How to Clean Dog Urine Stains on Wood Floors

Dog urine causes stains and odors due to the ammonia in the urine. The ammonia can cause wood flooring to become bleached or discolored and the odor can linger if you don't completely remove the urine. Prompt removal of dog urine on your hardwood floor is always the best way to prevent severe stains and odors, but you can successfully remove even older dog urine stains on your hardwood floor. Supplies from home and the store are all you need to tackle dog urine stains and return your hardwood flooring to its pre-stained condition.

Things You'll Need

  • Paper towels
  • Baking soda
  • Vacuum
  • Wood floor cleaner
  • Bucket
  • Cleaning cloths
  • Hydrogen peroxide
  • Plastic wrap
  • White vinegar
  • Sandpaper
  • Wood floor stain touch-up
  • Paintbrush
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Instructions

  1. Fresh Urine Stains

    • 1

      Lay paper towels over the fresh urine stain on your hardwood floors. Change to fresh paper towels as the previous towels soak up the urine.

    • 2

      Sprinkle a generous amount of baking soda over the dog urine stain on your hardwood floor. Allow the baking soda to sit on your floor overnight so it can absorb the urine and odor.

    • 3

      Remove the baking soda from your hardwood floor with a vacuum.

    • 4
      Many products are available specifically for cleaning wood floors.

      Wash the site of the dog urine stain on your hardwood floor with a wood floor cleaner. Mix it in a bucket, according to directions, and wipe the floor with a clean cloth that's wet with the wood cleaning solution.

    Old Urine Stains

    • 5

      Saturate the site of the old dog urine stain on your hardwood floor with straight hydrogen peroxide.

    • 6

      Soak a clean cloth with hydrogen peroxide, then lay the cloth over the old dog urine stain, on top of the hydrogen peroxide. Cover the cloth and peroxide with a piece of plastic wrap to create a poultice. Allow the poultice to sit on the old dog urine stain overnight.

    • 7
      Old white towels are great for stain removal.

      Lift the poultice materials from the site of the old dog urine stain on your hardwood floor. Dampen a clean cloth with a solution of 1 part water and 1 part white vinegar. Wipe the floor thoroughly, then dry it with a clean towel.

    • 8
      Sandpaper removes stains from the wood's surface with abrasives.

      Sand the wood floor area that was stained with dog urine, if needed. Sand with the grain of the wood to remove any remaining discoloration created by the urine stain.

    • 9
      Wood grain is the lines that go in one direction on the wood's surface.

      Apply a wood floor stain touch-up to your wood floor. Before this step, bring samples of the stain colors home to find the closest match to your wood floor stain. Brush the wood stain touch-up on your wood floor with a paintbrush, staying with the grain of the wood.