Q. Hello, a 2 year old was going through toilet training and urinated in a spot on our main carpet in a high traffic area in our small living room on Shabbat. We didn't want people walking into it, so we were wondering what were our options.
If it wasn't Shabbat, the ideal would be to use a carpet cleaning spray, water, and then wipe it all up. I assumed this would pose multiple Shabbat issues with the cleaning and extracting absorbed liquid from the carpet. On the other hand, there is an idea of "geraf shel reei" where you can move what would otherwise be muktzeh if its disgusting.
I'm assuming that leniency would not allow us to be lenient with the melacha involved in cleaning the carpet in the ideal way, but I wanted to double check. Is there any way to permissible clean the carpet of the urine on Shabbat, or would our only choice to stop people from walking on it be to cover it up with something? thanks so much'
A. You are correct regarding not to use a carpet cleaning spray, water, and then wiping it all up as it involves a number of prohibitions.
Covering it up with a rag or wash cloth that is designed for that purpose is permitted. (Mishna Berura 302: 59) and that is what Horav Shlomo Miller Shlit'a advises. The Rov added that although one may not spray a deodorizing liquid directly on the carpet, one may do so on the air above, even when some of the spray will indirectly land on the carpet.
Rabbi A. Bartfeld as advised by Horav Shlomo Miller and Horav Aharon Miller Shlit'a
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