Cleaning up After Pets: A Guide for Toronto Pet Owners

If you love pets as much as we do, you probably wish there was an easier way to overlook common pet-related messes. In this article, we offer a guide for cleaning pet messes in Toronto quickly and effectively so you can focus more on the love and less on the mess and odours!

Cleaning Pet Hair

Pet hair is more of an annoyance than anything, as it luckily doesn’t contribute to pet odours in the home. Some tips to help you tackle pet hair include the following:

Vacuum With a Pet Hair Attachment

If your vacuum has a pet hair attachment, take advantage of it and vacuum up pet hair at least once a week. You can also use a hand-held vacuum or remove the attachment from your canister vacuum and apply the hose directly to surfaces to help remove hair and dander.

Use a Squeegee

Squeegees are window cleaners with rubber strips that remove water for streak-free windows. However, that rubber strip is also a very effective hair remover when cleaning Toronto homes. 

Dragging a squeegee over soft surfaces like couches, upholstered chairs, and carpets can help collect hair missed while vacuuming, and create manageable clumps that you can then pick up with your hand.

Try a Lint Remover (or Paint Roller)

Lint removers also work well to capture hair left behind after vacuuming. If you don’t have a lint roller, or you need to tackle a larger area, covering a paint roller with tape, tacky side out, makes short work of larger surfaces like couches and carpets. You can then just remove the tape and toss it in the garbage. 

Attract Hair With Rubber Gloves

Rubber gloves have a magnetic effect on pet hair, allowing you to brush your hand over upholstered surfaces and collect hair. It works on your clothes, too.

Cleaning Pet Stains and Odours

Removing pet stains becomes much harder if you’re not quick to clean up the mess. When it occurs in your absence, your job gets even trickier. Here are some pet stain and odour removal tips to help protect your furniture and keep your home looking and smelling its best:

Act Fast

This is the most important step in fighting pet stains and odours. The longer the stain remains on the surface, the more time it has to set in, and the more likely it will leave lingering odours behind.

Keep the Right Tools Handy

Keeping a pet stain caddy in your home allows you to grab what you need quickly. Your caddy should include:

• Rubber gloves 
• Paper towels or microfiber cloths
• Clean rags 
• Small trash bags
• Soft-bristled brush
• Pet-safe cleaners designed for stains and odours
• Baking soda to lift stains and remove odours
• Baby wipes
• Bottled water

Create Your Own Cleaner

An effective, pet-friendly cleaner consisting of one tablespoon of dish soap, one tablespoon of vinegar, and two cups of warm water can clean up most surfaces without causing damage. Use your DIY cleaner in a spray bottle for easy application to stains. 

Follow the Right Steps for Poop Removal

The following steps provide an effective method to remove fresh poop:

• Use your rubber gloves to pick up solids using a paper towel.
• Place the solids in your trash bag.
• Use a baby wipe to remove any remaining smaller pieces, but don’t wipe the carpet yet!
• Use a new baby wipe to address any “smearing”.
• Apply your homemade or store-bought pet stain product.
• Use your soft-bristled brush to work the cleaner into the fibres and remove the stain.
• Apply clean cold water to remove soapy residue.
• Dab at the carpet to remove excess water using clean paper towels.
• Apply baking soda to the area and let it sit for at least 10 minutes.
• Vacuum up the powder and repeat the baking soda step until you remove most of the odours.

Follow Different Steps for Urine

Fresh pet urine requires a different approach. Follow these steps:

• Quickly apply a pile of paper towels to the urine and top off with a pile of newspapers.
• If the stain is on an area rug, lift the rug and lay down paper towels and newspaper on the floor to capture anything that seeps through.
• Turn back the rug, and then stand on the pile of paper and stamp your feet to help absorb the urine.
• If you have a dog, you can place the soaked papers in their designated bathroom area to help associate the smells with that spot.
• Blot-dry any remaining dampness.
• Apply cold water to the area and continue to blot-dry until the urine is removed.
• Apply an odour-removing pet cleaner to the area, following the instructions on the bottle.

Dried Pet Stain Removal

When dealing with an older or dried pet stain, the process requires a different approach. First, although it’s tempting to use a steam cleaner, the heat will permanently set the stain and odours because the steam will bond the proteins to the fibres. 

You should also not use strong chemical cleaners like ammonia or vinegar, as they accentuate the odours. Instead, follow these steps:

• Put on your rubber gloves and pick up any solids and place them in a small trash bag.
• If the mess is pronounced, consider renting a carpet cleaner (not a steamer) to help get deep into the carpet to remove the stains.
• Use an odour-fighting pet cleaner and apply it to the stain.
• You might have to clean a few times to get the stain out.
• Allow the carpet to dry before applying a pet stain odour neutralizer.

Wood Floor Pet Stains

For wood floors, follow these steps:

• Dab up wet messes with a rag or paper towels and remove any solids.
• Use your DIY cleaner to wipe up any remaining messes.
• Wipe the floor clean.
• Apply a generous amount of baking soda to the surface and let it sit for an hour.
• Vacuum or sweep up the baking soda. 
• If the area still smells or feels damp, repeat the baking soda step.

More Household Pet Cleaning Tips

Use the following tips to make life with pets easier:

• Limit access to certain rooms in the house to reduce the chance of stains, hair, and odours in every room.
• Bathe dogs regularly to help reduce pet odours they’ll leave behind on soft furnishings.
• Groom your pets often to reduce shedding.
• Choose hard floors over carpets, and avoid area rugs if possible.
• Treat soft furnishings with stain guard products or use washable covers for everyday furniture use.
• Use a pet toy bin, basket, or box to make it easier to keep things tidy.
• Keep paw wipes at the front door to clean paws before your dog enters your home.

Contact the Cleaning Experts in Toronto

There’s not much to be done about the urine, poop, and occasional vomit that your pet might produce. Knowing how to deal with pet messes makes it easier to take the good with the bad, and avoid having a stinky home covered in pet fluff.

If you want to help control pet odours, hair, and messes, reach out to Maid4Condos to learn more about our professional cleaning that Toronto loves. You can call us at 647-822-0601 or contact us online.