You love your pet, but you're not the biggest fan of the odors and stains it has left on your carpets. If those stains and odors aren't handled correctly, they'll only continue to get worse, and then you will likely have to replace the carpets instead of trying to clean them. Rather than letting them get any worse, there are few techniques that you can try to get rid of smells and stains.

The Soda Treatment

If your pet had an accident on the carpet, you may have noticed that soap and water doesn't always do the trick, especially if the urine or droppings were soaking into the carpet for a few hours while you weren't home. In that case, you can use the soda treatment. You will need:

• An 8 oz spray bottle
• 4 oz club soda
• 3 oz baking soda
• 10 drops orange essential oil

Add these ingredients into the spray bottle, shake it around with the lid on for about 20 seconds, and then start spraying it directly on the stain. Leave the spray to sit on the stain for at least 10 minutes before scrubbing at the carpet with a scrub brush. Repeat the process with the spray as needed, especially if the stain is large. While the club soda and baking soda help to lift the stain, the orange essential oil adds a nice scent to the carpet so that it no longer smells bad.

Vinegar Shampoo Cleanser

If you have a carpet steam cleaner, you can use a homemade shampoo recipe to lift stains right up, leaving your carpets soft and smelling good. Here's what you need to make it:

• ½ cup white vinegar
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• ½ cup baking soda
• 2 tablespoons fabric softener

Grab a plastic bowl and add each of these ingredients into it, mixing them together for 30 seconds. In the slot where you would normally add your store-bought carpet shampoo, you just need to pour this mixture into it instead. After adding in the mixture, pour in enough hot water to reach the line on your carpet cleaner as directed. Once you start using the steam cleaner, you'll notice a huge improvement based on how much dirt this homemade shampoo can remove.

When you have pets, it's not always easy to keep your carpets clean. You can use the soda treatment and homemade shampoo cleanser to restore your carpets so that they'll smell and look good again. If you're still having trouble with the carpets after using both options, you may want to contact professional carpet cleaners like Valley Citruso Carpet Care Inc.