How To Clean Baby Pee From Carpet

How To Clean Up When Your Child Has An Accident On The Floor

Potty training is one of those parenting phases that means a lot of stress, a lot of mess, before success.

Out of all the crazy stages of parenting, very few come close to breaking parents' spirits like potty training. Is there anything worse, honestly? Whose idea was it to leave that very important stage of development in the hands of already frazzled parents? There really ought to be some sort of camp or school we can send them off to and collect fully trained. Potty Training Camp! Why isn't this a thing? Sure, diapers are annoying, but they're not nearly as annoying as stopping in every single bathroom in the mall or a quick trip to the market taking two hours because you had to stop and use the travel potty nine times. And they don't even hold a candle to the joy of cleaning up pee off your carpet rug or couch.

If you're potty training, you will 100% have to clean up pee at some point. So keep this trick handy to keep that smell from permeating your carpets, rugs, and couches forever.

Step 1: Blot up the liquid with paper towels or an old dishtowel.

Here's the thing: even if you have hard wood or tile floors, your kids will somehow, someway, manage to have an accident on the one place you have a rug or your only upholstered furniture. So it's a good idea to keep a stack of old dish towels handy. Place it over the wet spot and apply pressure to get it all absorbed. Then wash your hands. Wash them again! Time for the second step.

Step 2: Apply a different kind of liquid.

Mix equal parts white vinegar and warm water in a spray bottle, the spray the area. Get it nice and soaked, and let the mixture sit for a few hours. This is a great time for a glass of wine. But just one, you don't want to forget where the pee spot is.

Credit: iStock / romrodinka

Step 3: Prepare the paste!

Mix baking soda and water to form a nice, thick paste. Surely you have some baking soda, unless your kids have used it all to make slime (entirely possible!). Once you have your paste, schlop it down on the pee spot and spread it around. You have to wait for it to dry, so another glass of wine seems like a good idea here.

Step 4: Vacuum up the dried paste!

Once the baking soda paste has completely dried (it will look like a hard shell), just vacuum it up. And voila! That pee smell comes right up with it. Pro-tip: this also works for pet stains.

You can't avoid the potty training accidents, but you can definitely do something about the aftermath. Once they're full potty trained, you don't need that pee stain as a reminder of those dark days.

READ NEXT: There Is Basically No Science Behind Potty Training Experts' Advice

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