Remove Cat Urine Odor and Stains from Your Hardwood Floors
My Tried and True Methods for Fixing Your Floors
The home was previously owned by an old lady who passed away months before we saw the home for the first time. We were told at one time that there were over 50 cats in that house. I can't imagine what 50 cats would look like, let alone in one home. Yuck. Needless to say, the smell was convincing enough to make anyone believe the 50 cat story. Aside from the smell, the house had tons of charm and just begged to be made over. With a little cash and a lot of prayer, my fiance and I decided we'd be the daring duo to take on the ominous odor.
After countless hours of on-line research, talking to friends who had faced the same thing, and conversing with countless pet store employees, Jarrod (my fiance) and I devised a plan. The origin of the odor was obviously the cat urine. The lady's children had removed the carpet to reveal some potentially (and I do mean potentially) beautiful hardwood floors. Underneath the urine spotted floor we hoped we'd find shining hardwood floors filled with charm and character.
So, if you're looking to tackle some stinky stained hardwood, here's what I tried, what worked, and what didn't.
Nature's Miracle Stain and Odor Remover: The container said that it would remove 100% of the odor if applied correctly. Granted, the gravity of the situation I had to deal with was probably much greater than what the majority of their customers have to deal with. We used about four gallons of the product in total. We poured the gallons into a garden sprayer and bathed every floor in our house with the stuff. We let it sit over night. When I came back the next day, 80% of the smell was gone. That was, in essence, 80% exciting, 20% disappointing. There was still more to be done.
Hydrogen Peroxide: After racking my brain for more ideas to tackle the smell, as well as the stains, I was running low on ideas. I hit the Internet again and found a message board targeted at urine stained hardwood. One suggestion for stain lifting was hydrogen peroxide. The lady swore by the method and I was looking to try anything. My friend and I bought up every bottle of peroxide from a local pharmacy and took to the floors. We picked out a particularly disgusting stain and decided to test our new product. When we poured the peroxide onto the stain it immediately began to bubble up a nasty yellowish brownish color accompanied by a putrid stench of urine. As gross as it was, it was pretty exciting. We could literally see the urine resurrecting from the floor.
As the urine came up, the stains did too--but only to an extent. The process became the following:
1. Coat stain with hydrogen peroxide and let stand.
2. Remove lifted stain with disposable towel to disallow nastiness from resettling into the wood.
3. Re-coat stain with hydrogen peroxide and scrub stain with a bristle brush for 5 minutes.
4. Mop up lifted stain with clean pure water.
5. Repeat if necessary.
Also, we did notice that the floors looked better the next morning than how we thought we had left them the evening before. So if you think you're making progress, give it overnight to see how far you've actually gotten with the stains.
Good Old Fashioned Bleach: After we had scrubbed and scrubbed with the peroxide, we had successfully tamed most of the stains and more importantly lifted the smell. However, there still seemed to be this lingering odor about the house that needed to be addressed as well as some stubborn black stains that needed to be removed. Some friends brought out their parents and suggested a good treatment of bleach water. We obliged. We mixed about 3 parts bleach with 7 parts water in a bucket. We then covered every floor with a healthy coat of the potent mixture. (I would strongly advise a mask and goggles for this job. Also be sure to be working in a very well ventilated environment when working with any chemical.) We returned to the house about 3 hours after treating the floors with the bleach. The smell was gone!
The remaining stains left will be easily removed with a sander. And any remaining odor will be permanently sealed into the floor with polyurethane. If you have a similar odor problem I highly recommend these products, but be aware that different floors may react differently. It is imperative to test out each product in an inconspicuous area to see if it is safe for your home. I would be sure to remove any children or pets from the house when using these potent chemicals as well. Be cautious and smart and you'll find yourself with the hardwood floors that you had been hoping for.
