Smelly Rug

[ChiangMai2]

any ideas on where i can get quite a large ( 7ft x 12ft approx ) silk oriental style rug cleaned.. The cat has misbehaved! Does something like this need to be dry cleaned? I have no idea, any suggestions very welcome.

Kind regards

CM2

[Dustoff]

~

This will likely be little help since I do not know the exact kind of fabric you have but I would first try scrubbing it with a dead cat.

[prism]

I've asked nearly the same question before on this forum and received no responses. I wish there was a carpet/rug steam cleaner out there in CM. Don't know if you can steam clean a silk rug tho.

[Beetlejuice]

This is something my grandmother used to do.

Hang the carpet on a washing line outdoors.

Boil a kettle of water. Walk the kettle over to the carpet and let the hot steam from the spout dampen the stained part of the carpet.

Wipe firmly with a warm damp sponge, only water no cleaning additives and do not soak.

Wipe dry with a dry sponge.

When dry springle the carpet with perfumeless or mildly scented talcum powder. Leave for 10 minutes then brush off with a soft brush.

The carpet will appear like new.

[Lumumba]

The dead cat wipe should be the best option.

[Dustoff]

~

Okay, seriously now - and something I learned from me Mum and have used successfully for many decades.

NO GUARANTEE about the color-fastness of your rug!

This is not for an entire rug of your size, only if you are merely looking to spot-clean:

Mix white vinegar 50/50 with water, sprinkle over the spot enough to soak it thoroughly and allow it to work for a while;

Sprinkle a 1/4-inch layer of baking soda over the spot, cover with absorbent material, plastic and something heavy like a book;

Let this sit for an hour, remove the coverings and allow the baking soda to thoroughly dry. When dry, vaccuum;

Depending on the age/strength of the odor, repeat as necessary.

This technique is actually for carpeting that you cannot get underneath and have to draw the urine remnants up and out of the carpeting.

With a rug, put the absorbent material under the spot and figure the rest out for yourself. Doing it from the underside may also reduce

the risk of slightly bleaching the top portion even though you will be pouring the vinegar through from above.

Good luck and I would test a tiny spot with the vinegar and baking soda first.

~

[amexpat]

This is really sad, dude. I bet the rug tied the room together.

[stenfred]

~

This will likely be little help since I do not know the exact kind of fabric you have but I would first try scrubbing it with a dead cat.

Seriously, you always have to grab the cat as soon after they done it as you can and rub their nose in it, then their back. Make appropriately scary sounds while doing so. Then send them ass-backwards out the rear door into a bucket of cold water. This may not help with this particular stain, but will help to prevent reoccurence.

[amexpat]

Seriously, you always have to grab the cat as soon after they done it as you can and rub their nose in it, then their back. Make appropriately scary sounds while doing so. Then send them ass-backwards out the rear door into a bucket of cold water. This may not help with this particular stain, but will help to prevent reoccurence.

Or at least make you feel better. BTW, do you always keep a bucket of cold water by the rear door? Does it serve other purposes, too?

Come to think of it, you might NOT feel better if the cat still has his claws. I don't have a cat so I really don't know about these things, though.

[Hardback]

This is really sad, dude. I bet the rug tied the room together.

Damm! I was gonna say that.

[IanForbes]

The cat didn't misbehave. It just did what ALL cats do... anything it feels like. Sorry I can't help you with the cleaning part.

All I can say is if you value your personal items then don't have pets.

[stenfred]

Seriously, you always have to grab the cat as soon after they done it as you can and rub their nose in it, then their back. Make appropriately scary sounds while doing so. Then send them ass-backwards out the rear door into a bucket of cold water. This may not help with this particular stain, but will help to prevent reoccurence.

Or at least make you feel better. BTW, do you always keep a bucket of cold water by the rear door? Does it serve other purposes, too?

Come to think of it, you might NOT feel better if the cat still has his claws. I don't have a cat so I really don't know about these things, though.

Nah, I hate doing stuff like that, I just have cleaned too much cat barf, shit and pee in my lifetime to be equivocal when communicating important lessons to my cats. I love them to bits, I really do.

My cats "play dead" if I grab them by the scruff of their necks, so can do most things without getting a reaction

The cold water is in a big barrel that collects rainwater (with an overflow to the sewer).

[ollylama]

this aggression will not stand!

[NancyL]

Based on a lifetime of living with cats, I can say that it's very hard to discourage a cat from returning the spot, although Dustoff's recommendation is the best to try to remove the odor. Since it's a rug, perhaps you can move it after cleaning so that the spot isn't in the same place on your floor. We had to deal with this with wall-to-wall carpeting in the U.S. and ended up just putting a cat litter box in the "favored" spot. Of course, we sometimes forgot to remove the box when company came to visit and people wondered why we had a cat litter box in the middle of the living room.

Speaking of the litter box, the OP should have one inside, even for a cat that has access to the outdoors. I've seen indoor/outdoor cats come racing back to the house to use their litter box, rather than using the great outdoors. Of course, the box should be kept clean to be inviting! Perhaps the OP's cat just had to pee and didn't have other options available at the time.

[ChiangMai2]

~

This will likely be little help since I do not know the exact kind of fabric you have but I would first try scrubbing it with a dead cat.

of course that's the first thing i tried! Now the cat smells of pee..

[ChiangMai2]

The cat didn't misbehave. It just did what ALL cats do... anything it feels like. Sorry I can't help you with the cleaning part.

All I can say is if you value your personal items then don't have pets.

or children!

[FolkGuitar]

Dustoff has the right idea.

I once got a real bargain on an apartment rental with wall-to-wall carpeting because to people there before me had 3 million male cats who peed and sprayed everywhere! It was almost impossible to enter the place!! I took it on a 1-year lease at 1/4 the asking price.

I made a 50% solution of white vinegar and with a rented power sprayer thoroughly soaked the carpets and sprayed up the walls about one meter, getting everything really wet. Then I opened all the windows and left the place for three days. When I came back there was just a slight vinegar smell, but no cat smell at all. I sprinkled baking soda heavily over all the carpeting, let it sit for a few hours then vacuumed it off. No more vinegar smell.

I lived there for three years... Best value I ever got in a rental place! The owners never raised the rent at all!

Edited August 5, 2010 by FolkGuitar