How to get rid of pet smells
You know how it goes – you get home and your pet excitedly greets you at the door but then you step in and catch a whiff of something unpleasant… and then you see it. A little puddle of urine or even worse! All pets have bathroom accidents every now and then again but luckily there are ways to remove pet urine and the offending odours without spending a lot of money.
Why you need to clean the stain AND odour
Dog or cat’s urine is made up of ammonia, bacteria, hormones, nitrogen and uric acid which creates that potent and lingering scent. It’s crucial that you clean the area and remove all traces of the odour. Animals have a much better sense of smell than us and are highly territorial, so if there is any trace of their scent, they are likely to return to the same spot and do it all again. Your nose may not be a good indicator either, even if you can’t smell anything, your pet probably can.
Follow these steps to disinfect the area and remove the pet odour.
1. Use paper towels or other absorbent materials to soak up as much urine as possible.
2. Soak the spot in water and use a paper towel to blot. Do this until you can’t see urine on the spot or yellow stains on your towel. It’s important to clean up the stain before you attempt to remove the pet odour.
3. Apply an enzyme-based pet odour remover (found in pet stores) or try these three homemade concoctions to get rid of the smells completely.
- Cover the area in baking soda, which will absorb the smell, let it sit for a few hours or even overnight and then vacuum.
- Combine one part hydrogen peroxide and two parts water. Let the mixture sit for 10 minutes before blotting up.
- Mix one part white vinegar to six parts water in a spray bottle. Thoroughly saturate the spot and leave for 10 minutes before soaking it up with a paper towel.
Depending on how long the urine has been there, you might need to repeat this step to remove all odours.
What to avoid when cleaning
Bleach. If you think bleach is a good idea for cleaning those urine stained concrete floors, think again! Bleach doesn’t kill the scent of animal urine and it’s quite harmful to breathe for you and your pet.
Ammonia. As dogs’ and cats’ urine is made up of ammonia, adding ammonia will just make the smell worse.