Pets make wonderful additions to our families, providing companionship, protection, and unconditional love. However, they can also wreak havoc on our carpets, due to house training and its inevitable learning curve, occasional illness, and everyday, unavoidable accidents. Learning to remove pet stains and remove odors will become a blessing.

A well-trained house pet will cause fewer accidents than an animal that is not, but even with the best-behaved pet, it will be necessary to remove urine stains occasionally. It is important to be sure accidents are cleaned thoroughly, both to prevent carpet staining and lingering odor and to discourage the animal from responding to the remaining smell by having another "accident" in the same spot.

This is especially important during house training, when you are trying to teach your pet to "do his business" outside or in a litter pan. If the odors linger, your pet, who can smell them much more clearly than you can, will take the smell to mean that this is an acceptable place to urinate or defecate.

There are several ways to ensure pet accidents do not leave behind unwanted pet stains and odors and ultimately keep your carpet cleaner. First, be sure to clean up after your pet immediately, before stains or odors have a chance to set. Use paper towels or a white cloth rag, to remove solid waste and absorb as much as possible of any liquid waste. To keep the stain from spreading further, start at the outside and work in. Standing on the paper towels will help absorb more liquid than just patting the carpet. Do not scrub the carpet, as this could damage the carpet fiber.

The carpet should be just barely damp to the touch before moving on to the next step, which is to remove pet stains and remove odors. You must treat pet stains and odors with special products to ensure that you neutralize them and not just cover them with perfumes or other scents. Avoid ammonia-based cleaners, as they smell too much like urine, which is also ammonia-based, and will not discourage your pet from making another mess in the same area. Some natural cleaners such as vinegar and baking soda can work on smaller stains, but do not always completely remove odors. Also, avoid steam cleaning, as the heat involved in use of a steam carpet cleaner can set many stains, making it impossible to remove pet stains.

The best cleaner for pet carpet stains is an enzyme-based cleaner specially formulated to remove odors from pets. These cleaners are available in most pet supply stores. Follow the instructions on the container of your individual carpet cleaning product for maximum results. In general, an enzyme based carpet cleaner requires that it be applied to the soiled area and left for a period of time to completely remove odors that linger. After being left to sit, the enzyme-based cleaner can be blotted up and the soiled area left to dry. Do not forget to pre-test the product in a discreet area to be sure it does not discolor or bleach your carpet.

If a urine smell lingers, and you cannot find the stained areas on your carpet, a black light can reveal soiled areas that remain in the carpet. If spot treatment still does not work, a professional carpet cleaner has more weapons in their arsenal to remove pet stains and remove odors. If you have pets, a professional carpet cleaning every year to eighteen months can be greatly helpful in removing odors remove urine stains.

In addition to accidents, odors and stains can accumulate from your pet's everyday activities. They can bring in dirt from outside that can soil the carpet, and odors can accumulate in favorite sleeping or eating areas. Regular vacuuming, preferably with a vacuum equipped with a filter, and occasional professional carpet cleaning should keep your house pleasant and odor free.