Smelly rug

I had asked a couple of days ago about a musty rug. I have since shampooed it and left it outside to dry and the smell is still there. We called the original owner and he said a dog 'may' have urinated on it at some point. The thing is, the smell seems to come mostly from the underside and it doesn't really smell like urine.

I can understand the dog taking a leak on the underside because the rug was rolled up in his garage for some time. Anybody got any experience with the smell of old dog's urine? It is a kind of mustyish, kinda bad smell. It certainly makes the rug unusable. If it's very old urine, any suggestions for cleaning it properly? The rug itself was very 'clean' as I got almost no dirt out when I shampooed the top and underside of it.

Thanks.

Paul

Reply to
D'Olier
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"A dog may have urinated on it at some point." What a joke. Having heard many lies from dog owners over the years, that really means that the dog pissed on it at least once a day or more frequently than that. My favorite dog owner line is when the owner lets his dog run loose in a public place and when I tell him that the dog should be on a leash, the dog owner replies: "Oh, it's OK, he won't bite." and then if the dog does bite, the dog owner replies "Oh, he never did that before." Dog owners are the stupidist people on the planet. MCG

Reply to
Farmer's Daughter

There's some stuff called "out" that worked for me, your rug may be really bad though. Out comes in 2 varieties, one for spot cleaning, one for rugs etc. Gotta get all chemical on that thang.

Reply to
roger61611

pittsburgh has a carry in rug cleaning company. they put the carpet thru a bath. had a houseful of carpet that needed that once, it was new carpet in a rental, they had to run it 3 times.

kinda expensive new carpet may be a better value.

its important to make sure yoiu dont have a mold problem in the area, like carpet on a concrete floor thats getting moist underneath. you dont want your new carpet to get the same problem

Reply to
hallerb

Call your local carpet - rug cleaners. You want one who has in in shop rug cleaning. They do a very thorough job, much better than you can do at home or they can do in your home. You will also find that the price is reasonable if you deliver and pick up the rug at their location.

Reply to
Joseph Meehan

A key factor in determining whether or not to have it done commercially (which probably won't be inexpensive) is how much you paid for it. Since it's at least second hand, you may have little invested. In such a case - given the odor of mold, which is a fungus that grows - I'd pour full strength white vinegar into a garden sprayer, lay the rug out upside down on newspaper thick enough to absorb the over spray about to be generated, then spray the entire rug to a point where the fibers are moist to the touch ... penetrated a tad but definitely not soaked. Let dry a day or two. If a significant difference is noted, flip the rug and do the same on the other side. Vinegar will kill the living fungus (which is the source of true "moldy" odors) by the pungent smell of the vinegar will dissipate and vanish in a day or so. Note: This is an alternative to try ONLY if you have reached the point that all other efforts have failed and commercial cleaning is the last resort. Downside... have no idea how colors of your rug may react. If all synthetic fiber... you're probably home safe. If natural fiber... potential for discoloration exists.

Reply to
John Gregory

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