Just like being a human parent, being a pet parent involves dealing with many bothersome odors that linger around your home. Although we love our pets, their affection is a package deal with their unique smell and scent that’s often not too pleasant to be around! Worse still, their scent is often so strong that over a matter of time, home owners find that it’s made its way into the lining of their furniture, carpets, and surfaces.
Whether you’ve stumbled across this article as you’re moving home and need to eradicate its pet smell for viewings or are fed up of friends and family commenting on the wave of pet odor that hits them every time they enter your home, we’re here to support you through this change. Our handy guide intends to go into detail concerning how to get rid of pet smell in your home and the ten simple ways you can achieve this dream.
Use An Air Purifier
Air purifiers work by cleansing the air in homes – put differently, they sanitize the air around you. They usually use comprise a filter and multiple fans that circulate air. Pollutants and particles are processed from the air that is circulated through the filter and clean air emerges from the air purifier back into your living space. They’re the far better option in comparison to air freshers that simply mask the air, as most air purifiers contain activated carbon filters that absorb smelly pet odors effectively.
If you’re searching for an air purifier, our guide discussing the best air purifiers for pets is the best place to start your hunt. We recommend opting for a HEPA (High Efficiency Particulate Air) filter that captures small particles though impaction, medium particles through interception, and ultra-fine particles through diffusion. In terms of cost-benefit analysis, you simply cannot go wrong with owning an air purifier: they’re economical, only need to be changed every three to six months, and reduce dog smell substantially. Within only a couple of hours, we bet you’ll be absolutely amazed by just how well these nifty gadgets work to remove the smell in your house!
Steam Clean Your Carpets
Steam cleaning your carpets should certainly be in your best interests if you own a smelly dog, cat, or other lovable pet. It’s not a surprise that these matted surfaces tend to be the most smelly – after all, think about how much time your dog uses your comfy carpets as a designated nap spot! Although conventional vacuuming efficiently removes the dog smell from the surface, steam cleaning successfully penetrates the tiny pores of your carpet, eradicating pet smells as the process occurs.
So, how do you actually steam clean? There’s no way you’ll be able to do so effectively without an actual steam cleaner – no matter what optimists on the internet are saying – so your first step is choosing a steam cleaner that works for you. Afterwards, remove all items from the floor and dust your surfaces as you never know what dog smells may be hiding underneath your coffee table! Give the floor a quick vacuum and then prepare your carpet steam cleaner for action. Only then is it time to start steaming, starting at the top corner of the room and working your way backwards so you never have to walk over the wet carpet to reach your next spot. For a wider selection of choices, check out our vacuums for pet hair and Dyson pet vacuum guides.
Remember that although steam cleaning is a fantastic way to get pet smell out of carpets, you won’t succeed if you don’t take your time. For reference, you should walk backwards one smell step every two seconds so your steam cleaner has the best chance at eliminating dog odor.
Wash (Or Get Rid Of) the Cat or Dog Bed
Where do our pets spend most of their time? In bed asleep, of course! The average adult dog sleeps for around 12-14 hours every 24-hour period, whereas the typical adult cat sleeps between 12 to 16 hours. Therefore, pet bedding usually stinks to high heaven, smelling like what you’d believe the litter box to smell like instead.
Don’t worry if you become worried over just how smelly your dog beds have become. This doesn’t indicate anything sinister; in fact, quite the opposite. The fact that your dog or cat is outside discovering the planet shows just how great you are at being a pet owner. Plus, washing pet beds is a simple task, given that most are machine washable.
Notice our emphasis on most beds. We recommend that homeowners check the product label before tossing their pet’s beloved bedding in the wash as some must be cleaned by hand. Pet detergent is advised for washing, as its lack of dyes and fragrances means your pet won’t be put off their bed by aromas they detest (for example, dogs and cats really cannot stand citrus aromas). Popping in pet-specific detergent into the wash with a few tablespoons of apple cider vinegar to remove debris will work wonders for odor elimination.
Pet Odor Neutralizer Works a Charm
There are few types of treatments more effective for removing pet smells than pet odor neutralizers. It’s especially ideal for owners who are pet parents to naughty cats and dogs who often urinate on the carpet instead of outside of the litter box.
The instructions for using a pet odor neutralizer to prohibit the smell of pet urine seeping into the carpet is simple. If you’ve located the stain quickly, you should start by dabbing at the urine with thick paper towels to reduce the amount of liquid that seeps into the carpet. Only then should you apply the pet odor neutralizer as advised on the instructions. Regarding stains that have had time to set, the neutralizer can be applied immediately to get rid of the dog odor once and for all.
But where do you even start trying to find the best neutralizer to cast dog smells out of your home? Our handy guide that analyzes in depth the top ten best pet odor neutralizers in 2020 is a fantastic place to start your search. Whether it’s odor neutralizers containing active ingredients or neutralizers boasting natural plant extracts, each product in our guide has been thoroughly researched and is certainly capable of providing owners with a home free from pet odors.
Create a Schedule for Airing Out Your Home
Although this is a solution often overlooked when we speak about removing pet odors from house and home, simply opening the windows can work wonders for achieving an odor-free home. Not only will opening windows help ease the aggressive pet odor inside, getting some fresh air is a life hack that will do our health good too. The stale air doesn’t contain nearly as much oxygen as the air that has already been breathed in and out, and a lack of oxygen isn’t recommended for anyone.
Accordingly, it’s time to create a ventilation schedule that works on your time. Experts agree that the best time to ventilate to bring fresh air into your home is between the hours of 9pm-10am, as the outdoor pollution is lower. You’ll be delighted to remark the simple and cost-effective act of opening the windows has such a profound effect on the smelliness of your home.
