Earlier this year, my husband and I put in brand new high-pile (kind of shag-style) carpet in our study. Last night, our Shepherd (who sleeps in there) threw up 8-9 times in the room, and of course, we didn't discover it until this morning, when it has already dried. I have been trying to clean it up all morning with Oxyclean (cold water, haven't tried hot yet because I didn't want to risk ruining the new carpet) without much success - I've gotten 2 of the lightest spots up. Does anyone have any tricks of the trade to get old, dried vomit out of carpet? Thanks!
UPDATE: Actually, this is not green or yellow bile, which I have handled before. It is chunky brown dinner-remains (yuck, TMI). I picked up all of the solids, but the thick food-remains have coated the carpet strands, which are shag-rug-like and thus very long. This is a type of vomit I do not know how to clean at all, as the stuff cannot be absorbed. Thanks.
A pet enzyme cleaner should work. I use nature's miracle to clean up cat hairballs and vomit and it works great. You may want to test it in a small area first to make sure it it won't harm the carpet. I have used it on many surfaces with no problems. Otherwise I would say a carpet cleaner like resolve spot cleaner might work.
Our dog has had issues with bilous vomiting over the years where we've come home to bright green/yellow stains of bile on the carpet.
Spot shot works really well - if you have new carpet that was already pretreated with ScotchGuard, you should be in good shape.
If not, what we've found works best (with 2 pets and 2 kids, we have lots of stains) is:
clean as you are, then take a clean (white preferably) towel, fold it several times to get many layers (or use multiple towels) to absorb the liquid in the carpet.
Put a heavy object on top such as a trunk, heavy box, etc.
Keep the object there for ~24 hours and avoid the temptation to peek to see if it's working.
The weight of the object will act like a wick and will pull both the liquid and the stain out of the carpet.
We've used it MANY, MANY, MANY times, and we're yet to have a stain we can't get out this way.
Good luck!
my mother uses solumel (melaluca product) on cat vomit regularly and swears by it!
This mixture seems to work on EVERYTHING! Mix together 12 oz hydrogen peroxide, 1/2 teaspoon dish soap (dawn is great), and 1 and 1/2 teaspoons baking soda. Of course, i recommend doing a test spot although I've NEVER had an issue with bleeding or fading of the carpet color. Completely soak the area and start dabbing away. This stuff even gets out really old stains. I hope this helps!!!
wow green carpet and upholstry! the greatest stuff. have to order it through an individual - try wowgreen.net
Oxyclean is a miracle cleaner! I buy the tub of powder and mix it up at home. It's dirt cheap that way and will clean anything! We have 2 dogs and 3 cats, so someone is coughing up something on a regular basis. It works on anything organic, which includes everything that comes out of an animal or human. Spray it on and let it set a minute, then clean up with a towel. Magic! If you're spraying pee, you literally have to watch it , or the spot will disappear and you'll have to feel to find it. Just keep at it.
I used this stuff all over after our cat got locked in a back bedroom over night and (understandably) peed everywhere:
http://www.amazon.com/Unique-Odor-Stain-Remover-Qt/dp/B00...
