How to get rid of the smell of cat urine on the sofa

Just one portion of human, cat or dog urine can destroy a sofa or mattress. And the main problem does not lie in the yellow spot, which, with the right approach, can be removed even with home remedies.

The sharp unpleasant odor of urine cannot be removed either with water, or soap solutions, or household odor neutralizers, or Vanish shampoo. The upholstery and filling will emit a stench until you order professional dry cleaning of upholstered furniture.

What to do with a fresh urine stain on the couch

The following steps will help remove fresh stains of child, adult and cat urine and get rid of the unpleasant odor:

Blot the stain repeatedly with dry wipes or toilet paper. Do this until the wipes remain dry.
Now you should try to remove the stain from the sofa with a soft sponge and soap suds obtained from actively stirring laundry soap or other detergent in warm water.

Do not use a product with a bleaching effect if you are dealing with colored fabric. Be careful not to leave noticeable marks.

To prevent the unpleasant odor of urine from appearing, wipe the stain with a soft sponge dipped in vinegar diluted in water in a ratio of 1:3 or 1:5. Treat a stain that has a pungent odor with a stronger vinegar solution.
Cover the stain with gauze or a thin natural cloth and iron it with a hot iron. Be careful not to leave a scorch mark on the fabric.
If possible, take the sofa out into the cold or place it in direct sunlight.

Remedies for stains and urine odor on the sofa

At the veterinary pharmacy you can find compounds that remove stench. They successfully break down organic substances contained in urine, which are the cause of the unpleasant odor. If you have a kitten or puppy, take care of purchasing these products.

Those who have encountered a similar problem in life speak well of Dufta Fresh, LOC (Amway), Odor Gone, Sanera Enzym products.

Special products from the pet store, for example, Zoosan and Dezosan, will help you clean your sofa from animal urine.
Liquid fabric softener will eliminate the smell of urine.
Treat the sofa with a vacuum cleaner if you have one.
Call a dry cleaner to your home to professionally remove the urine stain.

Proceed according to the instructions for use. If you are concerned about the safety of the upholstery, since the preparations contain aggressive substances, test the product on an inconspicuous area and only then proceed to eliminate the problem.

What to do if you don’t have a special composition to remove odor? Take advantage of the tools that every housewife is sure to have.

Laundry soap

The amount of soap required to prepare the solution depends on how large the puddle is and how strong the smell of cat urine is from the sofa.

Grate the soap on a fine grater, and then gradually add water to the shavings. The composition should be viscous. Apply it to the upholstery with a sponge, rub the stained area well, and then clean the surface with a damp cloth. It is better not to use the composition on light materials.

Baking soda, peroxide and detergent

Sprinkle soda generously on the cat urine stain, and then irrigate the area with a solution of a few drops of dish gel and 100 ml of hydrogen peroxide. The product is left on the surface until dry.
When the upholstery becomes dry, vacuum the area, removing any remaining soda and detergent, and then wipe with a damp cloth.

Since peroxide has a bleaching effect, it is best not to use this method on dark upholstery.

Table vinegar, soda and peroxide

As in the previous recipe, the urine stain must first be covered with baking soda, and then moistened from a spray bottle with a solution of vinegar and water in a ratio of 1:4 with a small amount of hydrogen peroxide.

What not to do

It is impossible to mask an unpleasant odor. This is especially true for pet urine. Therefore, you should not apply aromatic products to the area affected by the animal:

essential oils;
balm “Star”;
ground coffee
green tea;
deodorants;
toilet water.

Yes, they will hide the stench, but only for a short time. After mixing aromas, it is possible not to eliminate them, but to significantly enhance them. Therefore, carefully choose your options before coming to a final conclusion about how and how to remove the smell of cat urine from the sofa. In a house where whiskered pets live, it is better not to use chlorine-containing products. Their fumes are harmful to any living organisms.

What to do if the stain has already dried

After the upholstery has dried, the surface is thoroughly vacuumed and wiped with a damp cloth.

To remove a urine stain from a sofa that has already dried:

Dampen the stain with a wet sponge.
Clean the dirty area with soapy foam and leave for 15 minutes.
Mix 1 part vinegar or lemon juice with 1 part clean water and treat the stain with this mixture using a sponge. If the upholstery is dark, use a weak solution of potassium permanganate instead of vinegar and lemon juice.
Now all that remains is to carefully remove excess moisture from the surface with a dry piece of natural fabric and wait until it dries completely.
To remove the smell completely, after drying, cover the treated area with a thin layer of baking soda.
Next, prepare a mixture of 100 ml of water, 100 ml of hydrogen peroxide and 1 tsp. detergent (no chlorine). The composition is applied to the spot from a spray bottle, without removing the soda, and left on the surface of the furniture for 3 hours.
At the end, it is necessary to thoroughly wash the affected area from cleaning agents with clean cold water. To speed up drying, dry the surface with an iron through a dry thin cloth.

Mechanical cleaning of upholstered furniture

Contamination can be cleaned with hand tools or household appliances. Suitable products for removing litter, wool, dust, greasy gloss, and stains from the sofa.