Published by Annie Frey
I graduated college with a Bachelors of Science in Mass Communications. I spent three years in sports broadcasting doing an array of jobs, and now I am a digital branding manager for 971talk.com. I enjoy s... View profile
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9 Comments
Post a CommentI just wanted to tell you that I was so upset to find that my cats had peed on a mop, sitting on my hardwood floors. The mop was practically stuck to the floor by the time I found it as I was out of town for a few days. The stench had seeped into the hardwood floors and gave a nasty gut wrenching smell that permeated the house.
The ingredients I had available to me were Peroxide and Baking Soda, so I took your advice and soaked the area with the mixture (not sure what the measurements were, but enough to cover the entire area and lots of baking soda). I repeated this at least 5 times, letting it sit overnight to dry out.
3 days later, the smell is nearly gone! I've put my nose to the floors and don't smell a single thing. I might do it an additional time just for safe keeping, but the Peroxide and Baking Soda totally works. I don't have any Nature's Miracle or Pet Deodorizing products, and I sure as heck didn't feel like going out and buying something I'm
Peroxide is a great odor nutralizer. I am in the middle of a cat and dog pee contest in a closet. The peroxide works pretty good. I will also say to anyone who has to deal with a skunk sprayed pet, USE PEROXIDE. It works better than any of the products sold in any stores and I have tried alot even natures miracle that just masks the smell with perfumes so it smells like a beautiful skunk or a nice pile of pet urine. Peroxide does nutralize the enzimes in the urine or spray. The oxidizing part of the peroxide does the work for you with great results.
Be careful. I foolishly used bleach on a cat pee stain; the stain did not come out and when I had the floors redone I was told by the floor people that the bleach actually "set" the stain. Also, I don't believe there is ammonia in bleach...
Annie: Thanks so much for posting your "what worked and what didn't" for removing the smell and stains from hardwood floors. We, too, just purchased our first home and one of the bedrooms seems to have been puppy's favorite place to hide out. Luckily, it seems that the odor/staining is contained to the furthest corners of just this room...but boy, whas that ever fun pulling up the carpet tack strips! I will definitely give your three-step process a go and hope for the best. My plan is to have the stains and smell out before I bring in the floor crew to do the refinishing. Wish me luck!
Annie: were the floors oak or maple? I have oak floors nearly 90 years old in pristine condition & was hoping that was the case in the bedrooms which were w/w carpeted. Then my 19 year old cat got sick & incontinent. I thought I'd caught all her accidents but now that she's passed I ripped out the w/w carpet & found the floors are PERFECT except for the big urine stains. Sigh. Still, your experience gives me hope! But I've read elsewhere that the hydrogen peroxide doesn't work on OAK. But maybe that's another myth. I'm hoping your floors were oak? Thanks, Annie.
We got this wonderful carpet 4 years ago only to have the dog, who is now 15yrs old and slightly senile, pee in this 2' x 6' area! I used everything and FINALLY had success with this Rug Doctor product, I think it's called Urine Eliminator or something like. I used the whole bottle and covered with wet towels for 24 hours. You could actually see the spots of urine coming up into the towels. By the time it was dry a few days later I couldn't smell it! She still does it but this did work for me. I hope that's helpful.
We thought about the chemical mixing consequences. Each time we did it we wore masks and worked in a highly ventilated area. Although, very good tips! I didn't know that. As far as cats returning to the same spots, I am not sure. We moved in to the house that had already been damaged. We won't be having any cats in the house anytime soon. Thanks for the comments! Keep them coming :)
Your cat detects the ammonia in the bleach, which is also, as you point out, present in cat urine. Your cat therefore thinks that that spot on the rug is a good place to do its business. You need a non-masking, ammonia-free, odor remover. We eventually used something called 'Get The Odor Out' from 'Enviro Fresh'. Three cats later and no further problems.
Oh Wow. Cat urine will react with bleach, I am glad you tried the bleach last. The ammonia in cat urine + chlorine = Ammonium chloride, very toxic to breathe. I am no chemist, just chalk that knowledge up to personal experience at figuring that one out!
So, you got any advice for carpets???? I have a bad, bad kitty in my house and he is ruining our rug. We have tried everything we can find and it still smells and he goes right back to that spot and does it again.