Sometimes the Simple Solutions are great solutions!
Written: Dec 22 '03
Product Rating:
Pros: It cleans pet stains and odor and does not discolor your carpeting in the process.
Cons: If used in a carpet shampooer, it causes excess foam to form in the reservoir.
The Bottom Line: This stain and odor remover works as advertised without discoloring carpeting -- something that is very rare! I absolutely recommend this product!
In August, my wife and I purchased a brand-new home. We went through the whole ordeal of having white carpets in our last home, and we chose this time to not go that route, as we have a dog, and our dog drags in dirt – especially in the winter. We own a carpet shampooer, and have found that this carpet shampooer works wonders on the normal “wear and tear” that the dog causes on our carpets.
Every so often, we babysit for our dog’s brother, TJ. TJ is a wonderful dog, very well-behaved, but it seems that whenever he comes over to our home, he gets an upset stomach and he throws up on our carpeting.
It had been about six months or so ago since we last babysat him. In our old place, we managed to keep TJ in a separate area when we weren’t home that wasn’t carpeted. Unfortunately, our new home has wall-to-wall carpeting in every room except the bathrooms and kitchen, and our current kitchen design wasn’t conducive to blocking off access to the rest of the house from the dog.
Unfortunately, my wife and I had to help a friend move the first day that TJ was over. When we came home, there was a huge, yellow pile of barf in the middle of the living room. I blotted the carpet as best I could, and already realized that this stain wasn’t coming out – it was pure stomach acid – very thin, very yellow, and it was obvious that it had already set into the carpeting. However, I crossed my fingers, got the carpet shampooer out, and attempted to clean the stain.
Most of it came out, and it looked okay that evening. I woke up the next morning, and you could smell the odor of stomach acid in the living room. I looked and, right there in the middle of the carpet, was the yellow stain! I was mortified, told my wife what was going on, and we were both rather dismayed that our four-month-old carpeting was ruined.
My wife suggested that we head over to PetSmart to pick up some pet stain remover. I told her that I’ve had a lot of experience with the stuff over the years (through various dogs in my life) and that they simply don’t perform as advertised. She suggested we give it a try anyway, citing that it was cheaper to try this route rather than to go out and replace the carpeting in the lower level of the house.
We got to PetSmart and looked over the variety of cleaners that swore up and down that they’d remove odor and stains – no matter the age of the stain. I had used most of them in the past (Nature’s Miracle was the last loser that I tried), but without any luck. Either they wouldn’t get out the stains, or, if they had, they got out the odor to human noses – but not dog noses. I’d find that the dogs would go and soil the spots where the stains appeared clean and smelled clean to humans. I would then have to go back, clean up the new stain, try and kill the smell with ammonia, throw some Oxy Clean over it, etc., trying to do whatever I could to overpower the smell in the carpeting.
But we stumbled upon the Bramton Simple Solutions Pet Stain and Odor Remover and looked it over. It was sold in a variety of bottles, and we opted for the concentrated liquid that could be run through a carpet shampooer. The bottle cost roughly $8.00, and the bottle could make a half-gallon of cleaner from the entire bottle. A non-concentrated bottle was $4.99 and was the same size, but didn’t create anywhere near a half-gallon of cleaner.
We also chose the cleaner because it claimed to clean up red wine stains from carpeting (we are wine consumers and we throw our fair share of gatherings with friends) and it also claimed to be safe on all carpets, including the newer synthetic carpets.
The directions indicate that you need to reduce the cleaner in a 3:1 solution of water (meaning that for every one ounce of cleaner, you want three ounces of water). You are supposed to use warm water to activate the cleaner, but not hot water and not cold water.
I followed the instructions, put the diluted solution in our carpet shampooer, and ran it over the stain. In a matter of moments, I couldn’t even find the stain anymore. I sucked up the solution in the shampooer, asked my wife to come and try to find the stain, and she couldn’t, despite brushing the carpeting in various directions. In about an hour, the carpet was totally dry, and still, no evidence of the stain existed.
The dogs have run over this spot probably a hundred times and haven’t even shown an interest in it, indicating to us that the odor is truly gone. This means that there is no future, purposeful staining that will occur from the dogs.
The area of carpet where the dog threw up sees very hot, morning sun that would immediately bring out any defects in the carpeting. There is no discoloration, no evidence of the stain, and no residual odor. If anything, the carpeting in the area that we cleaned smells fresh.
About the only warning that I would give on this product is, when run through a carpet shampooer, the product produces excess foam and can cause your shampooer to think that the reservoir is full when it isn’t. However, this is a very minor inconvenience when compared to the incredible results.
Finally, we have found a pet stain and odor remover that performs as advertised!
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