Rugs, Carpets and Carpeting - Bleaching the entire carpet.

I just purchased a mobile home and the living room carpet has a horribly bad urine odor from the previous owners cat. The carpet is pretty worn and I'll be replacing it (and sealing the floor) in a few months. I don't have the time or the money to do that right now. I've encountered this problem before and tried every type of shampoo, spot remover and deodorizer and nothing worked to my satisfaction.
What I'm thinking of doing is renting a hot water extraction (aka: steam cleaner) machine from the local walmart and using a strong solution of laundry bleach and hot water instead of using shampoo.
Has anyone ever tried this? If so, what effect does it have on the odor? And what does the carpet look like afterwards?

It may bleach stain the entire carept to a bleach stain orange.

Thanks Dan. I don't think I'd mind living with an orange carpet for a while if it were free of any residual odor. That's the main thing. If it stinks it's no good what ever color it is. I'm just wondering what to expect.

I'm going to go ahead and try it as soon as the water gets turned on over there. Hopefully it'll burn the smell and the stains out, and turn the carpet a nice light blue.
:)

I'll post the outcome next week.

Then whoever rents the machine next, bleaches their carpet out. The come back to the records and it was checked out by you, last. Guess who is responsible for the replacement of the next guys carpet!!!


Be careful what you do with rental equipment! :thumbdn:

Good point. I was assuming the bleach would flush out of the machine with a couple containers full of clean water. I'm going to run some water through it and then clean three other rooms without bleach after I clean the offending carpet. By the time I take the Rug Doctor back to the store it should be free of bleach, no?

Plan on ventalating the residence!!!

Bleach is toxic enough, but add urine, especially cat urine to the recipe, you have made a gas that will hurt you badly!! :wall:

Good point. Now that you mention it, if the urine isn't dry, or even if it is, it might be like mixing bleach and ammonia. It could turn bad toxic. I'll have to give this more thought.

Do not use bleach to clean urine. The urine contains ammonia. Bleach & ammonia when mixed produce toxic fumes. Enzyme digester cleaner/deodorizer like OdoBan, Out, Nature's Miracle may alleviate some of the odor. If odor is bad as you say, it's not healthy for you. Yank out carpet & seal subfloor. Living without the nasty carpet & the odor should be a priority. You can replace the carpet later.

Ok. You guys convinced me. I'm removing the carpet and sealing the floor.
Thanks for the input.

Update:
I finished ripping out the smelly carpet and padding and couldn't resist bleaching the underlay. After sweeping a recklessly strong solution of liquid laundry bleach and hot water generously all over the floor, and leaving it to dry for the night, there is not a trace of urine smell left (and there were some very bad areas.)

CAUTION:
During the bleaching process I did suffer very irritated lungs and eyes and had to step outside several times to take deep breaths of fresh air to keep from being overwhelmed by the fumes. I WOULDN'T recommend this process. Thoroughly adequate protection (eye and breathing) is of UTMOST importance when attempting this stunt.

You did this without a respirator?

Oh my god! Scar tissue in the lungs can cause major health problems in the years to come.