It’s one of the most invasive smells known to homeowners, and once it’s seeped into your home, it feels like it never really goes away. If you’re a pet owner, then you understand the importance of knowing how to get rid of cat pee smell.
Even when your cat is house trained and uses a litter box, the noxious smell may eventually creep into the other rooms of your household unless you take the proper cleaning precautions to eliminate odors.
Even with a poor sense of smell, you aren’t likely to mistake this odor. Cat pee gives off a strong scent, similar to pure ammonia, with some pet “accidents” smelling stronger than others. The reason for this comparison is because ammonia is a natural component of urine, which also means using ammonia to clean the mess will not resolve the problem.
- Helpful Tricks for Getting Rid of Cat Pee Odors in Your Home
- Use an Enzyme Cleaner to Clean Cat Urine in Carpet
- How to Get Rid of Cat Urine Smell Using Vinegar
- Sprinkle a Little Baking Soda as a Natural Deodorizer
- Hydrogen Peroxide For Getting Rid of Cat Urine Odor in Your House
- Use a Steam Cleaner to Sanitize Your Rug
- How to Get Rid of Cat Urine Smell Using a Wet Vac
- Use a Washing Machine for Pet-Stained Clothes
- What else can I do to regulate cat urine odor in my household?
- Why does cat urine smell so much worse than other pets’ urine?
Helpful Tricks for Getting Rid of Cat Pee Odors in Your Home
Most male cats are territorial and “marking” their territory is a natural impulse. So, you want to use a spray to keep cats from peeing in the spot over and over. These excellent DIY urine removal treatments will be just the thing you need when getting rid of cat urine odor in your house.
Simple soap and water just won’t work to eliminate the smell of cat urine. Among the best ways to get rid of cat smell, however, is to try an enzymatic cleaner like Nature’s Miracle.
These cleaners work naturally with enzymes to remove organic stains like pet urine. An enzyme cleaner appears in most pet products found in most pet stores, especially those specifically designed for pet stain removal.
Vinegar is the other go-to remedy to remove odor from carpet, clothing, and other surfaces and it is usually in the pantry of most households. Applying a vinegar mixture to the cat urine virtually guarantees that you can remove the stain and the smell with a minimum of fuss.
Use an Enzyme Cleaner to Clean Cat Urine in Carpet
Your first step to removing pet stains is to locate the problem area. If there aren’t any noticeable damp spots, or maybe you’ve only narrowed it down to one room, use an LED black light or U.V. light to find the sneaky stain. Once you’ve located the trouble spot, you’re free to use your cleaning solution.
Enzymatic cleaners are a safe, pet-friendly alternative to harsh cleaning products and work on almost any surface as a way to get rid of cat urine odor in the house as well as to remove cat poop smell in house areas. This is another reason why this should be the first weapon in your cat urine cleaning arsenal.
While you can buy enzymatic cleaners at the grocery store or a home improvement store like Lowes, it is easy to make your own DIY enzyme cleaner for cat urine, as well. Note that it does take a little time for the mixture to “cure” so making it before you need it may be helpful.
To clean cat pee from couch or sofa areas or in a carpet or rug, start by blotting the area with paper towels to absorb as much urine as possible left in the carpeting or fabric. Spray the enzymatic cleaner over the spot and let it sit for 30 minutes or longer depending on the severity of the smell and the size of the stain.
When time is up, soak up excess moisture left by the cleaner by using a clean, dry cloth. If the stain is on the carpet, vacuum it after drying. Otherwise, you can use the cleaning attachments on your vacuum for reaching sofa or recliner stains.
How to Get Rid of Cat Urine Smell Using Vinegar
Before attempting to clean a dried pee stain, always clean cat hair off a couch or other surface first. It makes tackling the stain easier without worrying about spreading fur around. Vinegar is a tried and true cleaning solution for most stains and foul odors.
Its ability to tackle pungent smells like cat urine makes it an excellent choice for a natural, non-toxic cleaner. When using this cleaning solution, either cider vinegar or white vinegar will work. Just choose whatever you have available in your pantry.
To make this simple DIY cat urine cleaner, mix the two ingredients in a spray bottle and soak up any urine before adding the vinegar spray. Saturate the area with the vinegar solution. For particularly strong smells, you may want to use pure vinegar instead of combining it with water.
After applying the vinegar, gently work it into the carpet or upholstery to get cat spray smell out. For hard surfaces like walls or tile floors, scrub the area. Rinse the area with cool water, then dry with a clean cloth.
While this solution is excellent for almost any surface of your home including mattresses, carpets, and tile floors, it is not recommended for hardwood floors since vinegar can peel off the protective finish.
Sprinkle a Little Baking Soda as a Natural Deodorizer
One of the best home remedies to get rid of cat urine smell is to use baking soda. This common household pantry resident is a natural deodorizer and easy to use on almost every surface of your home.
You can combine baking soda with another cleaner, like vinegar, and sprinkle it over the carpet during the cleaning or after you have soaked it up. You can also use baking soda on its own, without using any other cleaning solutions, to clean up pet urine smells.
Either option will effectively get rid of that cat pee smell in no time. To use baking soda, sprinkle it over the urine spot after soaking up as much excess cat urine as possible. Let it sit for several hours, typically overnight.
