Although You Will Find A Cleaner For Pet Messes In A Local Pet Store Affordable And Safe Cleaners Include The Following:
NOTE:;Baking soda and hydrogen peroxide may lighten or discolor your wood floor. You may need to stain and refinish your wood floor after use.
Safety is essential while dealing with strong cleaners. Use gloves and, if possible, a gas mask. Do not riskusing them around pets and children. Keep paper towels nearby as well.
How To Remove Pet Stains From Hardwood Floors
Unless your dog or cat is housetrained, having them inside means you risk the possibility of walking into a puddle of urine. Nobody wants to see -or clean- pet urine or urine stains off their gleaming hardwood floors. You dont want to smell the urine, either. But, how do you get rid of urine stain and odor?
How to remove pet stains from hardwood floors?
You can remove pet stains and odor from your floor and or another surface using cleaning solutions and methods such as hydrogen peroxide, baking soda, enzyme-based cleaners, and even blotting paper. Avoid vinegar and bleach as these may cause damage.
Hardwood floors are porous and contain many small holes that can hold moisture, making them easy to stain. The substances recommended below help to remove moisture from those spots and so clean the mess. Lets take a closer look at what to use, and perhaps more importantly, what not to use to remove pet stains and odor.
Cleaning Cat Pee From Hard Floors And Surfaces
If your cat pees on a hard floor or wall, you have two options. First, soak up the urine with a paper towel or cloth. Then you can either spray the area with an enzyme-based cleaner and wipe it up or use regular dish soap and lots of water Both Lund and Marrinan quoted the idiom the solution to pollution is dilution to sum up how important it is to wash away the pee as much as possible.
This means cleaning the location multiple times, letting it dry thoroughly between washings, and keeping your cat away from the location until all traces of the smell are gone.;
Vinegar may also assist with neutralizing cat pee smell on hard surfaces. Vinegar is an acid that neutralizes the alkaline salts that form in dried urine stains. Mix a solution of one part water and one part vinegar and apply it to walls and hard floors. You can even mix in a little bit of baking soda to boost the solutions ability to eliminate odor.
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Health Issues Can Cause Inappropriate Urination
The first thing you need to do is rule out a medical problem, says Dr. Bruce Kornreich, DVM, PhD, DACVIM, and associate director of the Cornell Feline Health Center.;
Medical issues related to;inappropriate urination;can include urinary tract infections, kidney disease, diabetes, hyperthyroidism, and feline lower urinary tract disease. These can cause a cat to urinate outside the litter box, particularly if they associate the litter box with pain.
If you believe your cat is suffering from any of these conditions, or is exhibiting additional symptoms, bring them to your veterinarian immediately. Untreated conditions such as urinary tract infections can become serious.
Invest On Commercial Products
Use commercial products found in pet stores to get rid of the smell. It is best to research what product is best depending on the type of wood and the severity of the damage. Look for products that contain enzymes because they break down the urine and neutralize the odor. Make sure you follow the instructions. You may also need to test the product on a hidden part of the furniture to see how it reacts to the wood and the finish.
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How To Remove Cat Urine Odor From Wood Floorboards
- Written by Carrie Beasley on Oct 19, 2010To ensure our content is always up-to-date with current information, best practices, and professional advice, articles are routinely reviewed by industry experts with years of hands-on experience.Reviewed by
If you have both a cat and wood floors, you might eventually need to know how to remove cat urine odor from the floorboards. The floor may seem clean, but urine can seep between the boards or beneath cracks in the sealant if their are any. This will allow odors to reappear later due to moisture or other causes. Additionally, cats will often pee in the same spot repeatedly if their scent is still left behind, making the problem worse in the future. Fresh messes will be easier to clean up completely than set-in stains, and whether or not the urine has been able to seep in under the sealant will determine how hard the odors are to remove. However, the steps feature below will give you a general guide for solving this pungent problem.
Step 1 – Clean it Up
Wipe the area where the urine is puddled with a damp sponge until all traces of it are gone. This is the most important step when dealing with a fresh mess since the odor will be stronger and harder to remove the longer urine is left on the wood flooring. If you are dealing with a preexisting stain, skip this step and begin with step two.
Step 2 – Do a Vinegar Wash
Step 3 – Rinse
Step 4 – Use an Enzyme Cleaner
Step 5 – Sand the Sealer if the Odor Remains
Behavioral Issues Could Be The Cause
Once youve ruled out any illness, determine if theres a behavioral reason why your cat isnt going in their usual spot.;
You need to be a detective and take the time to figure out;why;the cats behavior has changed, says Sandra DeFeo, executive director of the;Humane Society of New York.
