Category Archives: pet stains

As a carpet cleaner I was called out on numerous pet related floor care issues.  One that cannot be corrected by cleaning is the issue of your pets redying your carpet.

It may sound stupid, we all know that your pet is not running around with a bottle of food coloring spraying it around the room.  However, I have seen pets with lipstick, nail polish, ball point pens and paint.  Those were issues that as good a carpet guy as I am, I was able to resolve.

There are several things that even the best of the best carpet professionals can not correct.  Those issues however trace directly back to the owner and not the pet, so please do not hate your carpet cleaner or punish little Fluffy for ruining  the new carpet on which you just spent several thousand dollars.

One thing you can trust me on is; whatever your pet vomits up or spills, it will be on your new carpet, no matter how well behaved an animal you have.  I personally have a few theories for why an animal will want to mark on new carpet.

First, its fricking new!  It is not part of their home or world and they, being forced to live with it in confinement, want it to submit to their rule.  Lets face it, the carpet fails to react when they walk on it, growl at it, dig on it or pounce on it.  It is just there. It is part of their world and they like to feel in charge.  You don’t see when they pee on it so they feel free to make their world, well… their world.  For many pets this is their world, not yours.  While you leave for work, school, dates and parties Fido and Fluffy are stuck there 24/7/365.

Second, we all know that new carpets go through a process of “out-gassing”.  Your new carpet if not naturally based, is a petroleum based by-product.  The nice new carpet smell many of us like will be many times stronger to your pet.  On top of that they are much closer to it so the smell and toxic out-gassing is just that much stronger for them.  This is a toxic out-gassing of chemicals, make no mistake.  When being bombarded in their sensitive noses with toxic fumes, who can blame poor little Fido and Fluffy for ralphing up their lunch or fighting back with digging and clawing?  They know whats making them sick and they do not like it.

While digging and clawing are not issues you would consult your carpet cleaner about, I can give you a few pointers regardless of your pet or your carpets age.

Though stomach acids are very strong and can strip colors out of carpet it will not help if you feed your pet foods that contain dyes.  Reds and yellows are the hardest colors for the fibers in your carpet to resist.  Though the yellow of stomach acid will punch through most carpet protectors, the dyes can be resisted.  If you have pets I would highly recommend that you use a DuPont or other protector on your carpet as a safety measure.

These are not foolproof measures.  Refraining from feeding your pets foods that have dyes in them is also a step I highly recommend.

There is another problem I frequently ran into over the years.  Blues, reds, yellows and green stains in the carpet from a  pets great new toys.  This  is really more of a dog than cat problem.

When you go to the pet store and buy your dog a new toy it is a good thing.  When you buy them a brand new can of tennis balls for them to chew on it shows you love them.  Unfortunately the dyes in these toys and balls can bleed when they get wet.  It is a well known fact that when dogs chew on toys they slobber.  Whether you love slobber from your dog or hate it, it will affect the dyes in these balls and toys.

The combination of reds and blues in a rope bone when combined with Fido’s slobber can mean a redying of any material that Fido leaves the toy laying on.  A brand new orange or yellow tennis ball will result in dozens of circular discolorations on your carpet and nine times out of ten you will blame either your carpet cleaner or your dog for these spots.

Give your carpet guy and your pets a break.  Check the food you buy your pets.  Do they contain dyes?  Check the toys you buy for dye bleed.

Fido really could care less if his tennis ball leaves yellow spots around the room as long as he has fun with you.  Fluffy could care even less if his food discolored your carpet when he thought he had a hairball as long as you love him when he lays close to you.  The fact is that your pets do not care how your house looks as long as you love them, so you really need to quit blaming them for your problems.

If you want to help avoid discolorations to your new carpet then the simple answer is to avoid access to dyes for your pet in food and toys.  Once the dyes bleed into your carpet your carpet guy is not to blame for your shortsightedness.  Once the dye is in the fibers of your carpet you will either need to consult a carpet dyer to redye the spot or patch the carpet with a new piece.

Either way, no matter what happens it is still your pets world.  They will live and play as you see fit.  If you give them toys with bleeding dyes or food that has dyes they will love you and look to you as a god.  They will thank you for the toy and play with it.  They will love the food and eat it.

As a former carpet cleaner all I ask is a break when we tell you that the stain will not come out.  Its not because we are lazy or stupid.  It’s because its true, its a permanent stain.