Need Cleaning Advice

Hi J.,

How exciting! But what a big cleaning job you have ahead of you. I'm wondering, regarding the carpeting, can you pull it up? I imagine if the house is old, you have hardwood floors underneath. Although, they might be damaged from all of the animal excrement. I feel pulling up the carpeting is the most effecient way to really sanitize the house. I think bleach/water is fine for the all of the tiled and linoleum. Will you paint? I find that painting really helps get the previous tenants/owners smells out. Regarding the yard, I can't help you there, I'm clueless!! Good luck!

PS - what kind of dresses do you sew? I'm really interested in learning how to sew since I buy my daughter lots of handmade dresses on ebay/etsy.

I would be more concerned about the chicken running around inside than I would be the cats and dogs. Chickens carry samonella and the whole SARS epidemic in China was caused by chickens. Cat feces can carry toxmoplasmosis and dog feces carries ring worm, which isn't have as bad as chicken poop. You realy should invest in professional disinfectant cleaners with bleach rather than to try and make your own. Remember when using any bleach or heavy cleaners, you need to have ALL the windows open so you don't pass out. Also you will need to clean with gloves on. The carpet has to be replaced, because there is no way to completely remove urine from it. You might want to go with the hardwood floors and area rugs until you can afford wall-to-wall carpet. Also the rugs are a breeding ground for fleas. The yard should be cleaned up and reseeded. Put hay over the grass seeds so the birds don't eat it before it takes root.

Pull up the carpet and get a steam cleaner and do every surface. good luck

I think all your ideas are great. With all those animals, you might just want to rip out all the carpet because you don't know what lies underneath, especially if the dogs had had any 'accidents'. Clean out the air ducts because of all the fur and feathers. Make sure to wipe down your walls. It might also help to hire an exterminator to see if there are any pests around, indoors and outdoors. Check for ticks, termites, bedbugs, etc. With so many animals, you just want to make sure that all pests are cleaned out before you bring your little girls to your new home. Good luck!

Hi J.,
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L.

Use a mixture of Lemon juice, white vineger, liquid dish soap, and water for the floors and walls. The carpet you can shampoo with Oxy clean and vinegar added to the shampoo.

Good luck,
Nanc

Hi,
It sounds like you are going to have a lot to do. I'm sure it will all be worth it, what an exciting time. However, I would seriously consider replacing the carpet, I don't think all the cleaning and scrubbing in the world would get it entirly clean. You also might want to, because of the harmful chemicals associated with almost all carpet cleaning products. It's so hard to know for sure what could be harmful and unsafe for our children. I would recommend doing some research to find out what cleaning products are safe. There are also alot of naturally made cleaning products you may want to consider. Good luck.

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Hi J., Sounds like you have a good plan for a BIG job. The bleach and water is good and I would add a disinfectant to all surfaces. The poop in the backyard should serve as a fertilizer but I would turn the soil before planting. I do not know of any diseases related to chicken poop but you may want to look it up. I know that bird droppings are bad for the lungs. Best wishes in your new home! Grandma Mary

Look into melaluca Not sure of the spelling. Great cleaners with your health and wellbeing in mind. The prices seem steep but with the amount you use and the cleanness you get its worth it.

I would turn the soil in the yard definitely. Also, it may be expensive for you but I would never keep any carpet like that. germs fester in carpets and anything that has animals like all of those running around should be chucked. I am a mother of two, grandmother of two. Health is extremely important and carpets are a hazard. Do what is best for everyone in your family - chuck the carpet.
M. M

Hi J.-
I would call the department of Health as ask a specialist what they would recommend. You can probably call an agency that deals with animals and ask them as well. Your pediatrician will also be able to give you some advice. You need to be careful with bird poop. The bird poop breaks down to ammonia and can be lethal without proper ventilation.
Good Luck
K.

Hi J.,

I would pull up the rugs. The rugs sound disgusting. There may be beautiful hardwood floors under them!!!! Much easier to clean! Even if they aren't in perfect shape you can use area rugs until you can have them refinished.

Sarah

Forget about germs (though I totally agree it sounds really, really icky!), but if anyone in your family has any allergies at all (or your girls have the chance of developing them), then I think you have longer-lasting concerns than the germs.

