No products in the cart.
As well-behaved as Fido or Fluffy are, accidents tend to happen. There are any number of reasons — ranging from medical issues to behavioral problems — why your beloved pet may have decided to eschew its good breeding in for of peeing all over your carpet or floors. If your pet is suddenly and consistently urinating in places it shouldn’t, you might want to take it to a vet or animal behaviorist in order to find out just why it’s behaving so abnormally.
Chances are, you might uncover a behavioral issue like stress, or a physical disorder like a urinary tract infection, which you would then have to take care of. Additionally, animals like cats can sometimes start spraying because it is mating season and they’re either trying to mark their territory (if they’re males) or attract tomcats (if they’re female).
Of course, all that comes after you’ve cleaned up the urine in the first place. Animal urine can have quite the stench if left unwashed for long. This is especially so if you own a cat, since the decomposition of their urine releases a compound called mercaptans.
Mercaptans are the stuff that makes skunk scent smell so darn terrible, so it’s to your benefit to clean up kitty’s pee before it has a chance to decompose. (Although, cat pee can often be hard to detect before it starts to decompose). Additionally, dogs and cats are more likely to pee again in the same place if they can still smell the odor from their last job.
This guide will show how to take care of stains and smell quickly and effectively. A lot of household staples actually hold the key to getting rid of these. Read on to find your best protection against pet urine.
One of the best products on the market to clean pet urine is Xion Lab’s Super Strength Enzyme Cleaner. For more information about Xion Lab’s Enzyme Cleaner please CLICK HERE.
But First
Before we get into what you’ll require, here’s what you’ll need to do immediately. Get some clean paper towels and blot up as much of the urine as possible. If you rub the stain, you’ll only be driving the urine further into the carpet or even the laminate, making things much worse. If it’s a large spot, use old rags or a cloth towel that you can later throw away.
How To Clean Urine Fast (Fresh And Stale) Using Natural Methods
- White vinegar
While vinegar has a rather distinct smell of its own, its efficacy against pee stains is not to be denied. Part of its ability stems from its acidic qualities. The decomposition of urine is often accompanied by the formation of alkaline salts which vinegar can then neutralize.
Additionally, it’s a miracle worker against odors. Sure, it’s not the most fragrant pantry staple itself, but within a few days of application, its smell will have floated away along with the stench of urine. You can start blotting the area with vinegar, and then make a mixture of one half vinegar and one half cold water, which you can then generously pour over the stain. Blot that, and then let it air dry.
You can speed up the drying part by using a fan, but don’t use a hair-dryer or steamer, since the heat can cause the stain to set.
Once the area is absolutely dry, vacuum it. Vacuuming removes the cat pee particles particularly effectively.
- Baking soda
Club soda is an excellent item to use in order to prep the soiled area and make it easier to wash off. No matter what kind of pet you own, you’ll be able to use baking soda to great effect. However, baking soda only really works when it’s fizzing, so once it stops effervescing, you’ll probably need to reapply it a few times.
Baking soda can be used to clean smaller stains all on its own, and it works well as a pre-treatment of sorts on larger stains. It also works better on fresh stains than dried ones, but then again, that’s true of virtually every treatment out there.
- Homemade concoctions: using hydrogen peroxide
Hydrogen peroxide is an excellent urine stain remover, thanks to its ability to quickly react with urine crystals and break them down, which naturally results in the stain being pulled out. It is best used in conjunction with baking soda. Here’s how it works:
Use a generous amount of baking soda on the stain and blot away until no more of the stain can be gotten out with paper towels or rags.
Then combine half to three quarters of a cup of three percent hydrogen peroxide with a teaspoon of dish detergent or eco-friendly dish liquid. Pour the resulting concoction over the baking soda covered stain, and use a scrub brush to gently start scrubbing the mixture.
If you’re cleaning a carpet, be careful not to scrub too hard, because as we mentioned before, that could result in the urine finding its way deeper into the fabric. Once you’re done scrubbing, let the entire thing sit for up to 15 minutes. Then vacuum the area to get out the dried mixture and urine particles. If a stain is particularly tough, you’ll want to repeat those steps.
A word of warning, however: Before you try this out on the fabric, test a small spot of it. Hydrogen peroxide has been known to bleach or discolor cloth (after all, it’s used to leach the color out of one’s hair before a dye job), and you definitely don’t want to ruin the entire couch or carpet in the process of removing a little stain. Once you’re sure there’s no discoloration, feel free to use the solution at ease.
- Homemade concoction: Citrus-enzyme cleaner
As you probably already know, enzymes break down organic compounds naturally on a molecular level. Because of this, many stain removal products will include enzymes that digest and break the stains down. If you have pets, you should always have a bottle of enzyme based cleaner at hand. However, you can also make your own product at home. Be warned, though, that this product can take three months to be ready for usage when made at home, so ensure you have other measures to turn to while this is forming.
To make a citrus-enzyme cleaner, you are going to need one and a half cups of orange and lemon peel, seven tablespoons of brown sugar, a liter of water, and a large container to hold the peels and liquid. Pour brown sugar into the container, and then add peels to it. Add water and screw the cap on tightly. Mix the content inside by shaking the container vigorously. Loosen the cap somewhat, and leave it half screwed in order to prevent a build-up of gases that could cause the bottle to explode. Let this sit for three months.
- Homemade concoction: joining the forces of vinegar and baking soda
We’ve already established that vinegar and baking soda are both excellent ways to treat pet urine stains. Vinegar removes stains quickly and effectively, while baking soda eliminates the smell, and so they do a fantastic job when partnered up. It is spectacularly easy to make a spray that combines the both of them, and the resulting efficacy is a marvel to behold. Simply combine two cups of lukewarm water with 2 cups of distilled white vinegar.
