New House - Dog Odor?

[dancingqueen]

Hi to all the helpful PSers!

We just took possession of a new house yesterday morning. The first floor is all hardwood except for the "formal" living/sitting room. The stairs and second floor is all carpet. The previous owners had two dogs and the carpets seemed pretty dirty yesterday and the second floor smelled like dog. We had the carpets professionally cleaned yesterday and deodorized afternoon, but I still thought it smelled like a wet dog after they were done. We''re in Iowa and it''s been terribly humid and stormy. I''m hoping that after I have a chance to open all windows and leave them open for a few days, it will go away.

Any other good tips? I''m wondering if any of the febreze fresheners that you plug into outlets will work, but I don''t want to just cover it up. I want to eliminate the problem. I hope the carpets aren''t totally ruined, but that is the only thing I can think of that will retain the dog smell.

Maybe I''m over reacting? They just moved out of the house the previous day so maybe this is normal and more noticeable to someone who has never lived with a dogs??

Thanks for any advice!

 

[gailrmv]

Hopefully after your carpets finish drying the smell will go away! If not, I'd contact the carpet cleaning company and ask their advice. I think that would usually take care of it. We get ours cleaned every few months and I don't think we have doggy odor, although, guess I can't be sure - probably immune to the smell! (I have 2 dogs.)

I'd also give yourself a few days. When we moved into our new house (brand new - no former owners) I thought the closet smelled weird. A couple days later I stopped noticing it I guess.

 

[angiety2k]

You are not overreacting! If you get immune to it then you will never know if it still stinks like dogs, and when you have guests come over thats just not a good thing if its very strong. I saw this trick on HGTV Sell this house (at least I think its the name of the show) all you have to do is Spread baking soda onto the carpet and let it sit for awhile and then vacuum.

 

[Aloros]

Agreed with EricsPrincess. I used this trick to get rid of the smoke smell in my old apartment.

 

[Deelight]

Baking Soda, we cleaned our carpets by ourselves with a rug doctor but didn''t realise that the people before us had not cleaned it properly and it made our carpets smell FOUL even after re-cleaning it 3-4 times. Baking soda was the only thing that worked to get rid of the smell

 

[HollyS]

No, you''re not overreacting. Dog stench is one of the worst smells!

When I was in the appliance business, I learned a trick for deodorizing nasty refrigerators/freezers where food had rotted. We opened cans of coffee and let them sit for several days inside the appliances. (This works for everyday use far better than baking soda, BTW.)

Do the same with each room of the house; open a fresh can, or grind some beans and put in a container, and leave it out without a lid on top. Because you can only close doors and windows, not actually seal a room, it will take days to make significant progress, but it will work. Coffee will absorb odors like magic, and leave its own wonderful aroma in place.

That funky smell after shampooing could just be the god-awful smelling detergent. I hate the stuff. Coffee will take care of that odor too.

 

[neatfreak]

The febreze things make it worse IMO. Doesn''t fix, just tries to cover with florals. Yuck.

First, if the carpets haven''t dried yet it very well could be just ''wet carpet stench'' so I would wait a few days before doing anything drastic.

I second the baking soda idea, but remember that vacuums like Dyson''s SHOULD NOT VACUUM BAKING SODA. So be careful not to ruin a vacuum with it...

Coffee works if it''s just a lingering odor...but doesn''t always work in carpets IMO. If you really have an animal stench still after all this, I would re-clean the carpets using Nature''s Miracle. It gets rid of all pet odors very well IMO.

 

[dancingqueen]

Thanks for all the tips everyone. I will try the baking soda and coffee. My Mother-in-law was there yesterday helping us move some things and she couldn''t smell anything so I don''t think it''s really strong. But, a friend of mine was also there and she could smell it. It''s only in the master bedroom and one of the other bedrooms. I guess the dogs slept there? I was also thinking that the previous owners may have given their dogs a bath in the big master tub? I didn''t mention that to anyone because I assumed everyone would think I was being paranoid, but my husband said the same thing yesterday. Obviously, I plan to disinfect the entire bathroom anyway, but do you think people bathe their dogs in their bath tubs? I know a single friend of mine used to do this with her black lab right before her cleaning lady came. I thought it was gross! Anyway, if they bathed the dogs in the master bath, maybe that would leave a lingering dog odor too?

For the baking soda, how long should I leave it sit before vacuuming?

Thanks again!!