As long as your cat doesn’t have particular behavioural problems, cats are an excellent choice for a family pet since they need little care. However, cat urine smells and stains are an annoyance that no one likes to deal with, whether your cat is establishing their territory or simply had an accident!
In the event that cat pee seeps through the carpeting, padding, and eventually the subfloor, it may leave your house with an unpleasant odour. Most of the time, cat pee is the worst offender when it comes to pet stains and odours. If you have a cat, you need to know how to remove cat pee stains from your home.
Table of Contents
What Items You’ll Need To Remove Cat Urine Odour
To get started, you’ll need to assemble the following products:
- Rubber gloves (you can find those marigolds!)
- Kitchen roll or a towel
- A bowl or bucket
Liquids or detergents to remove cat urine and the odour as below:
- Hydrogen peroxide
- White vinegar
- Bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
Find Out Where The Cat Pee Actually Is
Now you need to find out where the actual source of the cat urine odour is. Have a good sniff around to find the source. Check the carpets, check the curtains, check sofas and upholstery. Check bedding, clothes and furniture.
Often times it can seem like the urine smell is coming from the carpet, but instead its emanating from a settee or from shoes.
It’s important that you find the source of the cat pee smell in order to deal with it at its root. Rather than just dealing with the symptoms of the cat pee smell.
If you’re having difficulty identifying the source of the urine odour is then use a UV light to locate it.
Don’t Delay In Tacking The Stain
It’s important you cat fast to tackle the cat urine and get rid of the odour as soon as you notice it. The longer you wait to deal with the stain the more time the urine has to seep further into the surface and dry. This is will make it exponentially harder to actually remove the stain and get rid of the smell.
Removing cat pee from your carpet might be one of the most difficult messes to remove because of the persistent odour and amber-coloured stains that it leaves behind. As mentioned, if you delay in dealing with this then it’s going to be really hard to fully eliminate the stain.
How To Get Rid Of Cat Pee Smell UK: 4 Effective Methods
We’ve covered the basics of cat pee and why cat pee can smell so bad. And we’ve gone over the importance of why it’s important you deal with cat pee stains without delay. Now let’s look at the four effective ways to get rid of cat that ponging cat pee smell.
1. How To Get Rid Of Cat Pee From Carpet Or Upholstery
If your cat has very recently urinated in the area and it’s still wet, then you can use sodium bicarbonate to remove the urine and smell.
Firstly, use kitchen roll or an old towel to blot the cat pee. Keep blotting the area until the excess urine has been absorbed by the kitchen towel.
Next, take some sodium bicarbonate and sprinkle it liberally over the area. Rub the sodium into the carpet and then leave it for 30 minutes.
After 30 minutes has passed, vacuum the affected area thoroughly. The cat pee should now be fully removed from the carpet and the smell should be gone too.
2. How To Remove Cat Urine Smell From Clothes And Bedding
If your cat has peed on your clothes or duvet covers then the best thing to do is to simply put the soiled items into the washing machine. It’s best to was the items at the highest setting you can, taking into account the care label on the garment.
Most detergents and washing powders are very effective at removing smells and stains, including cat urine. However, there are also detergents and stain removers created with pet urine stains in mind, so it could be a good idea to use that type of detergent.
Even if you decide not to use specialist pet urine remover, it’s recommended to add a quarter cup of white vinegar to the washing powder compartment in your machine.
Further, you should add around half a cup of sodium bicarbonate directly into the washing machine drum. This will further help to neutralise the cat urine and get rid of the smell.
If the cat has peed on your bed and it has soaked into the mattress then take the same approach as you would if she urinated on carpet.
3. Using Hydrogen Peroxide To Remove Cat Pee Smell
Hydrogen peroxide is water with an extra oxygen molecule (H2O2). It’s typically used as an antiseptic to treat minor injuries like small cuts, burns and scrapes. The application of hydrogen peroxide to minor injuries helps to prevent infections.
When it comes to removing cat pee smells and stains from carpets, clothes and other materials, hydrogen peroxide can be highly effective.
To use H2O2 to clean cat pee use a solution that contains 3% hydrogen peroxide. Simply spray the liquid on the affected area then wait for about 5 minutes. After that, use a clean towel or kitchen roll to blot the spray into the area. Be sure not to rub the liquid into the affected area. Do this until the affected area dry.
The affected clothing or carpet should now be free cat pee smell and the urine stain should be gone.
4. How To Clean Cat Urine From Wooden Floors
To clean cate pee from wooden floors or non porous surfaces you should use white vinegar, or 3% hydrogen peroxide spray. However, you should these liquids on a small area first to ensure they don’t damage the surface.
Once you’re satisfied the neither vinegar nor H2O2 is damaging to the material you can proceed to clean the impacted floor area thoroughly with either chemical. Leave the vinegar or H2O2 on the area for around 5 minutes.
Thereafter, wash the area with warm clean water.
What To Avoid Doing When Tackling Cat Urine Stains
There are certain things you should never do when tackling a cat urine stain.
Never Use Chlorine Bleach On Cat Pee Stains
You should NEVER use chlorine bleach to clean items that have cat pee on them. This is because cat pee contains ammonia. When ammonia is mixed with chlorine bleach, the result can be a gas that’s toxic to humans.
Don’t Use A Steam Cleaner To Remove Cat Urine From Upholstery Or Carpets
Using a steam cleaner will actually make the stain almost impossible to remove. This is because the heat from a steam cleaner will bind the protein in the cat urine into any man made fibres and artificial fibres. This binding is a permanent state and cannot be removed, meaning the cat urine and smell is never going to leave.
It’s therefore likely that you would need to actually replace the carpet or any upholstered items where a steam cleaner was used to clean cat urine.
Final Thoughts On How To Get Rid Of Cat Pee Smell UK
Cat pee is one of the hardest pet stains to get rid of and at first it may seem like there’s no way you’ll ever be rid of it. However, the good news there are lots of ways of remove the cat urine stain and remove the cat urine smell. The methods are low cost and relatively quick. They can work really well all as long as you deal with the cat pee stain as soon as you notice it.