New home; old odor

We’ve been in our new rental home for three weeks, yet we’re still trying to catch our breath. One of the biggest lingering challenges is the lingering (and strong) odor of pet urine in the family room carpet, and less strong odor upstairs. And, we just discovered when temperatures rise above 75 degrees, our little laundry room reeks of urine. A neighbor told us the people who lived here before us had several dogs. She said the dogs were usually kept in the laundry room, which explains the odor, as well as scratched up floor. I don’t think there’s a carpeted spot in this house that the dogs did not mark.

I noticed the carpet smell when we came to look at the house before signing the lease. I emailed the property management company. Their response: the carpets have been professionally cleaned. Because we were in a rush to move (we received 10 days’ notice – that’s another story) and we’d been approved for his house right away, I decided to tackle the odor problem myself, rather than risk losing the house and not being able to find another rental home before our 10 days was up.

First, I looked up solutions on Pinterest. I found one that had been recommended by a number of cat owners, involving a mixture of hydrogen peroxide, dishwashing detergent, and baking soda. The idea is to saturate a carpet with the mixture, let it sit for hours (or overnight), then vacuum.

The mixture worked well in the hall closet. My sister added lavender essential oil to add a fresh scent. The mixture obliterated the urine smell in the hall closet. The other trouble spots? Not so much. I tried a second application, with no success.

It’s time to go online for other suggestions.