If you have pets, I’m sure you’ve had an accident on the carpet before. We have, so we tested cleaning dog pee with vinegar to see if it works.

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If you have pets, like I do, I’m sure you’ve experienced an “accident on the carpet” situation before. I know it’s an embarrassing topic to talk about, but I wanted to share my latest experience with you because no one likes their home to smell like pet odors.

Our two English Setters sleep in bed with us. Because of this, they don’t get to go downstairs until the coffee’s brewing – and they know it. So when our dog, Birdy, started yipping at 4 AM, she got scolded and we went back to sleep.

What happened next was our fault.

We were having a brutal night with the kids. We were up every hour or so to take care of them, which is why when Birdy started yipping again at 5 AM, we were very cranky and yelled at her – again. Since my husband gets up at 5:30 AM every morning to train, we figured she could hold it, especially since she never has to go in the middle of the night.

Big mistake! Birdy finally had enough of us and jumped off the bed (thank God!) where she let loose all over the hallway carpet. Then, she politely barked again to tell us what she did. We didn’t dare yell at her because she asked us to take her downstairs, not once, but twice, and we ignored her.

Now what? Cleaning Dog Urine – Yay!

I grabbed an old towel and had my husband do the “pee pee stomp” on it while I went looking for some Simple Solution. For some reason, I wasn’t able to find any so I went downstairs and googled “dog pee and vinegar.” My sister swears that you can use vinegar to clean anything, so why not try it to remove the dog urine odor from my carpet, right?

I came across Dog Chat, an online forum for dog owners and they had a whole section about how to remove urine from your carpet using vinegar. I was pretty tired at this point, but I had to do something, so I picked up the gallon bottle of vinegar from the pantry and dragged it back upstairs.

When my husband saw me, he said something along the lines of, “That’s going to stink up the whole house!” But we didn’t have any other option, so we pulled out the paper towels and got to work cleaning dog pee with vinegar. (In Birdy’s defense, her urine was dark brown and smelled awful. I knew she had a UTI, which made me feel even worse! Bad Mommy!)

I dumped vinegar all over the stain and let it sit while I went in the shower. Then, I loaded up my Spotbot with hot water and rinsed the whole section of the carpet. (Note: The Spotbot is NOT a steam cleaner. It is a deep cleaning system meant to flush out the carpet or upholstery with hot water. I highly recommend running a dehumidifier next to the location afterward to dry it out as quickly as possible.)

Does cleaning dog pee with vinegar really work?

Thanks to the dehumidifier, the carpet was dry about 48 hours later. I still noticed a faint smell, so I applied a generous layer of baking soda all over the spot where she had peed on the carpet and sprinkled on some OxiClean for good measure. Then I added some water to make a paste and rubbed the “paste” into the carpet threads making sure I got them all. When that had dried completely, about 24 hours later, I vacuumed it all away – and amazingly, the smell was gone.

How long did cleaning dog pee with vinegar take?

Well, in all fairness, I didn’t actually think cleaning dog pee with vinegar would work, but this carpet solution is a real winner! The only downfall is that it took three days to complete from start to finish. So, if you’re looking for a more affordable greener way to clean up dog pee from your carpet, give this method a try and let me know how it goes.

Thanks for reading,

Denine

P.S. I have not tried to clean cat urine with vinegar, but if I do, I’ll let you know if it solves that problem as well.

P.P.S. If the area is heavily soiled, you may need to repeat this process!

Side Note: Like my dogs? They’re rescue dogs from a truly amazing non-profit organization, Another Chance For English Setters. Birdy is a tri-colored, English Setter mix; Libby is a liver-colored, pure-bred English Setter. To find out more about English Setters, click here.

Do you have pets? Check out some of our other favorite pet posts:

• Pet Safety Tips When Grilling Outdoors
• Bringing a Puppy Home: 5 Questions to Ask
• Homemade Baking Soda Carpet Deodorizer
• 20 Best Gifts For Your Dogs

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