How do you remove cat urine smell from carpeting?

Question

I have just moved into a new apartment and in one closet it smells really terrible like cat urine and also in the hallway any home remedies or anything you may have heard of before would help Iam willing to try anything at this point Iam also pregnant so the smell makes me gag.
thanks in advance.

It was not my cat and I needed a place badly didnt notice smell until after I moved in.

Answer 1

go to petco or petsmart and get either natures miracle or simple solution that works wonders or iv heard you can use vinegar

Answer 2

I have cats and whenever they pee in a corner on the carpet I used Woolite Pet Stain & Odor remover. Spray this on and saturate the area. Wait about 5-10 minutes and pat it dry (pound with your fists, it helps a lot) with an old towel or rag. After it's completely dry (about 24 hours) pour some Arm & Hammer Carpet Deodorizer for Pets and wait about a half hour. If you have a scrubbing brush use this to scrub the powder deeper into the carpet and then vacuum your carpet. So far this is the only thing that has worked.

I have heard about using Original Listerine mixed half and half with water, but I haven't tried it yet to see how it works. But the two products above, the Woolite can be found in the Febreeze section with all the other scented sprays and the carpet deodorizer can be found in the pet section near the litter. Both together should cost you about $5, and the overall process of removing the smell should be about 1-2 days. Don't waste your money getting new carpets.

Since you're pregnant, the Woolite spray is a bit on the strong side when it comes to it's scent so wear a mask when you're spraying it. The deodorizer isn't too bad though. If you do steam clean it, it's going to make the smell come out even more because the heat, water and the steam will make anything that's been saturated with any liquid smell even worse. If you want to, steam clean it after you've used the spray cleaner and deodorizer.

Answer 3

This is often called marking by cats they do things like spray. Make sure it is the carpet first. This is what I did I scrubbed the item down with soap and water. Then sprayed it with resolve a smell remover but Freebreeze works better then put it in the attic where the heat and the partially opened area removed the smell. It also ran off the roof rats as they are afraid of cats that I had in my attic so I hope to get something else soon with cat spray smell on it as I think they are back. I am sure the local pet place will oblige for a donation. Anyways the application of heat to the area will help remove the rest if there is any slight residual smell left. There was very little on it as to smell after cleaning it such that I was amazed even a slight cat smell would run off roof rats. Cats tend to spray to mark their territory or if the person does not clean the box enough they go elsewhere. I would vaccum the carpet well, use a rug shampoo on the area or some very good soap and water mixture not getting it too wet, Dawn is excellent for cleaning dogs and cats with as it removes the smell they have in their coats that often nothing else does without drying their skin out too much for some reason as long as it is not too much and is mixed with water. After shampooing or washing the area spray with a scent deodorizer or put baking soda on the area for awhile then vaccuum up. You can repeat this. I have found airing out after cleaning helps alot often that is mostly what is needed. Possibly the spray is on other things like the wall so check. Just give the place and rug a good general cleaning all over and spray with a odor remover. If you find a specific area you can use some heat to dry it out and bring the smell out but leave the windows open.

Answer 4

You can't. I have tried many things. None work. Your landlord should be either williing to replace the carpet or switch you to a new apartment (if you are in a complex). This would NOT be an unreasonable request on your part, athough the landlord may try to make you feel unreasonable. The cat urine smell gets into everything that you will have in the closet, especially if you put stuff on the floor. There is really NO PRODUCT that works--I love cats, and even I would replace the carpet if I had this problem. Gag is right. Good luck.

Answer 5

Home Remedy Recipe Cat Urine Smell and Stain Remover

Ingredients

Baking Soda
White Vinegar
Dishwashing Detergent
Hydrogen Peroxide


Directions:

1. If the carpet is newly soiled, first absorb as much of the cat urine as possible using paper towels or an old towel. Place towels over the cat urine patch and tread on them so as to absorb as much wetness as possible. Repeat with dry towels until no more moisture can be absorbed.

If the cat urine has dried and you are not sure where the soiled area is you can use a black light (pictured above) to detect it. In a darkened room the black light will pick up cat urine and other stains. Hand held black lights can be purchased for between $15 to $25

2. Next, wet the area with a solution of 50% white vinegar and 50% water. Make sure it penetrates the fibres deep down. Allow it to dry. A fan can be used to assist drying. The acidity of the vinegar will neutralize the ammonia in the cat urine. It will NOT remove all the cat urine smell.

3.When it's dry, apply baking soda over the affected area and drizzle it with hydrogen peroxide mixed with a teaspoon of dishwashing detergent. Work it in with your a scrubbing brush or fingers to dissolve the baking soda and work it down into the carpet. Allow it to dry. Then vacuum.

