Suppose you’re unlucky enough to have your pet pee on upholstery and carpets. In that case, you’d realize that as much as you try to blot or
wash the fabric, you could never seem to remove the smell, and even if you think you did, you’d still find your pet going back to pee at the same spot, even on easy to clean hard floors! The only thing I hate about their acute sense of smell.
And I hate that their skin seems to be allergic to everything.
You can try bleach, Dettol, and Febreze for all you want, but it’s not going to do a thorough job, and worse still, the chemicals used might cause adverse skin reactions in pets with sensitive skin. On a side note, most pets are sensitive to synthetic phenols in detergents and disinfectants, so if there’s a need to use surfactants on the floor, add a little dish soap into the water used for mopping the floor and mopping as usual. Then, add around two tablespoons of vinegar to a fresh pail of water and mop the floor again. This will neutralize the soap and, at the same time, deodorize and disinfect the floor as well!
Instructions:
- If the accident is on your bed, carpet, or sofa, try to blot the fresh stain with a dry cloth and continue until you’ve removed it as much as possible.
- What I like to do with soiled fabric is to wash it with regular soap first. From experience, skipping this step and going straight to deodorizing agents wouldn’t work either. Mix dish soap with water into a spray bottle and try this mixture on an inconspicuous area to ensure the fabric is colorfast. If the color doesn’t run, spray on the stained area and blot it up again. Do it a few times.
- All-purpose enzyme cleaners in organic stores are usually great for removing smells, and you can spray the stain and leave it to dry. Enzyme cleaners are also usually safe on fabrics, but as a general precaution, it’s always good to spot test. If your pet goes back to pee at the same spot, repeat steps 1 & 2, and proceed to step 4.
- Mix a solution of 3% Hydrogen Peroxide and baking soda and again do a spot test first. Then spray it onto the stain and let it do its work. The mixture works with the urine and releases oxygen, which cleans, deodorizes, and works like Vanish Power O2.
- When the surface has dried, you may want to spray a diluted solution of white vinegar to neutralize any excess alkali and odor.
- With hard floors, it’s much easier as you’d only need to wipe up the stain and spray with deodorizing agents like Enzymatic cleaner, Hydrogen Peroxide, and baking soda mix or vinegar and leave it to dry. However, if you’re using a cloth to wipe up the stain, remember to soak the cloth with any deodorizing agents afterward.
*Warning*
Whatever you do, don’t be Kiasu and add whatever you can find together, thinking that it’ll give it an extra cleaning boost. Combining Hydrogen Peroxide and vinegar, in particular, produces a potent oxidizing agent known as Peracetic acid and produces toxic fumes, which are harmful to the lungs with long-term exposure. However, spritzing one after the next would not produce any harmful byproducts. Chemistry.
Here you go, no need to be spending $15 on a small bottle of ‘urine odor removal’ or whatever from pet shops. Let me know how it’s working for you, and leave me a comment if you have any questions!