Cleaning my carpets

[Chocogrl]

Hi.  I’m new as a member, but have very much enjoyed reading through the forums and other helps for the past year and a bit.     It’s been phenomenally helpful in many areas.  About a year and a half ago we found this adorable little rabbit under a bush in our cul-de-sac and captured him a few days later, just before a serious snow storm hit.  We weren’t as well prepared for him as we’d thought, because it never occurred to us to have any kind of cage.  So, he has special places around the house that he’s claimed as his and that’s been that.  He’s made his bed under the laundry bag rack in our bedroom.

Well, our carpets were pretty dirty when we got him, and are exponentially dirtier now.  It’s driving me up the wall, because my sense of smell is so strong.  My husband just bought a Hoover carpet cleaner and figures that we can just use the Hoover shampoo.  I’m concerned.  While only half the house is carpeted, it’s where Opal spends most of his time, and the carpet area is far too big to use a toothbrush and baking soda like my sister suggested.   My husband is concerned about using anything besides the Hoover shampoo because he says that using non-Hoover stuff will void the warranty on the new machine.  Somewhere in one of the forum spots someone said something about Nature’s …(something?), but my husband is still concerned about the warranty.

Please tell me – What do you all use on your carpets?  Does it damage your machine?

Thanks!!

[Sarita]

Use the Hoover stuff – it should be fine. I had my carpets cleaned by a professional and they used whatever it is they used and it was no harm to my rabbits.

[Standard_Procedure]

I just use the vacuum cleaner and white wine vinegar to remove urine stains. The vinegar is more effective than most commercial rabbit cleaners I’ve tried. I’d pour the vinegar in a bucket and scrub the carpet after vacuuming it. Then open the windows and it’ll try in around 7-9hrs.

[BlueMoods]

I don’t have carpeting, just rugs I can take outside and clean, or smaller ones I put in the washing machine. For both I use OxyClean and vinegar. It removes stains and odors very well.

If it were a carpeted room, I’d use the same, put the oxy clean and vinegar on by hand, then use the machine with just water to finish the job.

[Sindri]

I have cleaned my carpets with my hoover cleaner I just took the rabbits out of their rooms for a few hours to make sure the floors were dry enough to let them back out.

[Chocogrl]

Thank you so much for your responses! My husband is thrilled, and I feel better. We’ll go with the Hoover stuff. Way too much carpet to do it by hand. I think it would be easier if we had smaller rugs on hard floors, but this is how it is. Thanks again

[Beka27]

Vinegar is great for spot cleaning, but yeah… you don’t want to do the whole floor with a toothbrush! Yikes!

I’ve done the same as the others, cleaned the carpet with the machine and then just kept the bunnies out of that room until it was dry, or until the next day. I would think those dry carpet powders are probably worse for them than carpet cleaner solution.

[Sydney's Mom]

That Hoover stuff and steam cleaning sounds complicated. Just buy the OUT Stain and Odor Remover. It has enzymes to break the pee down. Spray (by spray i mean saturate), let it stand, and press with a wad of paper towel. Gets out the stain and the stink, with minimal work… lol. Plus it’s safe around animals and kids (at least that’s what the label reads)

[Author]

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