Important. Never use ammonia or ammonia-based products on the carpet. The smell may attract the cat to that area and will encourage cats to urinate in the area

Additional hint

Hydrogen Peroxide mixed with dishwashing detergent will remove red wine stains from carpets and fabric like magic

Answer 6

Oh, I understand completely how frustrating this is. After trying different suggestions from people on this site, I came up with one that works pretty good.
I tried the Natures Miracle stuff. It masks the odors for a couple of days. After spending probably $150 over 2 months only to have it return, I started experimenting.
I found that by first shampooing the carpet with a good shampooer that actually sucks up the water instead of just spreading it around was the way to start. I added White vinegar to the water and carpet shampoo mixture. 2 cups to every 1 1/5 qt of water. After the carpet dries, I then take rubbing alcohol in a spray bottle and douse the carpet. I let it dry. Then I repeated this a day later with 1/2 vinegar and 1/2 alcohol. After 2 applications over a week, the smell is virtually gone.
Good luck to you on this, it takes some work, but this should do it.

Answer 7

If it's urine smell there is a product called "out" specifically made to change pet odor into not only a sweet smell but deters the pet from using the same spot twice. I got it at K-Mart. Or, go to the pet supply store and they will have different products to try. Otherwise, for usual smells I use Lysol spray in the "chrisp linen" fragrance (which smells great). Do the spraying then leave the house for a while, open the windows upon your return and the smell should be gone.

Answer 8

You can try straight vinegar but has to go all the way down into the padding ,let sit approx 5minutes and then blot until most of the moisture is out but since this is fairly large area although I'm sure it will work but will take some time since it'll take a lot of blotting(again has to soak down into the padding).the vinegar smell once most of it has been blotted up will dissipate in approx 15to 20 minutes,can also spray Lysol Spray on carpet to speed that up. There is a product that can be bought Pet smart and other Pet supply stores(can't remember name) but comes in a large white bottle with red or black lettering---is a powder that you sprinkle on the soiled area(mostly enzymes that destroy the source of the odor-urine,feces and so on) leave on the carpet approx 24 hrs then vacuum and odor is totally gone. The powder is for carpets and then there's a liquid that's for hardwood,all non-carpet flooring. You can try the vinegar after you test a mall area and if you have a carpet steam machine or can rent one-soak with vinegar-leave 10 minutes and then small amt of water and extract after that's completed shampoo the carpet-should have a fresh smelling carpet

Answer 9

There are things that you can do but unfortunately nothing will make it completely gone. Cat urine has ammonia in it, it is virtually impossible to get the smell gone permanently, but you can get close.
First, most pet sprays and perfumes just cover the smell temporarily. The only spray I recommend is called Folex. It is in a white spray bottle with maroon writing. It doesn't look fancy, but this is the best you can you use on your carpet to eliminate the problem.
Second, if you're going to try and clean your carpet, do NOT do it yourself. 90% of the store bought stuff has 'sugars' that will make your carpet clean for about 3 days then make it worse. Get a company to do it that has the full van units not the portable cleaners.
Third, if you decide to forgo the old carpet and get new carpet (which is the best option) you will still need to wash whatever is underneath the carpet... cement, wood... those cleaners can also be found at most pet stores.
Tough problem, but good luck!

Answer 10

Natures Miracle is the first thing to try. Just pull back the carpet so you can get the pad and the back of the carpeting. Then do the surface of the carpet. This is a non toxic product and works well.

If that fails there are some heavy duty chemical deodorizers available. The best is called UN SMOKE, you will need the Cherry scented as it is formulated for pet odor. Caution this stuff is strong and can make you sick from the fumes.

Answer 11

Use a high grade bacterial/enzyme concentrate and follow the instructions below to permanently remove human, dog, or cat urine odor. You may be able to find a quality bacterial concentrate at a janitorial supply store, just make sure it is in concentrated form and not premixed. Try http://www.petscents.com/

For old, dry pet urine:

Cleaning old, dry cat urine is no more difficult to clean than fresh “accidents.”

Use a commercial bacterial cleaner to eliminate cat urine odor.

Saturate the area with the bacterial enzyme cleaner and let dry naturally for several days.

Once the carpet is dry to the touch, about 3-5 days, check for odors.

If the cat urine odors are still noticeable, repeat the above instructions until the cat urine odor is no longer present.

For severe urine contamination in carpet:

Use a concentrated commercial bacterial cleaner to remove the cat urine odor. Dilute the concentrate; 1 part concentrate to 20 parts water.

For steam cleaners; add the diluted solution to the cleaner, and repeatedly go over the area to extract the urine.

Repeat this until the extracted water in the shampooer only has a mild odor of urine.

For shop-vacs, pour the diluted solution over the area, and extract the solution.

Repeat this until the extracted water has a mild odor of urine.

Allow the carpet to dry for several days. If odors are still evident, then proceed with the next step.

Saturate the area with the bacterial enzyme cleaner and let dry naturally for several days.

Once the carpet is dry to the touch, about 3-5 days, check for odors.

If the cat urine odors are still noticeable, repeat the above instructions until the cat urine odor is no longer present.