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Home Remedies That Might Help With Pet Urine Stains

Pet urine stains can be notoriously hared to clean up. Whether or not a home remedy is effective for your particular situation may also depend a great deal on the type of surface that needs cleaning. For instance, some home remedies might work better on tile and cork floors than carpet or upholstery.  And some remedies, for instance using soap and water on a wool carpet, might make the problem even worse and even bleach out or warp the flooring.

 

One remedy for cleaning wood floors is to use ammonia, but with oil soap. This probably will actually make the smell wore if you use it on a carpet. Ammonia may increase the strength of smell and maybe even attract your pet to urinate in the same spot again.

 

The solution is to take one part Murphy’s oil soap with one part ammonia and apply the mixture on a sponge to the floor to try and get rid of the odor. This works best on wood floors and not on anything that is fabric or that is very absorbent like a cork floor.

 

A home remedy that has been used for years on pet-urine soaked carpets is baby powder. It is a very absorbent powder because it contains cornstarch. The idea is that the liquid is soaked up by the powder and leaves a baby-powder scent behind. However, the smell of baby powder mixed with urine is not that pleasant, especially if the urine is already degrading into the smell of ammonia.  You might be better off simply using corn starch on the problem. You will also need baby powder and paper towels.

 

Although using baby powder is inexpensive it does contain fine particles of silica that a pet can inhale into its lungs. Baby powder is also not an anti-bacterial agent and in fact could give bacteria a place to grow see keep an eye on the situation if you use it to correct pet odors.

 

Baking soda is another home remedy that is for people who do not want to use any kind of harsh cleaner, bleach or soap on the problem. You will need baking soda, water, a scrubbing brush, paper towels and a vacuum cleaner. You simply clean up the mess the est. you can with paper towels and the sprinkle baking soda over the remain stain in an inward motion. Repeat this process again and again until all moisture seems absorbed and the vacuum up the remaining particles with the vacuum cleaner.

 

Just like the baking powder remedy this may not be that effective and bacteria may grow over time. With both methods be sure not to scrub the urine and the odor deeper and deeper into the carpet!

 

Strategies for Cleaning Different Surfaces

Here are some recommendations for cleaning up different types of spills on different services.

 

Carpet – Soak up as much of the stain as you can with paper towels. Do not press on the spill too hard with the towels or the spill could seep into the underpadding of the carpet. You can also try using powder or flakes sprinkled on the carpet to absorb the spill. Vacuum this up and if necessary try to use a mild enzymatic cleaner on the area and then let the carpet air-dry.

 

Concrete – Unfortunately concrete does absorb odors, especially from pets. To prevent damage to the floor clean it up as soon as possible. Then ay paper towels soaked in an enzymatic cleaner on the concrete and leave it there for an hour or two to absorb any odors.

 

Cork floors are very absorbent but will remain in good shape if you can clean up the spill fast. Use an enzymatic cleaner to help lift a bacteria out of the cork layers. Citrus cleaners and Windex can also work well on a cork floor. Never use bleach as it will eventually degrade the floor or stain it.

 

Stone floors are usually uneven and filled with holes or seams that can harbour bacteria or mold that produces smells. Saturate the area with cleaner and mop up any exces. Do not use bleach or peroxide on these floors.

 

Tile floors usually clean up quite well with any type of cleaner. If it is a dark stain use a cleaner with a bit of bleach in it. Be aware that some enzymatic cleaners can yellow tile or floors.

 

Cleaning a wood floor is the most difficult. If the floor is heavily varnished it is sometimes just as easy to clean a wood floor as it is a tile floor. However if the floor is is old with a lot of cracks and seams or a parquet floor then the spills and stains can reach deep beneath the floorboards and cause odors to prevail.  The result will be a lingering mold or ammonia smell combined with rotting wood.

 

Upholster or fabric really does tend to retain stains and smells from spills or pet accidents.  The trick is to blot up as much of the spill as possible as soon as you can. Enzymatic cleaners work best for combatting this type of problem as well. No matter what kind of cleaner you are using on fabric upholstery be sure to do a test patch first or the colors of your fabric may run.