I just moved into a new apartment about three weeks ago, and the carpet in only one room smells like ammonia. It's a really terrible smell and it won't go away after vacuuming many times. I know they shampooed the carpets before I move in. The lady before me who lived here had a dog. I know urine can smell like ammonia after it's sat awhile. Could it be that her dog peed on the carpet? Any ideas about how to get rid of the smell without shampooing the carpet?
Yep its dog pee. I would ask the landlord to change the carpet. Vacuuming and shampooing won't get rid of the smell. You could buy a product called urine erase . It works awesome against urine smells. But your better to ask the landlord to replace the carpet. Why should you have to live with a pet pee carpet
Mix a solution of fifty percent white vinegar and fifty percent water. You must use a liberal amount of this solution to reach the carpet fibers deep down. Work the solution into the carpet with a soft brush (or your fingers) to ensure it penetrates the carpet fibers below. Then blot the area using the paper towel method above to absorb the vinegar mixture. The vinegar will neutralize the ammonia in the dog urine. If you own a wet/dry vacuum extractor use it to remove excess moisture. When the area has dried or almost dried sprinkle a good handful of baking soda over the soiled area. Mix half a cup of 3% hydrogen peroxide with a teaspoon of Dish Soap detergent. Plain liquid dishwashing detergent is required. Do not use caustic dishwasher detergent. Slowly pour the hydrogen peroxide and dishwashing detergent mixture over the baking soda. Alternatively you can use a spray bottle for the hydrogen peroxide/dish washing detergent solution. Then work the baking soda and hydrogen peroxide mixture well into the carpet with your fingers (put on some rubber gloves) or use a brush. Allow the area to dry completely. Once the area is thoroughly dry, vacuum up the baking soda. A fan or heater can assist drying. Use a hard bristled brush to loosen up the baking soda if necessary. That's all there is to it. Your carpet will smell fresh and free from urine odor.
That is urine. You need to call a professional. First they need to find the areas affected with a black light. Then they need to treat each area with 1-2 quarts of enzymatic cleaner. Suck it out with a truckmount carpet cleaner and an attachment called a water claw sub surface extractor. You see, most of the urine is in the pad, some is in the carpet, some may be in the sub floor. There is no way to effectively deal with this yourself. How do I know? I am a pro carpet cleaner with easily 10,000 pet urine stains worth of experience, I know, people call me after they give up. After the carpet is extracted, I will rinse it with 2-4 quarts of water per stain, basically twice as much as the cleaner. Again I extract with the water claw. I get 99% of the moisture I put in back out. If I used a Rug Dr, I'd leave about 98% in. With a shop vac, maybe only leave 90% of what I put in. I much prefer to leave 1% in. Then I will clean your carpet and use a low pH rinse agent. You see, urine smells like ammonia, because the nitrates in urine eventually become ammonia. Ammonia has a pH around 12.0, which is very high. You want you carpet to be close to a neutral pH after you clean it, around 7.0. 12 being 5 points over 7 means I will rinse with something with a pH of 2, neutralizing the carpet back to 7 and the ammonia is gone. Use a certified pro that knows what they are doing. Your landlord is obligated to pay, he rented you an apartment that was represented as clean and it obviously isn't. You could take him to court over this. It is called breech of contract basically you are not receiving what you are paying for.
I believe it is dog urine. It is in the carpet and padding. The mess is from the previous tenants dog and it should have be taken care of by her security deposit. Talk to your landlord and ask about replacing the carpet because it is a health issue. When a person pays rent they usually pay a security deposit that is for any damages to the property and I would say that dog urine is damage and the carpet should have been replaced instead of being cleaned. I would not try to clean it in any way because it is the responsibility of the landlord to make sure that the rental property is clean and not in any violation with any health codes.