According to DeFeo, not using the litter box is one of the most common reasons cats are relinquished to animal shelters. Fortunately, if you can pinpoint the reason behind your cats outside-the-litter-box behavior, you can often deter your cat from staining your carpet or bed linens.
If there is not a medical problem and the problem truly is behavioral, early intervention is key, Dr. George says.;Behavioral issues can sometimes be resolved by adding additional litter boxes around the home, scooping frequently to remove waste, or by moving a litter box from one space in the home to another.
As a general rule, you should keep as many litter boxes as you have cats in the house, plus one.;So, if you have two cats, you should have three litter boxes.
You can also try removing the cover of your cats litter box or changing the type of litter you use to encourage your cat to use his or her box.
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Natural Products To Remove Cat Urine
- Enzymatic cleaner. Enzyme-based cleaners are great for eliminating odor. Best for carpeted surfaces and fabrics, the natural enzymes work by breaking down uric acid in your cats urine, while also removing its bacteria.
- Vinegar. Neutralize the odor quickly with vinegar. Vinegar uses its acidity to negate alkaline salts in urine to help neutralize the cat pee smell.
- Baking soda. This natural odor neutralizer is easy and likely already in your kitchen cabinet. Apply to the stain to fight the cat urine odor.
Effective Ways To Get Rid Of Cat Urine On A Hardwood Floor
Overall, hardwood floors are fairly durable and easy to maintain, but cat urine is a still a formidable opponent for any surface. Whether yours are the popular oak or maple floors or you have a pricier wood like teak or black walnut, youll need to use some care to get the stubborn cat pee smell and stain out without damaging the floor.
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Dog Urine Soaked Into Hardwood Floors: What To Do Now
Furry friends are an exciting part of our families, and they keep us active and improve our social lives. Its no secret that people love their dogs, cats, and other pets. Pet parents are, of course, willing to excuse any pet messes accidents happen! You will want to remove pet stains quickly but, more importantly, properly to prevent pet stains.
Pet owners who have hardwood flooring in their house are faced with cleaning pet mess or waste, like dog urine. Its no fun, but it comes with the territory, and we will show you some options for a cleaning solution out there on the market!
I love my dog, but not when I find his mess anywhere two days later!
Hardwood floors create beauty, warmth, and value in a house when given the proper care. Although theyre generally strong and durable, wooden floors are vulnerable if exposed to water, moisture, or harsh cleaning chemicals, such as dish soap.
In this article, Ill give you tips on how to clean dog pee from your hardwood floors with household items so you and your family can maintain a clean home without breaking the bank! Ill also review some branded cleaning solutions that I personally recommend if you want to invest in a good product.
Contents
How To Remove Pet Stains From Wood Floors
Pet-lovers understand that, at times, they may be faced with the question of how to remove pet stains. Pets are family members, but much like a child, they can also cause a mess. Whether you’re training a young puppy or caring for an aging dog or cat, accidents happen and you can suddenly find yourself with a stinky urine stain on your beautiful wood floor.
Along with a strong odor, pet mess can leave unsightly black marks that warrant a quick response. There are a few ways to tackle this cleaning job, but most important is cleaning as close to the time the event occurs as possible to prevent the mess from having more time to set. Before any treatment, start by blotting up excess urine still on the surface.
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How To Clean Dried Cat Urine From Carpet
Who doesnt love to stay at a clean home? Everyone wants to relax and feel comfortable at home, and anyone will feel disturbed to stay with a bad smell for sure. So, when you get an unpleasant smell at home, your very first responsibility is to clean it.
Now the question is where to start?
In the USA, 85 million people have a pet. And if you are a pet owner, you might have experienced odors in the carpet 1 or 2 or several times.
Cats are the most common pet in the USA. Cats dont frequently urinate, similar to other pets. Removing cat odors is difficult because their urine is so thick.
So, how to clean dried cat urine from carpet?
Well, lets learn several methods from below.
A Few More Tips For Getting Rid Of Cat Pee Smells And Stains
When you find a puddle or damp spot, take action immediatelyeven if you dont have a special enzymatic cleaner on hand. Soak up as much urine as possible with paper towels, then saturate the area with water and blot that up . This PetMD guide has some directions for using baking soda and vinegar for some types of cleanup. My experience with those is that they get rid of odor in the short runbut it reappears. Enzymatic cleaners can often remove odors permanently.
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Remove Cat Urine Smell By Using Baking Soda
Baking soda is an effective cleaning agent and a good deodorizer and a mild alkali. You can .
