Stomach flu: Anyone have any brilliant ideas for getting liquid BM out of carpet?

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Oedgar23 Asked July 2023

Stomach flu: Anyone have any brilliant ideas for getting liquid BM out of carpet?

Life continues to be “interesting” here. Last week, the night before I was due to take my mother to see the surgeon in the “big city” my husband came down with a terrible stomach flu. It knocked a healthy 50-year-old to his knees for about three days. I stayed away from him, careful handwashing, he had his own bathroom, etc. I took mother to the appointment the next day without incident. The surgeon is satisfied so far that her hardware is still in place.

I have remained well. My husband has not been around my mother at all. I was with mother, I believe it was July 1, to take her shopping for several hours. She came down with the stomach bug in the wee hours of July 2.

The next day, when she told me this on the phone, she sounded well and as if she was getting along OK. She said she was making chicken and dumplings. She was holding food and fluids down. Yesterday she also sounded fine on the phone, said she was sleeping a lot. I’ve twice gone by and dropped off a sprite at her doorstep. There’s no hope in getting her to drink water. She will refuse. She had an accidental bm on the hallway carpet, which from the looks of it has not been cleaned yet. Again she’s getting around OK and is ambulatory, etc. She only complains of being tired and sleeping a lot.

Today, when I stop by, I put on a mask and gloves to go grab her trash from her kitchen and put her bone building medicine in her fridge. Her house smelled so bad from the trash, probably from the chicken wrapper from two days ago. She said she could not smell it. I’m still trying to keep my distance from her because my son is home from college, but going back in a couple of days. He needs to stay well to attend his classes.

Thursday I have a doctors appointment in her city. I'll stop by there and plan to do a thorough cleaning washer, dishes, etc. Does anyone have any brilliant ideas for getting liquid BM out of carpet? I mean obviously we have the spray on carpet cleaner. I’m reluctant to rent a steamer machine because then that will contaminate the machine. Life just continues to be not fun. I am way overdue for my own medical care. I was due for lab work early in the new year and a visit to the liver specialist. I’m trying to get caught up on that stuff.

Family Caregiver Hygiene Incontinence

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score 1 · Answer 1

We own 2 carpet cleaners. One is an upright and one pretty much just does small spots and furniture.

I clean the carpet with dog leavings with a concentrated solution mixed a little stronger than reccommended. Then rinse, rinse, rinse.

After the cleaning I BLEACH the carpet cleaners well and leave them in a sunny place to dry out. Any filters are removed and replaced.

If the carpet just cannot come clean--think about putting down linoleum.

I was absolutely shocked at the stuff that came out of my mom's apartment carpet. we thought we were on top of it--but holy cow--it was black as night and stunk to high heaven. It had been down for 25 years, tho, and I think that is far too long.

I do know some people who routinely have their carpets professionally cleaned. The pros have stuff to use that us 'normals' don't have access to.

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score 1 · Answer 2

Keep in mind your no 1 priority must be your own health. You will not be able to help any one if you are not well. So go get those labs and whatever you are putting off. Its your well being that affects everyone else and its what needs to be your priority.

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I’m happy to report that labs have been done, liver specialist appt booked soonest available (October). My labs look stable. Too bad my PVCs have reappeared, and PCP wants me to get some meds and therapy for my anxiety. But hey at least I never got the stomach flu! 😁

(0)

score 3 · Answer 3

Baking soda, dawn and a scrub brush. Baking soda will neutralize the odor and Dawn out Gain will fight the stain. I also use a little bit of scented crystals melted down in water in my shampooer for added deodorant.

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score 4 · Answer 4

Sprinkle a bunch of baking soda ( sodium bicarbonate or baking soda aka Arm & Hammer) over the liquid or sludge until you see it absorbing the fluid and simply keep adding as it sinks down into the carpet. The baking powder is absorbing all fluid and the air is already drying out the fluid while the baking soda is neutralizing and sanitizing the fluid. By the next day, this will all be so dry that you can rub it or crack it off with an old credit card or with a big comb and vacume it. All the sludge will have separated from the carpet fibers and become one with the baking powder . You might not see much but at this point, then you can take your oldest worn out washcloth or cut a 12 in square from an old towel and use it as a rag soaked with straight up vinegar. Ball it up and smoosh it down and into the carpet fibers . The vinegar will also sanitize and neutralize the dried fluid sludge remnants which are benign organic minerals by now anyway. After this scrubbing, you sprinkle more baking soda and saturate the powder so it soaks all the fluid again and the next day it will be dry. Then you brush it off and vacume and no one will ever notice the accident . If stain remains, you can try laundry detergent and repeat the process but let the detergent soak a few hours before adding baking soda . The risk is that the liquid soaks into any wood flooring or carpet padding and creates mold. But the vinegar and baking soda is very potent and the carpet layers will dry out anyway .

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score 3 · Answer 5

I have plenty of experience with this, and not just because of the dogs. I've found the best way is to use absorbent pads. Puppy pads as they are commonly called. Unlike a carpet steam cleaner, they are also good at picking up any solids. Using puppy pads also doesn't spread it around like a steam cleaner would. The key is to dab, not wipe. Clean off as much of the solids as you can. Then apply a rinsing agent. I use vinegar. It's antimicrobial and cuts down on the smell. I soak the area with vinegar and then dab away with puppy pads until it's dry. Then repeat until the dabs come up clear. Now at this point the carpet can still be stained somewhat. I wait for it to dry then I give it a good soak with hydrogen peroxide. I then use a puppy pad to soak up some of it but you need to leave it pretty wet so that it can do it's work. It's also antimicrobial and a bleaching agent. Unlike chlorine bleach, it's pretty safe at the concentrations you get for home use. People rinse their mouths with it. It breaks down without residue into water. After it's had a few hours, any stain should be gone. If anything, that area will now look cleaner than the rest of the carpet.

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score 2 · Answer 6

So sorry that you are going through this. I agree with using a wet/dry vacuum. You can sanitize the vacuum after all the cleaning is finished.

Good luck in getting the stains out.

Or you could hire a professional cleaning service when your mom is up to it.

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score 0 · Answer 7

How much more can you take of this?

Mom needs to be in a care facility so you can take care of yourself, husband and son. You need lab work, for Pete’s sake. A liver problem is nothing to neglect.

How much sacrifice must you make? How will it help anyone if you die before they do?

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Totally agree Fawnby. Why the hell is mom incapable of throwing out her garbage or cleaning her house? OP is just enabling her mother's hoarding and filthy living that mom has been doing for a long time.

(1)

score 4 · Answer 8

Using a spot-bot (I think that's the name--it's a small carpet spot cleaner esp made for these kind of accidents--pets, primarily, but would work for people too.)

My YD had a dog that NEVER was housebroken. She would put the spot bot on the stains and leave it there for a while. She used Rocco & Ritchie's Miracle cleaner--and it did a pretty good job.

After cleaning and rinsing the machine with supoer hot water, she'd run a weak bleach water through the machine.

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score 2 · Answer 9

Soak the stains with an antibacterial cleanser (maybe something like nature's miracle stain remover) and suck it all up with an inexpensive wet/dry shop vac.

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score 1 · Answer 10

I’d buy a hand held carpet cleaner if you can (like the kind for dog accidents) and use that though cleaning it will be gross.

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Stomach flu: Anyone have any brilliant ideas for getting liquid BM out of carpet?

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