Mrs. RickJay and I have three cats, and over time, even if you keep the place clean (As we do) the cat urine smell starts to seep around. I HATE that smell. Absolutely hate it.
So we recently embarked on a massive apartmentwide cleanup. All the floors were washed with ordinary Mr. Clean, and the sofa and rugs (there is no carpeting) were subject to a (probably poorly done) cleaning with a steam cleaner I rented using some Easy-Off steam cleaning solution.
The smell is improved, but not gone. What other tactics should I employ?
Should I get the sofa done professionally, or use another method myself?
What can you wash floors with that will kill that smell?
How can you clean futons? I tried the steam cleaner but I don’t think it did a very good job. Or I didn’t do a good job, what with me being a dimwit and all.
What else have I not thought of?
What cleaning products are particularly effective for this sort of thing?
Note: “Get rid of the cats” isn’t an option, and anyway, even if I got rid of them I’d still have to clean the place. One of them IS moving away with Mrs. RickJay when she goes to school.
Huh, weird. My first post is blank. Yet, I wrote so much.
Anyway, my question is this; Mrs. RickJay and I have three cats. We keep the apartment clean, but nonetheless, cat pee smell (hereinafter CPS) has made its presence known. I HATE THAT SMELL! So this weekend we embarked on a massive cleaning. We washed every floor, and I rented a steam cleaner and tried to do the sofa and the futons. There’s no carpeting. Plus we did general tidying.
The smell is better. But it is not gone. I want to exterminate that smell and I know it’ll come back, but I’ll kill it every month if I have to. Here is what we used:
TO CLEAN FLOORS: (Parquet and tile): Mr. Clean and hot water.
TO STEAMCLEAN SOFA: Cheap rented steam cleaner and Easy-Off steam cleaning solution.
What else can I do to kill that smell?
Is there a different cleaning product for either floors or sofa that is particularly effective on urine smell?
What did we NOT clean that we should? (I got the rugs and the futons, and the sofa.)
How DO you clean a futon? Or can you? I tried the steam cleaner but I don’t think it worked very well.
Got any otehr novel ideas?
Dopers with cats; how do you handle the smell that emanates from the litter box itself? I use baking soda but the effectiveness is limited.
Why are your cat’s peeing in the house? If they are catbox trained the smell should be localized to the box and there are lots of products available (baking soda doesn’t work too well) you can buy at the pet store to make it smell reasonably fresh. If the pee is really in the carpets or furniture good luck! I suggest incineration of said items… or perhaps moving.
My wife and I have had great success with Nature’s Miracle. (There’s a review here.)
It’s an enzyme-based liquid that you soak into stained areas. Back when one of our cats made a habit of peeing on our couch, Nature’s Miracle did an excellent job of eliminating the smell from any spots she’d track onto the carpet. (The couch was covered in plastic.)
Cal and i have found a couple of things that work for us to get rid of the cat pee smell. #1 Simple Solution Cat Spray
Cal and I have found a couple of things that work for us to get rid of the cat pee smell.
#1 Simple Solution Cat Spray & Urine Stain & Oder Remover.
I find this works well on hard surfaces, especilly if I first use a clarner like Lysol before spraying.
#2 Febeze
I can’t say enough about this product, and others like it. Spray it on upholstery and carpets and pillows. Let it dry and no more cat smell.
#3 White vinger
I’ve used this in the past when I had nothing else on hand. works pretty good, but not as well as the Simple Solution.
Once in a great while, my cat will find a towel or piece of clothing that has been carelessly left on the floor - and pee on it. It’s the damnedest thing. I have had great sucess removing the stain and odor by washing these items with white vinegar. It works best on “fresh” stains. YMMV.
If you catch it really, really fast, and pour a big heap of Morton’s salt on the pee, it’ll absorb all the pee and leave no smell. You do have to be careful to make sure the carpet, the floor, or whatever is resistant to the salt, but usually, if it’ll handle cat urine, salt isn’t a big deal. Some carpets and some wood floors don’t deal with the salt well though, test in an inconspicuous area. We used those cans of spray Scotch Guard that are used in cars to spray our front hall carpet, where our meal on all fours, I mean cat, tends to like to have accidents. It seems to have helped.
As several others have suggested, get an enzymatic cleaner. Most pet stores have them, and even Wal Mart carries them occasionally.
I put the enzymatic cleaner in a spray bottle to make it easier to use.
You can also mix some of it in the water when you steam clean the carpet. This makes sure you get cleaner into all the carpet.
If you have a problem spot in carpet, be sure to use enough to soak down into the padding. You can get the smell out of the carpet, but if it’s still in the padding, it will still stink.
I think most of these cleaners say to leave it for five minutes then clean it up, or just leave it in. My advice is, just leave it in.
As for the futon, if it can stand it, use a steam cleaner attachment on it. This might get the enzymatic cleaner deep enough into the stuffing to do some good.
As long as the subflooring isn’t soaked then Od-O-Ban ( I think that’s what it’s called) works great. They use it in hotels for cigarette smells but works pretty good on cat pee. You can get it at Sam’s Club. If you can’t find it, let me know and I will hunt down the bottle and see if there’s an address or phone number on it.