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How to Clean Cat Urine
Trying to clean stains and the smell from cats urinating on carpets is tricky business. But removing carpets, padding and floor boards is not an easy or practical thing to do for many.
Here are a few tips to try removing the urine smells and cleaning the carpet.
Warning: Any treatment to carpets could discolor or damage the carpet. Always test in a small, unnoticeable corner first.
First: Try finding all the spots in the carpet where the cat urine is, you may be surprised at how many there are. You can do this by using a black lightbulb in a lamp or by purchasing a handheld black light. The urine will glow in the dark with your black light on.
How to Clean Cat Urine Smells & Stains
Method #1
1 16-oz. bottle Hydrogen Peroxide
1 TBS Baking Soda
1 tsp dish detergent (liquid)
- Mix ingredients into an old plastic container and stir well with a plastic or wooden spoon (do not use metal utensils or metal dishes).
- Once powder is dissolved, pour liquid into a plastic squirt bottle and squirt on urine spot, completely saturate the stain and surrounding area. Do not scrub or touch the spot, leave the cleaner to set and air dry for at least one hour.
- After it’s completely dry, vacuum the spot–there may be baking soda residue. You can wipe with a clean rag if needed.
Method #2
- Clean spot thoroughly with soap and carpet cleaner. Then saturate the stain with hydrogen peroxide and allow to dry naturally.
Method #3
- Scrub and clean the urine stain as best you can then spray and saturate spot with Listerine (original) or malt vinegar to kill the smell. Do this 2 or 3 times a day for a few days until there is no more smell.
Method #4
- Try commercial cleaners such as Spot Shot, Nature’s Miracle
Remove Cat Urine From Washable Items
- If a cat urinates on your clothes, blankets or something washable, simply load the washing machine with the items and pour in a large bottle of malt vinegar. This helps kill the urine smell so the cats won’t smell it and urinate on the item again.
If a cat keeps returning to a spot to urinate, it’s because she still smells the urine from before. This will trigger her to urinate on that spot again. You must remove the smell before she’ll stop.
If the above tips don’t stop the behavior, try pouring a box of baking soda over the area and leave it sit there for 30 days (!). You could also try setting a bowl of vinegar right beside the spot, this may deter your cat and break the behavior.
Please Note: Cats urinating in the home could be a sign of a medical problem (such as kidney or bladder infections). Check with your vet.
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Warning! Never use clorine bleach to clean up urine since urine turns to vinegar when it ages. Mixing vinegar and chlorine releases deadly chlorine gas – it may kill you.
Sorry, the urine turns to ammonia, not vinegar, and it is the ammonia mixed with chlorine bleach that can kill you. The nitty-gritty details of the chemical reaction aren’t important, but the end result is a release of chlorine gas. Chlorine gas is so dangerous, it was used as a chemical warfare agent in World War I.
Well, we are prepping our floorboards for laminate flooring. We moved in here and aparently they had a cat that urinated all along the edge of one room all the time–so much cat pee. We are replacing the edges of the floor boards but unsure of how to ‘ensure’ that we’ll remove the smell entirely. Please help!
We were thinking of using KILZ on both sides of the new floor boards???
Michelle totally replacing the floor boards is a good move, but was there cat pee along the walls and on the floor too, I’m thinking there must be? You’re going to have to really wash those areas too, especially before laying down the new laminate. I’d go at least a foot up the wall. There’s a spray you can buy to saturate the floor before laying down new flooring, check with the hardware stores–they’ll know what it is I’m sure. If you don’t do that you’ll still have problems with smell, even with the new floor boards and laminate.
20 Mule Team Borax is the ONLY item I have ever found to truly take care of cat urine smell, old or new. After 8 cats, it’s ALL I will use. Inexpensive, found at most grocery stores in the laundry booster section; just mix with water, no particular recipe. I have used it on carpeting, clothing, and other items without damage. For urine-soaked wood, try soaking the wood, then fully drying. Repeat, if necessary.
Clean up any residue with a vacuum because Borax ‘dust’ can be an irritant.
I am thankful for all these great tips. We have had the carpets professional steam cleaned, vinegar solution, and odour destroyer, and nothing. The house still smells of cat pee. Our tenant had seven cats and they sprayed everywhere. The black light and cat urine killer cocktails are greatly appreciated and we are going to try them out tomorrow.
After my cat soaked a corner in my living room, My whole house STUNK to my dismay. I mixed NABC, {a industrial strength bathroom cleaner, some Febreze in to some very hot water and litterally soaked the area. After letting it sit for 15 minutes, I ‘pulled it up’ with a wet/dry shot vac. Did it a few times more, and VOILA! no more smell. Happy days again.
Every time I rinse and vac the carpet in living room I get a horrible ammonia smell any Idea’s
My cat had an accident on my new couch. I used the clear scope mouthwash directly on it and the smell has disappeared completely.
Thanks so much for all the great ideas! I brought in a stray (that I absolutely love!) who thought my new sofa was a good place to urinate. I’ll definitely be trying out these suggestions right away!
Help! I’ve cats galore from the neighborhood, and they all seem to take my front veranda as a short cut. But now they spray on my front screen and glass doors. How can I stop them coming near the house?
I also had a problem with neighborhood cats hanging around the front and sliding glass door. At least once a week, sometimes more, I spray the bottom part of both doors with the a mixture of vinegar and water (more vinegar than water) and have not had a problem since. Make sure you do not rinse the spray, just let it dry.
My cat seems to have peed on the toe of my boyfriends winter boots. I believe they’re leather, with thinsulate on the inside. I’ve tried spraying with “Get the Order Out’ which is usually a great urine-removing product. Didn’t work. I’ve tired wiping down with a vinegar/water/laundry soap solution, also no luck. It’s a tricky situation because I don’t want to damage his boots. Any suggestions?? I’ll take any and all ideas!
Thanks!
How do I remove old dried on cat urine from a glass window?
Some tips are on this page Judith: How To Clean Cat Spray: Recipes & Tips.
One of my cats has urinated in one of my potted floor plants. This plant is huge and cannot be placed in a sink (or the bathtub for that matter) to flush the urine out of it. It’s too cold out side (-15F) to take it outside and repot and I CANNNOT GO ALL WINTER WITH THIS SMELL!!! Is there anything I can use to eliminate this odor and keep the plant from dying with out actually repotting it?