Neutralize the smell Then you're going to want to douse the spot with an enzymatic cleaner or simply make your own cleaning solution by combining (white or apple cider) vinegar and water in a 1:1 ratio. Because the vinegar is acidic, it will neutralize the bacteria in the dog pee, offsetting its odor.
Make a solution of baking soda, peroxide and any dish detergent. The combination of the three is often powerful enough to drive away strong urine smells. The solutions is eight fluid ounces of peroxide, three tablespoons of baking soda, and a few drops of dish detergent.
First, manually soak up excess moisture with a towel. Next, soak another towel with a hydrogen peroxide-based cleaner. Leave the towel and cleaner on the wet spot for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, blot and soak up the remaining moisture with a dry towel.
That unpleasant stench lingers long after the liquid has been absorbed, and can last months unless treated properly. To effectively remove these offending odors, you'll want to make sure you're eliminating them, not just covering up the smell (as many products do).
Febreze Odor-Fighting Air Freshener
This GH Seal-star spray quickly tackles airborne cooking odors, smoke, must and more with its cyclodextrin technology that surrounds odor molecules and pulls them from the air. And all this performance comes at a great price, making it our Best Value pick.
Mix equal parts of white vinegar and water, apply the solution to the urine stain, then leave it for about 20 minutes, and blot it up with a clean, dry cloth.
Vinegar is an effective cleaner to use in removing pet stains and urine odors from mattresses, couches, and other materials, but it is still important to treat the stain as soon as possible. The longer you let it sit, the more likely it is to set.
There are four natural options for removing pet urine: cleaning with vinegar and baking soda, use a solution of vinegar, baking soda, hydrogen peroxide, and dish soap, create a vodka-based solution, or an enzymatic remover with essential oils.
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.
Instructions: Combine two parts baking soda with one part vinegar to create a paste. Add a small amount of hydrogen peroxide, if desired. Rub on urine stains or other messes and let sit for a few minutes.
Debra Johnson, a cleaning expert for Merry Maids, recommends running urine-soaked articles through a full-wash cycle using cold water and one cup of distilled white vinegar (without detergent first). Vinegar is an excellent urine stain remover; it breaks down the uric acid in urine and makes the stain easier to remove.
Vinegar Cleaning Solution– Add one part white vinegar to one part water. Urine smells like ammonia, and this is neutralized with white vinegar. After blotting the area dry, pour the vinegar solution on the affected area, and let the solution soak for 10 minutes to reach the deepest fibers in the rug.
Clean soiled areas thoroughly with a cleaner specifically designed to eliminate urine odor. Make previously soiled areas inaccessible or unattractive. If this isn't possible, try to change the significance of those areas to your pet. Feed, treat and play with your pet in the areas where they mark.
Vinegar and baking soda are pet-safe, effective, affordable, and eco-friendly. Both will help neutralize the bacteria in the urine, but will only work to absorb odor after you've cleaned up Fido's initial mess.
For best results in neutralizing urine odors in your mattress, spread a thin layer of baking soda out over the entire mattress surface. If a specific area smells more strongly, you can use a slightly thicker layer of baking soda. Allow the baking soda to sit, uncovered, for 5 to 10+ hours, and then vacuum it.
This can sometimes happen with old, dried urine stains that you didn't even know were there and didn't smell before shampooing. When the water and carpet shampoo solution hit the stains, it can reactivate the ammonia in the old urine stain and spread the urine around.
Baking soda absorbs bad smells from old food scraps and other garbage before it reaches your nostrils. If you're all out of baking soda, try using dryer sheets for stinky trash cans. The fabric softener from the sheets will grab smells and replace them with a pleasant laundry scent.
Our pick: Angry Orange Pet Odor Eliminator
Hands down and paws down, the best-smelling and most effective pet odor eliminator is Angry Orange. Because it is made with the oil found in orange peels, it is both biodegradable and non-toxic.
Add about 25 drops of your favorite essential oil to 2 tablespoons of baking soda and stir to combine. Lemon and lavender are great choices, but eucalyptus is my favorite because of the refreshing scent. Pour the baking soda and essential oil mix into the water and stir. Then funnel the water into your spray bottle.
Sprinkle baking soda over the stain.
Regular store-bought baking soda will work. Leave a thin layer of baking soda over the entire surface of the stain.
Some of the most effective household cleaners aren't meant to be mixed. You probably already know never to combine harsh chemicals like bleach and ammonia (or really, bleach and anything). But common pantry essentials that are often used for cleaning — like baking soda and vinegar — shouldn't be mixed either.
DIY Pet Urine Remover Spray: -2 cups white distilled vinegar (can substitute for cider vinegar), -2 cups of lukewarm water, -4 generous tablespoons of baking soda, -Spray bottle, -1/2 teaspoon Dawn liquid dish soap.
In particular, we found lavender, ginger, and cedarwood to be great choices. Some candles for pet odor contain specific enzymes designed to neutralize bad odors.