How to Clean Dog or Cat Urine Without Harmful Chemicals

One of the worst things a pet owner is faced with is not "number two" but "number one." Number two may smell until it’s cleaned, but usually it doesn’t leave lasting odors or stains unless it’s in liquid form. Even then, it’s easier to deal with in the long term.

We will talk a lot about cats in this article because they have to urinate inside if you’re using litter boxes and not letting them out to do their business. Dogs, if they’re trained the way they’re supposed to be, should be going outside. This method works on any urine, however, including human.

Urine, as with any large volume liquid stain on carpeting, will wick through the carpeting into the pad and onto the subflooring. It isn’t that most cleaners don’t do the job; it’s just that if they don’t get all the way to every bit of the urine then it can’t work. This is why some stains appear to be "ghosts" and reappear later—especially when the area is rewetted. The stain (red wine, chocolate ice cream, whatever) is still in the nap of the carpeting and the padding and only the surface of the carpet is clean. It can wick back up onto the surface and stubbornly reappear. The urine cleaning spray recipe outlined later in this article can be used to clean most stains from any colorfast carpeting.

The other issue with urine is that we may clean it sufficiently to make it comfortable for our own noses but dogs and cats have noses that are thousands of times more sensitive than ours. Pets will tend to remark the same spot over and over eventually leading to ruined flooring and complete replacement of carpeting. It can also mean replacement of subflooring at considerable expense. It’s best to act as soon as possible and to keep the stable solution we describe below on hand.

There is good news! With dollar store ingredients and not a lot of work, most colorfast carpeting can be cleaned and deodorized so that Fido or Fluffy ignore the area. We will also give you a link to a homemade cleaning product that will actually deter an animal from remarking the area. We don’t give the ingredients here, but their formula is only $8.95 (at the time this article was written) and is a recipe that you can make over and over again with household ingredients. We have used this formula in our own home and it is fantastic! None of the enzyme cleaners available commercially (and for a price) kept the pets from revisiting the area like this formula did.

If you have an animal (especially a cat) that continues to urinate around the house, we cannot emphasize enough how important it is to take the animal to your veterinarian to determine if he/she has a urinary tract infection (UTI). A cat especially will have pain upon urination with a UTI and will associate this pain with the litter box. He/she will avoid the litter box and urinate anywhere else. We had a cat that continued to pee around the house for several months and we finally had to cage her just before we considered re-homing her. We were at our wits end until a friend at our local no-kill animal shelter told us to have her checked for a UTI. She had a severe infection. After a week of antibiotics, she returned to the litter box with a little coaxing and has been a great cat since then.

Also, spay or neuter your animal. Male cats will spray foul-smelling urine on walls, furniture and other vertical surfaces to mark territory. Neutering, especially before maturity, can often stop this. Male dogs will hike a leg onto almost anything to mark their territories and neutering a dog will often stop this behavior.

This is off topic of this article, but here is another money saving hint: If your cat does not have a UTI or has been successfully treated for one and still does not consistently use the litter box, don’t buy the pricey cat litters that advertise that they contain "cat attracting herbs." Get an unscented clumping cat litter with a fine grain texture close to sand (where a cat would prefer to dig). The brand doesn’t matter, but make sure it has a fine grain and no scent. The scent is for humans, not for cats. A scented litter to some cats may be as overwhelming to them as the perfume counter at the local department store is to us. Place 6-8 heaping tablespoonfuls of catnip into your hands and rub the herb over the litter. Stir the cat litter in with the litter scoop. This makes the litter box more interesting and your cat will eventually return to it without the catnip. If you have multiple cats, make sure there are litter boxes for each cat and make sure you scoop it daily. Some cats are very finicky, but can you blame them? Would you use a dirty toilet?

We saved thousands of dollars by using the steps below. We must, however, emphasize that you must test for colorfastness (making sure the dyes in the carpeting do not fade, run or bleach out) by using an inconspicuous corner or the inside of a closet or by using a remnant left when the carpet was installed.

We are making no guarantees or warranties with this information. It has been gleaned from multiple sources on the Internet and from trial and error with our own experiences. Please do not send an email to us telling us that it didn’t work. It will if you follow the instructions, but since we can’t be there with you to ensure you’re doing it correctly we cannot make any guarantees. This information is distributed without cost and without guarantee.

Get a gallon of distilled white vinegar that’s at least 5% acidity (some cheaper brands are diluted to 4% acidity and will work, but you would have to dilute with less water). Also obtain a bucket or second empty gallon container. Pour ½ gallon of the vinegar into the bucket or other container and add ½ gallon of water. We keep this labeled in an empty vinegar bottle so that we’re ready to attack if there’s a repeat of four-legged indiscretion on the carpeting.

If the spot is still wet, blot up as much urine as possible with paper towels or old cloth towels. Dispose of the paper towels (get them out of the house) and either wash the towels you used or get them to an area where the cats don’t go. We have a hamper in our laundry room (the only cat free zone in our house) where we keep these until we can launder them. If they’re on the floor or where a cat can get to them, they will urinate on these. When you launder the towels, add one cup of white or apple cider vinegar to the wash to neutralize the odor (We don’t use apple cider vinegar in the carpet cleaning recipes because of the color. It can tend to discolor carpeting and other fabrics whereas white vinegar does not).