Use a Blacklight to Identify Old Dog Messes on Surfaces
Finding urine spots when you’re a working pet parent has never been easy. It’s infuriating coming home from a hard day’s work and knowing that something smells very strongly of cat or dog urine, but as it’s dried in, you have no idea where the damage has been done. That’s where a blacklight comes in. Explained in simple terms, the harmless ultraviolet (UV) light that this device emanates is absorbed by certain substances. Taking pet stains for example, the phosphorous and proteins in the urine glow in the dark due to these wavelengths emitted by the blacklight, making ever so easy to identify new stains on the carpet and old stains that weren’t cleaned up properly. These carpet urine stains tend to present themselves as brown or yellow under ultraviolet light. For more options, check out our detailed review of pet stain remover.
Identifying old dog and cat urine stains, however, isn’t as simple as just turning on your blacklight – you’ll have to prepare first. It’s important to ensure your blinds are firmly closed shut as any natural light pouring in the windows will be detrimental for picking up smelly stains with your blacklight. Finally, although this step is more than a little obvious, turn off your lights. Now that it’s horrifyingly clear how many pet stains plague your carpet, marking these spots with tape is the best way forward to allow you to clean with purpose!
Hardwood Floors Should be Swept and Mopped Regularly
Sweeping and mopping hardwood floors isn’t only recommended to curb individual’s dust allergies. We guarantee that ounces of pet hair are lying all over your hardwood floors – and you better believe that these dog hairs are contributing a whole lot more towards pet odors than you previously thought.
We’re not going to insult your intelligence by fully explaining how to properly sweep and mop hardwood floors. But we are going to share a few tricks of the trade so you can minimize pet odors once and for all:
Sweep gently: It may be tempting to quickly sweep up so you can spend the time you save attending to other household chores. However, speedy sweeping is responsible for making pet hair fly up into the air and moving to other areas of your home.
Place a paper towel or newspaper sheet on top of the floor residue: This top tip may seem a little bizarre – after all, the pet hair and dirt that lined your floor is now safely in the trash. However, we bet you’ll forget about its very existence when you fling more trash in from a distance. As soon as this trash collides with the dirt and dust, it’s bound to blow out of the bin and contribute to the pet odor in your home once again. The simple act of placing a towel or newspaper sheet over the dirt, therefore, is a great preventive measure.
Don’t Forget to Deep Clean Your Furniture
Homeowners are so insistent to hoover and dust countertops and carpets that we forget about the amount of dust and dog smell our furniture can carry. If you love inviting your dog up onto the sofa for a snuggle every night, deep cleaning your furniture is even more essential!
The tools that you’ll need to properly eradicate the pet smell in your house from furniture are listed below:
Cleaning cloth: Starting out with a lint-free cleaning cloth is a great way to wipe off all the dust and dog hair that’s accumulated on your furniture. If this is a cleaning task you’ve neglected as of late, make sure you dust and then hoover your floor so the dog smell from the dirt and hair doesn’t simply switch places. Dampening the cloth a little ensures that the debris you’ve just collected won’t just escape into the air.
Paper towel: After wiping your furniture down with a wet cloth, grab a dry paper towel to get rid of that dog smell once and for all.
Enzyme furniture cleaner: If your house smells like dog even after this quick wipe-down of your furniture, investing in an enzyme cleaner is recommended. In terms of cleaning upholstery, there really is no better way to remove lingering stains and scents. The “good” bacteria digest waste and odor particles by breaking them down into smaller pieces that are easier for the “good” bacteria to digest. After being broken down by the “good” bacteria, the remnants of the bad bacteria are released as CO2 and water.
Bathe Your Pet Regularly
From an early age, dogs and cats alike should be taught to enjoy bath time. Bathing washes the dirt and grime that has accumulated and cleanses the skin too! Once a month, your pet should be treated to a bath to minimize the cat and dog smell lingering around your home.
Another reason you should consider bathing your pet to minimize their unique smell is that dogs, contrary to common believe, actually perspire! Although they don’t sweat in the same way as humans do, our canines do produce pheromones (chemical signals) from their apocrine glands (hair follicles), creating a unique dog smell that they use to communicate how they’re feeling to other canines.
Invest in an odor removing shampoo specifically geared towards treating pet hair. If you find yourself spoiled for choice, we find that our guides really help potential buyers narrow down their choices. Head over to check out our the best dog shampoos or cat shampoos available. Alternatively, if your canine or feline requires a shampoo more suitable for their hair, our articles on medicated dog shampoos and cat flea shampoos may meet your needs.
Consider Switching Up Your Dog’s Food
Have you ever considered that many of the odors contributing to the overall pet smell of your home may be from your pet’s digestive tract? Excessive flatulence in pets is, in the majority of cases, linked with the quality of the pet food they’re consuming.
But what if you’ve been feeding your pet the same high-quality kibble for years without any problems? Actually, pets can develop an intolerance to certain food sources such as poultry products over time as their intestinal tract fails to absorb and package food as it should, thereby creating a lot of smelly gas.
If your pet does indeed have an intolerance, we recommend veering away from starchy kibbles containing little amounts of omega-3 fatty acids and towards healthier alternatives. You should always choose kibble based on how your dog reacts to food and at Petside, we’ve constructed guides that celebrate the individuality of dogs and their eating habits.
Our Final Thoughts
We thought we’d leave you with one final thought: don’t prioritize the ways to get rid of the cat or dog smell around your house over the happiness of your pet itself. Yes; we admit that your house smelling of wet dog can feel embarrassing when commented on by guests. Yet it’s important to remember that in the long run, odors don’t mean anything when compared to the love of your pet.
Source:
- Do Air Purifiers Actually Work? – Good Housekeeping