How to remove poop stains and smell from clothes and carpet

How to remove poop (feces) stains

1. 1

   Glove up and remove the solids

   Wear disposable gloves. Scrape or shake solids into the toilet. On carpet, lift them with a spoon or paper towels and put them in a plastic bag, then blot without rubbing.

   Why: Getting the bulk off without grinding it in leaves less to break down, and gloves limit contact with germs.

2. 2

   Rinse from the back with cold water

   Hold the fabric under a cold tap with the stain facing down, or soak and swish it in cold water.

   Why: Feces are a protein stain, and hot water coagulates protein between the fibers, setting both stain and smell.

3. 3

   Soak in an enzyme product

   Soak in cold water with an enzyme presoak or enzyme detergent. Several hours is normal for dried stains.

   Why: Enzymes break the proteins and some fats into pieces that rinse away, along with the compounds that smell.

4. 4

   Wash with a fabric-safe bleach

   Launder with chlorine bleach if safe for the fabric, or oxygen bleach. If the soiling came from illness, use detergent, hot water and the longest cycle the fabric can take.

   Why: Bleach removes leftover yellow-brown pigment and odor. The CDC's hot, long wash is for germs, once the protein has been rinsed out.

5. 5

   Dry: air for stains, high heat for illness

   For ordinary stains, air-dry and check before using heat. For laundry soiled during a stomach bug, the CDC advises machine-drying on the highest heat setting.

   Why: Heat sets any stain that's left, but high heat also helps inactivate germs such as norovirus.

6. 6

   Wash your hands

   Take off the gloves, bag them and wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water.

   Why: Feces can carry germs, even when no one feels sick.

Why poop stains and keeps smelling

Feces are undigested food broken down by gut bacteria, plus the bacteria themselves, shed gut-lining cells, fats and a bile pigment that gives the brown color. The organic matter binds to fibers, and the pigment can leave a yellow-brown mark after the solids are gone. The smell comes mainly from skatole and indole, which gut bacteria make from the amino acid tryptophan, plus sulfur compounds.

The Kentucky extension guide lists feces as a protein stain. That's why the rule is cold water first: heat coagulates the protein and traps the stain and smell in the fabric. Fragrance won't help, because the residue is still there. Enzymes digest it and bleach removes the leftover color.

When it's from a stomach bug

Diarrhea from norovirus and similar illnesses can spread germs, and the CDC notes norovirus can be in stool before symptoms start and for two weeks or more afterward. Handle soiled laundry without shaking it, wash it right away with detergent in hot water on the longest cycle, and machine-dry it on the highest heat.

The stain advice and the germ advice pull in different directions on temperature, so do both in order: cold-rinse heavy soil first so the hot wash doesn't set the stain, then wash hot. That sequence combines the two sets of guidance rather than coming from a single source. For hard floors, the CDC recommends wiping up with paper towels, then disinfecting with a bleach solution of 5 to 25 tablespoons of household bleach per gallon of water, left at least 5 minutes. That solution is for hard surfaces only, not fabric or carpet.

Poop (feces) on every surface

The method changes with the surface: fabrics can soak, carpets and mattresses can't. Pick yours for the full steps.

By situation

Baby clothes and diaper blowouts

Remove solids, rinse cold, soak in an enzyme presoak, then wash with oxygen bleach for colors or chlorine bleach for whites if the label allows. See poop on baby clothes.

Dried poop stains

Scrape off the crust, then give it a longer enzyme soak. A yellow-brown mark that's left may need an oxygen bleach soak.

It survived the wash or dryer

Soak again in an enzyme product and rewash with a bleach safe for the fabric. If it was machine-dried, repeated soaks may lighten it.

Dog or cat poop on carpet

Remove solids, blot any liquid, then soak the area with an enzymatic pet cleaner and let it air-dry. Pets that smell leftover scent tend to go in the same spot again. See poop on carpet.

Silk and wool

No enzymes or chlorine bleach. Rinse with cool water and take the item to a dry cleaner.

What not to do

• Don't start with hot water on the stain. It sets the protein. The CDC's hot wash is for sanitizing illness-soiled laundry after the solids and heavy soil are rinsed out.
• Don't shake soiled laundry. Shaking can spread germs through the air and onto other surfaces.
• Don't steam-clean pet accidents on carpet. Humane society guidance warns that heat sets the odor and stain into synthetic fibers.
• Don't mix chlorine bleach with ammonia or vinegar. The mixtures release toxic gases.

Other methods that work

Carpet detergent sequence

The Carpet and Rug Institute's order for feces on carpet is a dilute dish-detergent solution, a spot kit, a vinegar solution, a warm-water rinse, then an ammonia solution, and a professional if needed.

Caution: Rinse between steps, and never use ammonia with bleach.

Sunlight for white cotton

Drying white baby clothes in the sun is a traditional way to fade leftover stains. Weak evidence.

Caution: Whites only; sunlight fades colors.

Dish soap

Commonly used on baby clothes to help with the fatty part of the stain. Treat it as traditional, with weak evidence.

Caution: Rinse it out thoroughly before the enzyme soak.

Stain still there?

A yellow-brown mark remains after washing

That's bile pigment. Soak in oxygen bleach, or use chlorine bleach on colorfast whites, then wash again.

The item still smells after washing

Protein residue is still there. Soak again in an enzyme presoak and rewash, and air-dry until the smell is gone.

Safety

• Wear gloves and wash your hands thoroughly afterward.
• The CDC's bleach disinfecting solution is for hard surfaces only, not fabric or carpet. Ventilate while you use it.
• Never mix bleach with ammonia or acids.

Never mix cleaning products; see chemicals you must never combine.

Questions

Other protein stains

• Blood stains
• Cat urine stains
• Dog urine stains
• Milk stains
• Semen stains
• Sweat stains
• Urine stains
• Vomit stains