The Best Ways to Get Rid of Pet Urine Odors

Sometimes even the best behaved pet can have an accident, or two, or three, in many a hidden or forbidden spot in your house. Though you may clean up the mess promptly, that acrid smell may linger long after the deed is done, especially if the urine soaks into the padding of your carpet or furniture. There are several remedies to attack this stinky menace, both commercial and homemade. It may take one or all of the following steps to get your house odor-free. Persistence is key.

  1. Locate the Source

    • For fresh spots, clean the mess as quickly as possible, before it has a chance to set into the fibers. Soak all the moisture up in an absorbent towel, as many as are needed until the spot is dry. For those stains and spots that you didn't catch but are causing a problem, you can use a UV light or black light to pinpoint the source of trouble so that you can take the next step to deodorize.

    Deodorize

    • Commercial stain remover or deodorizers are created with enzymes to neutralize pet urine by breaking down the odor-causing molecules. Beyond that you can create your own homemade odor-fighting solution using simple household products like soap, baking soda, vinegar or mouthwash. Use baking soda and water to make a paste you apply to the stain, and apply vinegar over it. Blot and allow to dry. Repeat once if necessary. For additional treatment you may also use vinegar or mouthwash and a 3-to-1 solution with water to spray onto the stain. The smell of vinegar or mouthwash will linger for a couple of days, but after that all odor should be gone. You may also use hydrogen peroxide. Test a small section of your carpet or upholstery before doing a large area to check for colorfastness.

    Spot-Clean

    • For stubborn problems you may want to invest in a small, spot-cleaning steamer for your home. These can address any persistent spots in your carpet a little deeper than you could manually. Invest in the professional pet odor solutions that are typically available for most machines. Some pet owners even include some of the enzyme stain removers with the cleaning solution, but check with your manufacturer before mixing solutions.

    Deep Clean

    • Larger jobs require larger equipment. If the problem has been ongoing with several spots of concern causing the odor, you will need to use a large steam cleaner for a really deep clean. Pet urine soaks down into the fiber and beyond into the padding, so a steam cleaner that works with an enzyme cleaning solution created specifically for pet odor is designed to tackle the problem. You may do this yourself with your own unit or a rental unit, or opt to call a professional steam cleaning company.