Add four tablespoons (heaped) of baking soda to this, but do so in small portions so as to avoid the concoction fizzing over. If you want, you can add it to a spray bottle, but it is recommended to simply put it in a container. Sprays don’t allow for generous amount of the mixture to quickly be applied to the stain. It’s much more effective to simply pour a large quantity over the urine instead.
Then proceed to thoroughly blot up as much of the urine as it is possible in order to get the major portion of it out. Let it sit for 5 to 10 minutes before blotting it up with a soft cloth and then vacuuming the area. Repeat these steps if the stain is a particularly stubborn one.
Or, you can also simply first heap the baking soda dry over the stain after blotting up urine with towels. Let the baking soda do its part to break down the urine, and to remove the smell. After five minutes, use the vinegar and water solution on the baking soda covered urine, and let the entire thing remain that way for around 10 to 15 minutes. Finish by vacuuming.
Another alternative approach you can apply to this technique is pouring the vinegar and water solution on to the baking soda directly after you heap it dry on the stain instead of having it wait for five minutes. This should create a fizz of a volcano that will quickly break up the stain.
One of the best products on the market to clean pet urine is Xion Lab’s Super Strength Enzyme Cleaner. For more information about Xion Lab’s Enzyme Cleaner please CLICK HERE.
How To Clean Urine Fast On Laminate
You’re going to have to change your technique depending on what sort of surface the cat or dog has peed on. Here’s what you’ll need to do if it pees on laminate. Laminate, luckily, allows for quick and efficient cleaning, and most non-abrasive cleaners, like the ones mentioned above, work wonders on fresh stains. You still have to clean the mess up quickly, however, in order to avoid it drying up.
Older and dried up stains can also be dealt with effectively, but it takes some more time and effort to do so. And of course, it’s not like you can always see your pet’s urine stains. You’re actually lucky when you catch your pet in the act of peeing, because urine tends to only really become obvious once it starts drying up and decomposing. In fact, you may remain unaware of some stains for a really long time!
Your cat may have become arthritic due to old age, and started peeing outside of his litter box, but you might remain unaware of this until you move the box and find the floor completely stained. Cleaning older stains also means getting rid of the pervasive smell of urine that causes your pet to pee in the same area over and over again.
Fortunately, this is simple enough, as long as the laminate hasn’t lost its protective coating or cracked. Use a damp cloth to wipe the area and remove surface stains and debris, and then dry this. Then heap on baking soda and, gently, use a toothbrush to rub it into the space between the plans. Be gentle, remember!
Harsh treatment will only serve to rub the protective coating off. Let the entire thing sit for five minutes so it soaks up the moisture.
Then add some white vinegar and wait for the foam to form. As the vinegar and baking soda react with each other, the urine stain will dissolve and leave the floor. The scent should also be neutralized, so that your pets will no longer continually return to the spot to urinate. Wipe the area dry, and then spray on some vinegar again so any baking soda that remains on the floor or cracks reacts with it.
Clean the area with a fresh damp cloth to remove all traces of the vinegar. Use a hairdryer to dry the floor completely, and sniff for any remaining urine. If the odor is not entirely gone, repeat the steps. Take care not to saturate the laminate at any point, however, as that will cause warping. You might have to refinish the laminate after the entire procedure, since the acidic properties of urine might damage its protective coating.
How To Clean Urine Fast Out Of Wool Rugs
As resilient as wool is to dirt, pet urine can damage its fibers and dyes due to its acidic qualities. The prompter your response to urine on wool, the better the chance you have of overturning damage.
First of all, put on a pair of rubber gloves. Then place paper towels or a cloth towel to blot out as much of the urine as possible. But don’t press the towel! That would simply cause the puddle beneath the wool rug to spread, which could be especially destructive if your rug has padding on the flip side. It’s better to use paper towels here, since you’ll have to keep replacing them, and as they saturate with moisture, replace them with fresh ones.
Then place thicker layers of paper towels around the urine stain’s perimeter from edge to edge. This will serve to prevent the puddle from spreading, while blotting the pee until the paper towels are unable to absorb any further moisture. After this, add cool water and a tablespoon of white vinegar (per cup of water). Use the solution to dampen the area and neutralize the urine.
Use a cloth towel to cover the spot’s center, and then blot the spot with more and more towels until the solution of vinegar and water has been completely absorbed. Then prop up the rug to dry, and speed up the process using a fan.
How To Prevent Your Pets From Peeing In The Wrong Places At All
Of course, it’s a lot more convenient to never have your pets pee in the wrong place at all. As the introduction to this article stated, your pet may be peeing outside of its designated space due to behavioral issues, or because it’s suffering from a medical condition. Alternatively, it could be mating season and they’re just trying to attract attention.
If it’s a behavioral problem, there are a few tips and tricks you can utilize in order to stop repeat performances. If your pet has formed an association with a particular area, take it away from there. So if your dog has made a rug its new favorite place to pee, take the rug away from that room. If your cat has started to soil an area of the house more often, keep its food there.
Cats are generally clean creatures, and they don’t like to eat where they urinate. In the same vein, clean out the cat’s litter box regularly. Cats can smell bad odors more sensitively than humans can, and yours might be avoiding its litter box due to this reason. Scoop out the box every day and change the litter often. Every week, clean the box using soapy water. If your cat has difficulty in accessing the litter box, keep it in a place it can get to more easily.
If your cat is in heat and spraying because of that, you can resolve the problem by having it neutered or spayed. Generally speaking, cats should be spayed at around six weeks of age.
A neutered cat won’t spray on any vertical surfaces, and also won’t be responsible for a new litter of kittens that you’ll be responsible for potty training. Additionally, cats release powerful hormones when they spray, and that simply adds to the odors. Get an appointment to have your cat neutered as quickly as possible.