? about using ACV as a cleaning solution-please help

[phaethona]

I know a lot of you here use ACV, the organic kind with the "mother", so I figured this would be a good place for my question.

I adopted a cat and right after I got her home, she went into heat

I called the vet and they said that it's much easier on the cat if we wait till this heat spell passes to get her fixed.

So we've been trying to ride it out as best we can, and it's looking like we can get her in by next week at the latest.
In the meantime, she's decided to mark her territory on any towels or blankets laying on the ground(yes I know I could just keep everything off the floor, but between 3 kids and a husband who still believe there is a cleaning fairy, I just can't keep up)

regular laundry wash doesn't take the smell out. so I've looked around online and a lot of people are saying to try adding vinegar to the wash. I don't have any regular vinegar on hand at the moment, but I do have a gallon of ACV. I know it's much cheaper to use regular vinegar, but I'm home alone with my toddler and I have a broken tailbone and sprained ankle, so a trip to the store would be a hassle right now.

Should I try the ACV? have any of you done this? And have any of you had any success with getting cat urine smell out of laundry?

thanks!

 

[AllTheseCreatures]

The cider vinegar should work just fine. I say go for it! Hope things improve soon . . .

 

[phaethona]

Quote:
yeah, thats kinda what I thought, it should have the same basic components as the regular vinegar if not more. I'm trying it on a load of towels right now so we'll see.

I hope things improve soon too, this is all in great timing

between my broken butt

my cat making my house smell like the Catlady's house(we only have one cat), and we're hosting a big charitable event this weekend, I'm really behind on everything!!

If this works on the towels, I'm entertaining the idea of putting some ACV in my carpet steamer and doing the carpets. they need to be done before this weekend anyway, and I don't think she peed on the carpet anywhere(oh lord I hope not) but better safe than sorry? I just dont know if that will make my house smell vinegary

sheesh, at this point I need a miracle(and a maid)

to get everything done!

thanks for your reply!

 

[phaethona]

I'm bumping this to see if I can get another response or two...

 

[AllTheseCreatures]

Just me again. LOL The vinegar will work well on your carpets too. I use it all the time. I once had a professional carpet cleaner come out to my home to get up some diarrhea (yeah, gross) and he told me vinegar works wonders on biological stains in carpet. It also helps remove any residue from surfactant cleaning solutions that were previously used on your carpet. When the carpets are dry, you won't smell vinegar anymore. Rubbing alcohol works on urine odors too.

I have never put vinegar or alcohol in a cleaning machine though.

With a broken butt and all that work, you really need some extra hands!!

 

[phaethona]

Quote:

haha! sorry, it still cracks me up talking about my broken butt, my butt hurts, etc. the pain isn't any fun at all, but I figure if you can't laugh at yourself....

I took a trip to AK this year and before I left I had stanley steemer out because the dogs got into the trash and well, baaad things happen when they eat people food, I'll just say I wish I'd made them sleep outside that night. I normally do my carpets myself but my to-do list was way too long already.
Anyway, the guy said to only use water and pointed out that there was a lot of excess soap left behind from previous cleanings

So today or tomorrow I'm gonna try hot water and maybe about 1/4 cup vinegar(where did I put my copy of Haley's Hints) and see how that works.
ACV seems to have worked on the towels, definitely took the pungent pee smell out, still smells a little vinegary, but nothing a dryer sheet won't take care of.

I definitely need an extra hand or two or ten, I hate this time of year, the kids are so busy with schoolwork and what-not, I end up turning into June Cleaver.

And we're having about 30+ people over on saturday for a horseshoe tournament fundraiser for Alzheimer's Association, anytime there's something big to get ready for I go into stress-out mode, trying to get everything spotless.

Anyway, thanks for your input! I know cat pee isn't exactly the best conversation starter

 

[onecent]

Ill tell ya all what Ive done, i had decided to remove all my carpeting and put down linoleum on all my floors! works so much better! because i have animals , 2 indoor dogs and a bird, and a whole bunch of grand kids & nieces & nephews, and if you have any of those running around, there's always accidents! with linoleum down, its so much easier to keep clean & no smells! ill buy some throw rugs & put down, if they get bad , they can be tossed! i have also went with no cloth type sofas & chairs, also very easy to keep clean! you will also save $$ by not having to rent steam cleaners and carpets always have that "carpet smell" no matter what you do, I also have some friends who have rental properties, and they said it would save them $$ too, if they stopped replacing carpet every time someone moves in and just use linoleum or........... tile if funds permit.................. just my opinion