With that in mind, I would definitely rip up all the carpeting and padding. Get it out before you move in. After that, I would bite the bullet and pay a professional cleaning service to come in. In fact, I would have put that in the contract for the sellers to pay for--I would suspect it is too late for that. And I agree about dismantling and cleaning the light fixtures, and all the other things you would probably not think of.

As for outside, I would talk to some lawn professionals. You can have them come in for quotes just to get some ideas of what you and your husband can do.

Good luck! Big job, but so exciting to get into your first house. :)

Bleach should definitely work, but I would also get an air purifier and put it on high for a full day before you move in.

On a side note, you should look into sewing for a living! Check out etsy.com - it's a website that sells only handmade items. You shouldn't have to be in a job you hate, especially since you seem to have a talent in something that many people wish they had, but do not.

Hi J.,

With all that you mention above, you may want to consider hiring a maid service and tell them everything you just wrote. They will know exactly how to clean your home and will do a great job. The downside is that it will cost you some money. However, keep in mind that if you and your family are the ones cleaning up feces and other animal residue, disease is lurking. Just think of the rest of the mess you aren't seeing.

Good luck with your new home, I wish you all the best!

Hi J.,
Wow! That is a lot of animals. Congratulations on your new home :o) I'd use bleach and water on all appropriate surfaces (especially the bathrooms and kitchen) and that should be good enough. As for the carpets, if possible, I'd replace them. If there are hard wood floors underneath, you could use area rugs if replacing isn't an option at this time. There seems to have been a lot of animals running around that house and you don't know how often they've had accidents on the carpet. Even if the carpets were cleaned, they could be moldy/germy. Another option is to have a professional cleaning crew come in. Explain the situation to them and have them sanitize the place. Congrats again, and best of luck in your new home.

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All I have to offer is pull out the carpets. We moved ia place that had a dog, it smelled fine, a few spots. 6 months later we pulled up the carpeting to find mold! the floor section had to be replaced It was disgusting to think that all that time we had been living with moldy carpet padding and under that, moldy hardwood.

I have some experience with this because my brother's house needed extensive cleaning before being put up for sale (8 large dogs, 14 cats, 3 birds, and several bunnies and reptiles). The house reeked and was filthy.

First we pulled up all the carpeting and padding which was disgusting. That got rid of most of the smell in the house. Because he was selling we had the floors sanded and refinished.

We washed the walls, floors, and all the cabinets (inside and out) with lestoil and warm water. We did a second washing of all the walls and floors with bleach water. Make sure you take down and wash all the lighting fixtures because there will be a ton of fur and junk on and inside them.

As for the yard, well it was a disaster too. We had someone come in and rototill the entire yard. We raked it out and planted some grass.

It was a lot of work but in the end 99% of the pet smell was gone and the house sold at a good price.

With that many animals,you should definitely rip out the carpets and padding, and take a good look at the floors underneath. If they let the chicken run around and poop in the house who knows what the dogs and cats did! Carpet padding harbors and provides a great breeding ground for bacteria to grow because it doesn't get any air to dry it out completely and quickly. A friend of mine bought a house that was carpeted throughout and had to pull out the carpets, pads, AND subflooring because the previous owners' cat never used a litter box and urine soaked all the way down, destroying the subflooring. Yes, a single cat left to its own devices destroyed all the flooring in the house, except bathroom and kitchen.

As far as the yard goes, chicken poop is great fertilizer!

Hi J.,
Congratulation on your new home!!
Get a good steam cleaner and some Oxi clean. Add water to the oxi clean and make it into a thick paste. put in on what ever your trying to clean and let it sit a for a few (even longer for tougher stains) minutes. That should help take out a lot o muscle work. Sounds like you'll need it for the rest of the house.
My doctor recommended an air freshner that's better that lysol. I just got it this weekend so I'll have to get back to you with the name. But it kills mold all virus even HIV... I know hard to believe. I've been going to my doctor for years and she so good. She's one of those doctor who would never promote something if she herself didn't believe.
GOOD LUCK...feel free to email me if I forget to get the info to you