Afterward, vacuum up any remaining flakes. If you are unlucky enough to have experienced cat pee in your shoes, using baking soda should help deodorize them, as well. If the shoes can be washed, definitely take that step to get smell out of shoes.
If the shoes are not machine washable, add a hefty amount of baking soda to the shoe interior and let it sit overnight. Dump out the baking soda the next day.
Use a sprinkle or two of baking soda to eliminate cat spray smell outside if you know where the spot is. It will neutralize almost instantly.
Hydrogen Peroxide For Getting Rid of Cat Urine Odor in Your House
Hydrogen peroxide is another unbelievable cleaning solution often used in place of vinegar due to its effectiveness as a disinfectant. The only drawback to hydrogen peroxide is its propensity to discolor carpets and fabrics, even light-colored ones.
This shouldn’t stop you from using this cleaning solution on the subfloor of your home that nobody sees. This is an area that can also be affected by pet stains and need to be cleaned.
Mix the ingredients in a large jug or bucket. Pour the mixture directly onto the urine spot and scrub using a bristle brush or washcloth. Let the mixture sit overnight for best results, then rinse clean in the morning. You can still use hydrogen peroxide on your carpet, just make sure to test a small amount on a hidden area of your carpeting first to avoid a bleaching effect.
Use a Steam Cleaner to Sanitize Your Rug
Steam cleaners or another fantastic solution for getting rid of cat urine smell in your home. Steam cleaners are different from other carpet cleaners because they use high-temperatures to kill odor-causing bacteria.
The steam cleaner uses these heat levels to sanitize water and create steam that loosens dirt particles and other elements from the carpet. When using this cleaner to remove pet odor, pair it with an enzymatic cleaner.
You can purchase an enzymatic cleaner at your local pet stores, or you can create your own. When using this enzyme cleaner recipe, note that it will take some time before you can use it – three months to be exact. However, if these stains are frequent in your house, especially if you have older pets or potty training furbabies, a powerful enzyme cleaner is a necessity.
Start by adding the sugar and citrus peels into a large container with a cap. The citrus peels can be either lemon or orange peels or a combination of both. Add the water and shake up the contents of the container. Uncap the bottle halfway to prevent a build-up of gases while it sits for three months.
How to Get Rid of Cat Urine Smell Using a Wet Vac
One solution for getting rid of cat urine odor in your house is to use a wet vac. Wet vacs work in a similar way to regular vacuum cleaners but instead spray clean water mixed with cleaning solution and then soak up any dirty liquids into the vacuum.
When using a wet vac to clean up pet stains, make sure you have a phenomenal carpet cleaner for cat pee to go with it. The following recipe is easy to make and can be added to the cleaner compartment on your wet vac.
If you haven’t tried Castile soap yet, you’re in for a treat. Castile soap is made with natural ingredients such as olive oil and various vegetable oils. Combine the Castile soap with the boiling water in a large jar with a cap. Stir until they have formed a fully-blended mixture.
Adding to the awesomeness of this cleaning solution is the integration of essential oils. If rosemary isn’t your favorite scent, replace it with one you do love and add those essential oils along with the rubbing alcohol to the solution. Shake the mixture thoroughly before adding it to your wet vac.
Use a Washing Machine for Pet-Stained Clothes
If you are curious about how to get rid of cat pee smell on clothes, you have a few more options to work with than a carpet or large piece of furniture. Luckily, most of the cleaning products mentioned above will also work on your clothes.
One advantage is that you can throw your clothes into the washing machine for added cleaning. To get rid of urine smells on clothes, soak the garment in vinegar first.
You can also use an enzymatic cleaner on the clothing to remove cat urine smell from clothing, which has the added benefit of removing sweat stains and body oils from your clothing. Whatever option you choose, let it sit anywhere between 30 minutes to an hour before washing your clothes with powerful laundry detergent in the washing machine.
What else can I do to regulate cat urine odor in my household?
Beyond cleaning urine stains as they occur, there are other proactive ways of getting rid of cat urine odor in your house. One of the easiest solutions is to clean a dirty litter box regularly. If cleaning the cat litter doesn’t help with cat pee odor, look at changing the cat’s litter you are using or even your cat’s diet.
Sites like PetMD caution that an increased incidence of the pet’s urinating may indicate underlying health problems, such as urinary tract infections or arthritis in older cats. If you suspect a medical issue, schedule an appointment with your veterinarian.
Why does cat urine smell so much worse than other pets’ urine?
The truth is, it doesn’t. Cats are just a little bit smarter than other pets when it comes to marking their territory. That’s because they don’t want anybody cleaning away their scent, so they often spray in hidden areas around their litter box and around your home.
These areas include crevices and corners, closets, and patches of carpet under the bed. Since these pet accidents often go unnoticed, the urine begins a breakdown process that produces an odor similar to skunk spray.
If you are tired of the smell of cat urine, these cleaning solutions will give your nose a rest and save you the price tag of an expensive carpet cleaning fee. These DIY recipes and tips are perfect for any household and require no more than a little bit of patience and some elbow grease.
We hope these steps for eliminating cat urine odor have brought a fresh new, stress-free outlook on cleaning your home, along with a fresh new scent. If so, don’t forget to share how to get rid of cat pee smell from your home on Facebook and Pinterest.