Procedure: First, wipe the affected wood floor area with a cloth or paper towels. Next, sprinkle the area with a generous amount of baking soda and let sit for a few minutes. A fine grade steel wool may be used to scrape the affected area then wipe with a dry rag or cloth.
If Your Cat Pees On The Rug Or Furniture
After youve blotted up as much cat urine from the carpet or furniture as you can, spray the stain with an enzyme-based cleaner. I am a big fan of enzymatic cleaners, Lund says.
Enzymes break down the uric acid in cat pee into carbon dioxide and ammonia, gases that easily evaporate. This process eliminates the smell, which is part of the organic molecule in the pee, Lund says. You can find enzyme cleaners at most pet stores. There are also green or non-toxic enzyme cleaners available, adds Marrinan.
Spray the urine stain thoroughly and let the cleaner sink into the carpet for 10-15 minutes, and blot up as much of the liquid as possible. Repeat this process if necessary. You will have to use enough enzymatic cleaner to thoroughly soak all areas that have been dampened by cat pee. Dont worry if the smell actually gets worse for a while. The enzymatic process is not complete until all materials are completely dry, says Dr. Jennifer Coates, DVM. This can take weeks under certain conditions. Do not use traditional cleaning solutions in conjunction with enzymatic cleaners, she says. Soaps and detergents can actually deactivate the very enzymes necessary to get rid of the smell of cat pee.
This same cleaning process can be used on furniture such as couches and mattresses.
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Cleaning Cat Pee: What Not To Do
Resist the temptation to go with cleaning products that contain ammonia, says Lund. Using an ammonia-based cleaner may encourage your cat to re-mark the area. Its also important to avoid using steam or heat when cleaning items marked with cat pee. Heat can set the stain, says Lund. This applies to the washer and dryerkeep your settings on cold and avoid machine drying your items if possible.
And while you might be tempted to try to teach your cat that she has made a mistake by scolding or disciplining her after she pees in the house, dont do it. Punishing is not going to work for a cat, Lund says. If you have an anxious cat, and you her, you are probably making the situation worse.;
Instead of scolding your cat, clean up the area thoroughly and get to work on making your cats litterbox as appealing as possible. Several clean, easy-to-access litter boxes will entice your cat to urinate in the proper spot. Place the boxes over the problem areas and gradually move them to where you eventually want them to be.
Natures Miracle New Formula Just For Cats Urine Destroyer
Natures Miracle Just for Cats Urine Destroyer is one of the most well-known cat urine clean up formulas on the market. You can use Natures Miracle Just for Cats on carpet, tile, linoleum and most importantly wood.
Natures Miracle Just for Cats can be used on any wood furniture as long as it has been treated with a sealant or varnish. The main ingredients found in Natures Miracle Just for Cats Urine Destroyer are water, enzymes, surfactants, alcohol and odor neutralizers and fragrances.
Whenever I need an enzymatic cleaner for cat urine Natures Miracle products are always my number one choice. They work just as well whether I have to clean hardwood furniture or floors. The enzymes also help break down any urine that gets deep into the crevices commonly found on wood furniture, so I can be sure all the urine is gone and the cat urine smell wont come back.
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Depending On The Severity Soak With Cleaner
Some people with severe cat pee problems reported success with soaking the area with the pet-odor cleaning solution for varying lengths of time, from several weeks to several months.
This can be done in the following way: soak the area with cleaner, with or without a soaked towel on top, and place plastic wrap on top of the soaked area or towel. This will inhibit the cleaner from evaporating too quickly. You will need to check the area every few days or so to add more cleaner if its all dried up.
Baking Soda And Vinegar
Vinegar, while a bit smelly itself, works to remove the lasting odor of sprayed cat urine because vinegar is an acid that neutralizes the alkaline salts that form in dried urine stains.
A solution of one part water and one part vinegar can be used to clean walls and floors. Proponents say that the vinegar smell subsides after a few days, taking the urine smell with it.
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What To Do If Your Cat Pees On Clothing And Linens
If your cat has urinated on a bedspread or linens that need to be dry-cleaned, get the linens to a professional cleaner as quickly as possible. The longer the pee stays on the material the harder it is to get rid of the smell.;
If the clothing, linen, or textile item can go in a washing machine, run it through a cold-water cycle immediately and hang it outside to dry, Lund says. If you still smell cat pee after the item dries, try running it through the washing machine again with a cup of baking soda and/or quarter of a cup of apple cider vinegar, and place it outside to dry. Drying the textiles outdoors will help the smell dissipate, says Marrinan.;