Knockout

This method allows you to clean deep layers of upholstery from dust. Suitable for cotton, jacquard. The remaining materials will deteriorate. From your inventory you will need any mallet and slightly damp cloth (a piece larger than a sofa).

How to knock out upholstered furniture:

The sofa is unfolded.
The upholstery is covered with fabric.
The covered upholstery is hit with force with a mallet.
Remove the fabric.
Vacuuming the sofa.

The knocked-out sofa is left to dry, then folded.

Steam cleaner

They use household appliances with a steam generator + nozzles for upholstered furniture + temperature control within the range of +40–150 ºC. The rating included steam cleaners Polaris PSC 1102C, Kitfort KT-903, steam vacuum cleaners MIE Bello, SV 7 Premium.

How to steam clean upholstered furniture:

The sofa is being vacuumed.
Boiled filtered water is poured into the steam cleaner. For stains or heavy soiling, you can use cleaning solutions.
Turn it on, adjust the temperature and steam pressure.
The nozzle is slowly moved over the sofa and then immediately wiped with a dry microfiber cloth.

The device can clean various contaminants without chemicals, destroy parasites and odors. The method is contraindicated for wool, linen, and silk products.

Vacuum cleaner

Dust suction units can clean dry dirt and do dry cleaning. Contraindicated for use on wet upholstery.

For wet dry cleaning, washing vacuum cleaners and extractors are used. There are manual units for upholstered furniture or multifunctional equipment with a set of furniture attachments. The rating includes Bosch BWD41720, KARCHER SE 4001.

Household appliances are used strictly in accordance with the manufacturer's instructions.

Special brushes

Sofas can be cleaned with manual, automatic or electric brushes, furniture attachments for a vacuum cleaner, or an extractor.

The vacuum cleaner kit should include:

flat furniture adapter;
round brush;
cone-shaped nozzle.

It is advisable to buy a turbo brush for the vacuum cleaner. She will clean wool, hair, threads.

Types of manual brushes for sofas:

antistatic brushes (will clean from dust);
flat brushes with natural bristles;
flat brushes with rubber bristles (will clean wool and raise lint);
velor brushes for textiles (sofas, clothes, fabrics) with a rotating mechanism;
velor brush with a container for litter (will clean from any dry litter).

It is advisable to have a sticky roller and a bonnet mitten in your arsenal. A mitt will make wet cleaning easier. The roller will clean even unnoticeable dry debris on the sofa.

Useful video to watch:

How to remove cat or dog urine stains

The tools that are in everyday use of any housewife will help.

Lemon juice will help combat the smell of cat urine that has ruined the sofa. Preparing a solution for treating upholstered furniture involves combining squeezed lemon juice and water. The recommended proportion of prepared ingredients is 1:1. After thoroughly mixing the mixture, apply it to the stain and leave for 20 minutes. A stain from cat or dog urine needs careful treatment; after the furniture has dried, repeat the procedure. The lemon mixture will absorb the smell that was needed to get rid of. Finish the procedure by applying detergent to the treated surface of the sofa and rinsing it off. The sofa needs to be dried.
The soda mixture will help get rid of unpleasant odors and remove stains from furniture. Soda is poured into a container and diluted with water. The consistency of the soda mixture should resemble a thick paste or slurry. The paste is applied to the dirty surface of the sofa, distributed evenly and left until completely dry. Baking soda is an absorbent that absorbs unpleasant odors. Remove the baking soda mixture from the surface of the furniture using a vacuum cleaner.
Rubbing alcohol will help remove unpleasant odors and help clean furniture at home. Alcohol has a persistent odor that repels animals. Using alcohol will prevent the animal from trying to mark its territory. Treating a sofa with alcohol involves applying it to the stain with a spray bottle. If a spray bottle is not available, apply alcohol with a generously moistened cloth. After allowing the alcohol to soak into the surface of the sofa, the remaining moisture is removed with a paper towel. Once the paper towel remains dry after contact with the surface of the sofa, the procedure is completed.
Bleach solution. Bleach has a specific smell that helps remove traces of cat and dog urine. Before removing the smell using a bleach solution, you need to make sure that the sofa upholstery will not be damaged. Test the product on an invisible part of the furniture.
A bleach solution consisting of 10 parts water and 1 part bleach will help get rid of traces of cat urine. The solution is applied to the surface of the damaged furniture, rubbed in thoroughly and left for half an hour. After half an hour, the sofa should be cleaned with a sponge and detergent and rinsed thoroughly with water.
A solution of potassium permanganate will help get rid of traces of urine on a dark sofa. Use a solution of potassium permanganate as a means to remove persistent odors, but remember that it is not recommended for light-colored furniture. Potassium permanganate can ruin the color. The older the stain, the higher the concentration of the solution. Fresh stains are treated with a weak solution. The use of potassium permanganate does not require rinsing. It will not be possible to remove urine with one procedure; perform them every other day until the odor completely disappears.
Hydrogen peroxide. When using a product based on hydrogen peroxide, which allows you to remove an unpleasant odor from a sofa, you should first check the upholstery of the sofa, as is the case with a solution of potassium permanganate. Mix hydrogen peroxide (20 milliliters), baking soda (2 tablespoons) and dishwashing liquid (1 tablespoon). The mixture is thoroughly mixed, applied to the contaminated area of furniture and rubbed in. An hour after applying the product, it is washed off with a sponge and water.
Vinegar will help remove urine stains and get rid of unpleasant odors. It disappears and leaves no traces on the sofa. Mix 1 part 9% vinegar in 1 part water. After spraying the homemade solution evenly using a spray bottle, the surface of the sofa is left to dry for an hour. After an hour, remove the solution with soapy water, then rinse the surface with clean water.

