Dog Urine, Muddy Tracks, Dog Hair + Dander: Canvas Rugs to the Rescue!
Dog urine in rugs is one of those smells that can be impossible to remove; Many of my clients purchase canvas rugs because they have dogs. Their issues cover a host of mishaps:
- Untrained or not house broken (dog urine!)
- Long nails (floor scratches)
- Long-hair (shedding)
- Dirty paws (muddy, wet, sandy tracks)
When a dog urinates on a fiber rug it is very difficult to remove the smell. Even if the “aroma” cannot be detected after cleaning, the dog will likely return again and again to the same spot saturating the spot with dog urine. With a canvas rug, or canvas floor cloth, a disinfectant can be used to clean up the piddle and there are no fibers to hold the smell. This makes it much easier to train the dog not to pee in the house again. In addition, a canvas rug doesn’t stain, making shampooing rugs obsolete…yeah!
A canvas rug is easy to keep clean; simply sweep and mop. As is true with urine smell, dog hairs won’t accumulate into canvas rugs because there are no fibers to trap thus frequent vacuuming is not necessary. One client, Christine, stated it perfectly:
“My dogs have always slept at the foot of the bed. It was a bother in that I had to clean the [traditional] runner rug several times a week, first shaking then washing. With Laurel’s rug we have added beauty and ease to the room. My dogs couldn’t be happier. I sweep and mop the rug once a week and I couldn’t be happier. Whenever less house work is an option I’ll take it!” Christine Johnson, Costa Rica
Paw and Foot Traffic: Keeping Things Simple
We have many clients who live on farms or at the beach. Dogs who are allowed to come and go, in and out of the house, (along with their people), inevitably tracking dirt and mud and sand into the house – this type of traffic can be a constant chore and hard on rugs. We have a six month rainy season here in Costa Rica so mud is an issue we deal with every day; the other six months we have to deal with the dust! Either way, and no matter where you live, when you are able to simply sweep and mop the rug right at the same time as cleaning floors, life gets much simpler.
For those who live at the beach it’s nice to have a mat at an entrance without having to constantly shake out sand. Even heavier jute rugs and woven mats filter sand and need to be swept underneath on a regular basis. A lightweight, decorative canvas area rug, secured to prevent movement, makes cleaning….too easy!
I usually focus my writing about the design aspect of custom canvas rugs, but there are many additional positive aspects to implementing canvas rugs in your home. Anything that saves money with special cleaning agents and saves time by not having to scrub dog urine from a rug is a definite plus! Peruse our design gallery or visit our sister site, Canvas Rugs Costa RIca, for custom design information. An investment well worth it…for you and your pets.