaning from the top will help.

You need to peel back the carpet, cut out the stained underlay, sprinkle some stuff on the floorboards (can't remember think it's bicarb), or clean and dry the floorboards and replace it.

Fucking around with anything wet from the top will just make the smell worse and won't actually reach the problem.

You need enzymes to break down biological smells, so pet stain remover (we always buy Simple Solution) or a warm solution of bio laundry detergent. Rinse well. Follow up with surgical spirit if necessary. But @gamerchick is right, it's all a waste of energy if you don't at least sniff the underlay and subfloor. Bicarb is not going to penetrate through your carpet or actually remove the urine you're walking on every day.

Thanks!