You need to be conscious about choosing the right one so as not to damage the furniture.

Advice from experienced housewives

To avoid mistakes and quickly eliminate the unpleasant consequences of having animals in the house, it is recommended to pay attention to the following points:

The wet spot needs to be dried using a hairdryer/iron. This method will remove traces of urine. It is unpleasant if the sofa smells, so you need to remove the liquid first. If possible, the upholstery is washed.
It is recommended that the animals have their own sleeping place; they should not be allowed on the sofa if they are not litter box trained.
Infants need to be covered with oilcloth while they sleep and are awake.
To clean a sofa at home, it is recommended to use protective equipment; just rubber gloves are enough. When working with a spray gun and an aggressive substance, use protective glasses. Moreover, clothes should be closed.

For older people who need care, special diapers are recommended. The smell of urine of breastfed children is absent or weak. In most cases, it is enough to dry the sofa upholstery; no treatment is required.

How to Remove Adult Urine Smell from a Sofa

If there is a bedridden patient in the house or for some reason a problem happens to a healthy person, you need to urgently start putting the furniture in order. An adult's urine, of course, is not as caustic as a cat's, but it is still much more difficult to remove than a child's urine. You will have to use strong agents.

Vodka

It will help get rid of the smell of urine on the sofa if you started to act immediately. Apply a strong drink to a foam sponge, wet the surface with it, rub the liquid and leave for a few minutes. Then repeat the procedure 2-3 more times.

After treatment, clean the problem area with a rag and clean water and leave to dry.

Ethyl and ammonia

Combine the substances in equal proportions and moisten the sofa generously with the resulting mixture. Rub the stained area with a sponge, and then leave the mixture to soak into the upholstery. After 30–40 minutes, rinse the surface with clean water.

To achieve the desired result, repeat the manipulations several times, and when finished, use a dry towel to remove as much moisture as possible from the upholstery.

Bleaching

If the puddle of urine has already dried up and a sharp and nasty smell emanates from the sofa, you cannot do without chlorine. The substance is toxic and the use of a chlorine-containing composition must be first diluted with water.

How to eliminate odor this way? Apply the cleaner to the dried puddle, rub with a sponge or brush and leave for 10-15 minutes. Then rinse and dry the surface with a towel or piece of rags.

Since chlorine is a substance with bleaching properties, black and dark upholstery should not be treated this way, and it is also better not to use it on colored surfaces. It is better to clean and dry the sofa with the windows open.

How to remove the smell of baby urine from the sofa

How often young parents do not have time to react in time and the child relieves himself right on the sofa, and urination in his sleep leads to the formation of puddles of urine on the upholstery. Of course, children's urine is not as smelly, difficult to remove and corrosive as cat urine or the feces of a bedridden patient, but when it accumulates, it emits an unpleasant aroma.

In order to clean the sofa and get rid of the smell of a child’s urine, you don’t need strong means; immediately after the “accident”, just rinse the area with water and there will be no smell.

But if you have not regularly cleaned the sofa from baby urine and the smell still appears, use:

vinegar with water in a ratio of 1:5;
citric acid solution;
saline solution;
stain remover;
baby powder

After treatment, thoroughly rinse the problem area with clean water so that there are no streaks left on the surface of the sofa.

By following these simple recommendations, you can keep your upholstered furniture clean and not suffer from the unpleasant smell of human or animal urine on the upholstery of your sofa.

When should you use dry cleaning services?

Cleaning companies are categorically against eliminating this problem on their own. If you doubt your own abilities or are afraid of ruining expensive furniture with independent experiments, it is better to turn to specialists. The cleaning company's team will carry out high-quality dry cleaning using modern means to eliminate urine odors. Stains that have not been pretreated with other means are better removed. To select a company, check the prices for the service in advance. Cleaning yourself or calling a professional dry cleaner to your home is everyone’s choice.

The article has been verified by the editors

Precautionary measures

When deciding to get rid of an unpleasant odor on upholstered furniture, you must adhere to 2 rules:

Observe safety precautions when working with components used to prepare cleaning products. You should not assume that if substances that are in everyday use were used to make a solution or mixture, then they will not cause harm. It is recommended to carry out work with rubber gloves, avoid contact of products with skin and clothing. After carrying out work to help remove urine from upholstered furniture, hands are thoroughly washed and moisturized with a nourishing cream.
You should carefully consider the choice of a product designed to remove unpleasant odors from furniture. Before using them, test the prepared mixture on a part of the furniture hidden from view. If there is no change in the color of the sofa upholstery, get to work.