removing dog smell from a large rug

ali-t

I am putting this in the pet board rather than 'in my home' as I am hoping the doggy people will have some great tips for me.

I have a rug in my living room that the dogs lie on and one dog in particular likes to rub his face on after he has eaten and rub his body on after beng wet or out on a walk. The rug stinks!

I have hung it outside to air it and have previously sprayed it with odor kill but it hasn't made any difference. I recently had all my carpets cleaned and forgot to get the man to do the rug.

Any ideas how to shift the whiff?

Fire_Fox

The smell is probably coming from bacteria feasting on the muck in the rug. Assuming the rug cannot go in your washing machine or a larger launderette one or be dry cleaned, any greasy or food residues will need to be shampoo'd out. An enzyme-based product will help shift any smells that remain; longer term doggy odours can be reduced with a change of diet.

ali-t

I hadn't thought of washing it in the garden with diluted washing powder but that is an idea. It is not that the dogs themselves smell particularly bad but if the big one (giant monster hound with very loose flews so quite slobbery) eats lamb ribs or pigs ears and then wipes his face across the rug its gonna smell. The same when he has been rampaging round the park in the rain so the rug has a muddy wet dog type odour about it.

I will give it a scrub with diluted washing powder and hose it off unless anyone else has any easier solutions. I don't have a power washer or woudl have power washed it.

Fire_Fox

You may need to soak the rug in the bath, enzymes need time break down the residue. Please read the care label tho, I don't want to be responsible for a ruined rug!

imaginarynumber

ali-t wrote: »

I have ... sprayed it with odor kill but it hasn't made any difference.
Any ideas how to shift the whiff?

Have you tried Odokill by Naturvet?

I dilute and then spray it. It contains Alkyl Dimethyl Benzyl which helps to break down the pong rather than just masking it.

Admittedly I use it for dog pee rather than plain ole doggy smells.

I recently has a client whose cat kept spraying my tools, it did get rid of the smell but it took a few applications.

It cost 11.40 but it is very concentrate, the mixing ratio is 1-128 so it last for ages. TBH though I probably don't dilute it enough.

It is not a cleaner though- it just only gets rid of smells.

BTW it goes without saying that it is pet safe.

ali-t

imaginary number that stuff sounds similar to the odour remover I used. I should maybe use a more concentrated version while it is outside and see how it goes.

Firefox, if I can't get rid of the smell there is no way it is moving with me when I sell the house and it will get carted out to the shed when there are viewings if the smell doesn't go. It is a great rug and has a robust hessian backing so is able to cope with the household goings on, just not able to repel the smell.

vax2002

Agree fire fox , roll it up put some hot water in the bath and a bit of washing machine powder and soak it over night, drain, rinse in clean water and drain again then hang it up outside.

jumpedtheshark

I quite like distilled white vinegar for small pet-related clean-ups, and find it does a decent job of removing odours after the smell of vinegar disappears. Probably not for good quality carpet and rugs, though? When our dog was really ill and peeing uncontrollably for a few days, we had to throw out the rug and backing, but saved the underlying carpet by shampooing a couple of times with a Bissell carpet washer vac from Argos. We only use it occasionally, but it makes the house smell so much cleaner after it's done.

elsien

vax2002 wrote: »

Agree fire fox , roll it up put some hot water in the bath and a bit of washing machine powder and soak it over night, drain, rinse in clean water and drain again then hang it up outside.

I ended up needing a complete bathroom refit when I did this.:o

Washed large heavy item in bath, scratched head then pondered how to get it downstairs and into the garden to dry without flooding the place, put chair in bath to drape said item over to drain, chair fell over and made hole in bath, replacing old bath meant whole new bathroom suite and tiles......you get the picture.

I now wash any smelly rugs etc outside on the patio with the aid of buckets of water, wahing powder and a scrubbing brush. Safer and cheaper all round.
I also put something like zoflora in the last rinse to disguise any lingering odours.

vax2002

elsien wrote: »

I ended up needing a complete bathroom refit when I did this.:o

Washed large heavy item in bath, scratched head then pondered how to get it downstairs and into the garden to dry without flooding the place, put chair in bath to drape said item over to drain, chair fell over and made hole in bath, replacing old bath meant whole new bathroom suite and tiles......you get the picture.

I now wash any smelly rugs etc outside on the patio with the aid of buckets of water, wahing powder and a scrubbing brush. Safer and cheaper all round.
I also put something like zoflora in the last rinse to disguise any lingering odours.

OH DEAR, I just pulled the plug out and left it for a few hours

elsien

I know, not one of my finest hours on the practicality front. It was a lovely sunny day and I just thought getting it out in the sun would dry it much quicker.
And all to save a tenner at the laundrette.