Saturate the area with the vinegar and water solution. Urine will wick out under the carpeting to an area 4-6 times the size of the spot you see on top of the carpet. So, if you have a four-inch circular spot on the carpeting, you need to wet the area for at least 24 inches around. It is better to saturate a larger area to ensure it reaches all of the urine than to be stingy with it and have to repeat the process. A gallon of white vinegar costs less than $2.00 so it’s not wise to try to be frugal here. If the spot is near the wall or on the wall and has run onto the carpeting, clean the wall with the vinegar water solution and make sure you pour some of the vinegar solution on the baseboard so that it wicks behind that area also. If the vinegar and other solutions we discuss cannot reach all sources of the urine, it will not work.

Allow the vinegar water solution to remain in place for at least one hour. Use a wet vacuum or carpet cleaning machine to extract the excess vinegar and water. If you do not have any of this equipment, place 4 or 5 old towels on top of the area and place a heavy weight on top (a sealed gallon or two of water will work). Replace the towels as they become damp and repeat this until the towels are no longer wicking up large amounts of moisture. This can take several days.

If the urine is dried, add 1 teaspoonful of liquid laundry detergent to the gallon of vinegar and water. Shake gently to dissolve the detergent. You don’t want to create bubbles in your solution. Use a cup of this solution to gently scrub the carpeting with an old toothbrush or a plastic scrub brush until the stain is removed. If the stain does not come up (it will depend on the carpeting), saturate the area with the vinegar/water/detergent solution and continue as above with a wet stain. We will give you a stain removal formula that will remove even old urine stains later in this article.

After the carpet is as dry as possible with extraction or the towel method, remove everything from the area and allow it to air dry. Use a fan on its highest setting to aid in the drying. This can take up to a week. If you have dense carpeting or thick padding or both, you may have to pull the carpeting loose to get it to dry. If it stays damp longer than a week, you risk mildew forming under the carpeting.

If a urine odor remains after the vinegar water solution above, follow the next steps.

After the carpeting is dry or only slightly damp, sprinkle regular baking soda liberally over the entire area. Use one regular sized box of baking soda for an area of 24-32 inches around.

Prepare 2-3 cups of the vinegar water solution, but add 1 teaspoonful of liquid laundry detergent or liquid dishwashing detergent. Pour this over the baking soda. The baking soda will begin to foam (this releases oxygen). Work this into the carpeting with your fingers or a brush, pushing the solution around and into the carpeting. When all the foam has been worked into the carpeting, allow it to air dry. The baking soda residue can be vacuumed after the carpeting has dried.

Keep in mind that if you’re smelling urine, the vinegar solution did not reach all the way into the padding and the subflooring. You can repeat the vinegar water treatment again, but use more solution and saturate a larger area. Make sure the carpeting and padding dries thoroughly between treatments. If the carpet or padding stays damp, you can end up with mold or mildew under the carpeting.

Urine Stain Removal

The following steps use hydrogen peroxide which has a mild bleaching effect. Do not use it on any surface without testing for colorfastness. Always use latex gloves when working with peroxide.

Stains can be removed from the carpeting just as inexpensively. Again, though, you must test for colorfastness 24 hours in advance. Use ¼ cup of the hydrogen peroxide on a small and inconspicuous area of the carpeting or use a remnant. Pour onto a small area and allow it to remain for 24 hours. If there has been no color fading or bleaching, proceed with cleaning. Do not spill the following solution on any surface or use it on any surface that has not been tested for colorfastness—including clothing.

Put on rubber gloves before mixing this solution. The peroxide can bleach your hands and the alcohol can cause severe drying of the skin. Keep this solution away from children and do not apply it to pets. Do not get this in your eyes.

Get one 16-ounce bottle of 3% hydrogen peroxide (the kind in the brown bottle in the first aid section of the drug store, grocery store or dollar store. Do not use the stronger solutions used for mixing with hair coloring) and pour it into a 32-ounce spray bottle. Fill the spray bottle ¾ of the way with warm tap water. To this add ½ scoop of oxygen based powder cleaner ("Oxi" "Oxy Power" "Awesome Oxygen" and other brands are available everywhere) and two tablespoons of 70% rubbing alcohol (isopropyl alcohol). Do not shake, but gently rotate the bottle to dissolve the powder. Move quickly to your urine spot as the oxygen cleaning powder and the peroxide will begin to foam and will eventually blow out of the bottle. Because of this, keep the ingredients on hand but do not mix it ahead of time. It is only good for about 3-4 hours once mixed.

Spray liberally over the urine spot and scrub gently with a brush or rough cloth (a piece of old terry cloth towel works well). Most of the stain will not come up right away. Spray the area liberally again and walk away. Wait until it dries. The oxygen powder and the peroxide will slowly bleach the stain out. Repeat in a couple of hours if necessary.

Dispose of any excess peroxide solution as it will not keep and may cause your plastic spray bottle to blow apart.

A good deodorizer and deterrent can be made with kitchen ingredients. It is sold under the name of Pee Away and is a recipe. Once you’ve bought the recipe (less than $9.00 at the time of the writing of this article) you can make the solution over and over again. We have even used it on furniture to keep the cats from getting on the furniture. It works well and lasts for 3-4 weeks before it has to be reapplied. Go to our website and click on the Pee Away link in the menu. It will take you to the Pee Away website where you will find more information and ordering instructions. We highly recommend this recipe! A 32-oz bottle of this can be made for just a couple of dollars and once mixed it can be kept in a spray container and used as needed.