[Sariss]

I guess this is the best place to ask.

I have these old plush carpets in my apartment (very NOT modern). Anyway, I'm cleaning and I discovered a small pile of dried cat vomit on the carpet. I've managed to peel off most of the chunks, but some remain that I just can't get. I'm not worried about stains as the carpet is actually almost the same colour... I'm just wondering the best way to get the rest of this off.

I'm steam cleaning my carpets next weekend, would that help?

[kevans11]

This might sound strange but try using a baby wipe to get up as much of it as possible.

Next cover the spot completely with baking soda. It should be at least 1/4 inch thick over the cat vomit. Let it sit for several hours until the baking soda is hard.

Several hours later the baking soda should show spots where the vomit has been absorbed. Make sure the spot is hard or is still absorbing.

Now use a vacuum cleaner to clean up the baking soda

Then sprinkle the spot with baking soda again and then pour vinegar over the spot. Cover the area again with a thick layer of backing soda. Allow to sit until hardened and then vacuum. After all this your carpet should be clean. It works for me every time.

[Sariss]

That works well for dried vomit? Would it bleach the carpets at all?

[morgaine300]

My cats puke up hairballs and regurgitate food all the time. What I do is just soak a sponge and leave it reasonably wet, and plop that on the puke. I even smash it down with my foot to get it good and wet.

Later while still wet I lift that and some puke comes with it, and a lot of times the rest is wet enough to wipe up with the sponge. Otherwise I repeat this. You can also just use a wet paper towel if it's down to a small amount. This all works well enough for me cause it seems like once it's re-wetted, most of it comes up easily enough.

If there's a little bit left that dries, I can usually get it with one of the attachments on the vacuum cleaner that rubs across stuff - i.e. just the little round brush one and I also have a little horizontal one with plastic teeth on it. Usually that little round brush does it, but the point is having something that rubs back and forth on it and picks the rest up, as opposed to just running the vacuum over it.

Pretty much gets it all up that way. Doesn't remove stains though. I end up using a spot carpet cleaner on it. It doesn't really stain on most of my carpet, but it makes me feel like I've "cleaned" it rather than just wiping it up. (I also use carpet deodorizer on it afterwards.) But I do have one carpet that stains easily - think I'll need a steam cleaner for that. But the puke itself is up.

I don't know about the baking soda and vinegar deal. I might try that - you can always test it some place hidden just to see what it does. Since things are made of different materials and dyes are different, I would check on your own carpet. (Though it doesn't sound any easier than what I do.)