Have you ever wondered why food seems so tasteless when you are not well? The spiciest dishes start to taste too bland. A common observation is drawn in all these cases. You surely had a blocked or runny nose. Every sense organ of ours is connected to each other. Senses play a major role in determining how efficiently you are going to perform a task.
But, to determine how your mood is going to be in a particular situation, your nose plays a vital role. A pleasantly smelling room would reinvigorate your body whereas a foul-smelling room would be enough noxious to drive you out. We are always into cleaning our house so that it is enough hygienic to make us feel comfortable every time. But quite a different change is observed when you have a little buddy jumping all around wagging its tail. Your dog makes up your entire day by its cute antics but the dog smell surely gives you a headache. Dog smell is something that cannot be avoided. It is a part of their natural mechanism. Dogs usually have more fondness towards carpets and couches as they feel they are sitting on soft grass. Thus, couches remain the main targets of dog smell.
You cannot drive your little pup out but you can surely alleviate this smell with simple steps. But before you pull up your gloves, a little understanding of why dog smell is present is very important.
Dog owners usually remain in doubt as to why their dogs smell even when they do not sweat. We find it quite irritating as we have always been accustomed to freshly bathed and scented humans, but incase if dogs, they sweat through their paws. This is the major reason for dog odor. Thus, when your dog jumps over couches, it leaves the sweat print which causes it to smell. Along with this, Dog hair is also a reason for smelly couches. Also, your dog urinating over the couch becomes the most obvious reason for the smell.
So, gear up now as we begin our journey into the smell- free couches.
- Vacuum cleaning is the easiest way you can get rid of the dog smell. Vacuum cleaning cleans all the dog fur that causes the couches to smell. Vacuum cleaning is beneficial even if you don’t have removable cushions. This is because vacuum can clean all the deep crevices of your sofa and can easily clean out all the edges and the spring net. Vacuum cleaning can be done daily as it is much easier and thus also acts as a hindering step to avoid dog smell.
- Couches usually have cushions that come with covers wrapped over them. These covers can be easily removed and washed. These cushions always come with washing tags as to how they should be washed. COUCHES SHOULD NOT BE BLEACHED in order to remove dog odor out of them. This is because bleaches have strong quantities of ammonia which is quite similar to dog urine. Thus, when you wash the cover with an ammonia specific bleach, dogs would now be more likely to urinate over the couch. Thus, bleaching should be avoided.
- Cushion and sofa cover should always be washed with cold water. Hot water causes the smell and stains to absorb into the cover and permanently destroy the natural odor of the material. Thus, hot water should be avoided. Along with this, it’s better to wash these covers with hands rather than in the washing machine so that any sort of hair and dirt can be removed more efficiently.
- Fabric sprays are also a method to remove dog odor when in hurry. Incase of a sudden guest arrival, these sprays surely help in hiding your stinky couch. But this works only incase your dog odor isn’t that strong. Incase of strong smells, enzyme cleaners are quite efficient to be used. These contain chemicals which can easily neutralize the urine smell and disinfect your couch.
Thus, these are all the chemical methods that you can use. But it’s not always possible for us to wash our covers on a daily basis. Plus, the sprays and enzyme cleaners can be quite expensive. They also hamper our health as the strong chemicals affect our and our dog’s body. Hence, it is much better that we switch over to home remedies. Using items available at your home is a much healthier way to sort out this problem.
1. Apple Cider Vinegar:
Apple Cider Vinegar has excellent stain and smell removing properties. It also neutralizes the pH of your sofa, making it more hygienic to sit on. It can be used in two ways.
A) A 1:5 mixture of apple cider vinegar and water should be prepared and added in a spray bottle. Spray this mixture over your couch every day and you would observe magic. There would be no smell and the stains would start to fade away. After this, run a brush over the couch. This is because the spray mixture would cause dampness and thus running a brush would pull out all the dead strands of hair out of the couch.
Thus, this is the most effective way to get rid of dog odor.
B) Simple washing sometimes does not give the desired results. Hence, pour a spoonful of apple cider vinegar over the stains and let it settle down for some time. after 25 minutes, wash the cover with detergent.
And the magic is done.
2. Baking soda:
Baking Soda is another natural ingredient that can easily remove smell out of your couch. Make a paste of baking soda, apply it nicely over your cushion cover and leave it overnight. Baking soda due to its basic nature neutralizes all the sweat and dirt that causes the smell.
All this is quite simple but don’t you think it would be much problematic plus gross to look out for urine stains and then apply neutralizers over them. So, why not use our scientist brains over this. Recall what we had all read about body fluids. Body fluids glow when exposed to black light. And our problem is solved. You will observe that urine and sweat stains would start to glow pale yellow once you switch off all the lights in your room. You have thus found the specific spots that can be cleaned. Afterall, science is more about using in practical than writing theories.
Even though all the methods stated above are pocket friendly and hygienic, this still becomes a cumbersome task to do all the cleaning. So, it’s much better that we become precautionary.
- Cover your couches with cellophane before you put a cover over them. Cellophane unlike the sofa covers does not absorb any fluids or dirt, thus it becomes much easier for us to clean.
- Bathe your dogs at least once every three days so that proper hygiene is maintained. Proper scrubbing of your dogs also pulls out the dead strands of hair on their body which in turn reduces the amount of dog hair on the sofa.
- Clean your dogs’ paws whenever it comes from outside. This reduces the chances of dust to accumulate over your sofa. Along with this, train your dog properly as to where it should urinate.
- Even though proper cleaning on a daily basis is not possible, there is a method that we can adopt. Mix 1/3’rd cup of vodka with water and spray it over your couch once in two days. Vodka would never let smell settle down and would always give a fresh look to the couch. Quite ironic to what it causes to humans though!
- Steam cleaning can also be preferred but this is advised only incase you know that your dog has a strong odor.
Thus, we have listed down all the methods that can be used. In the end, we just need to understand that it is not just about the couch and the smell, it is about the health of our family and our little dog. A smelly couch surely is a hub for a lot of infections. Your dog is completely dependent upon you. Thus, it becomes our responsibility to take care of our dog. We need to ensure that the odor does not become much prevalent and cause discomfort to your dog and everybody around. Thus, concluding by saying
“for the lil bub giving endless love,
Making your home like heavens above,
Proper care is what it needs,
Like tender hands protected in glove.”
Love your dog endlessly for you need to give back what comes to you.
Source:
https://www.hunker.com/13420683/how-to-remove-dog-smell-from-a-couch