Cat sprayed couch, what do you recommend to get rid of smell?
August 15, 2020 1:44 PM Subscribe
Title says it all. Have tried sprinkling with baking soda and oxiclean, to no avail. Other recommendations?
Best answer: Thornell Cat Odor Off will kill bad smells. I personally have never found the enzyme cleaners that useful but YMMV.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 1:54 PM on August 15, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 1:54 PM on August 15, 2020 [1 favorite]
Seconding Nature's Miracle or another enzymatic detergent. (PetZyme is another brand I've used.) It works and as far as I've experienced nothing else does. The enzymes break down the molecules that make the urine stink, so it's less a matter of removing the urine as just "deactivating" it.
If the urine soaked deeply into the upholstery you may need to use an upholstery cleaning machine loaded with Nature's Miracle. This will force the solution deeper into the upholstery so it can get at the urine odor that's soaked in.
posted by biogeo at 2:02 PM on August 15, 2020
If the urine soaked deeply into the upholstery you may need to use an upholstery cleaning machine loaded with Nature's Miracle. This will force the solution deeper into the upholstery so it can get at the urine odor that's soaked in.
posted by biogeo at 2:02 PM on August 15, 2020
There's a person a few questions below yours looking to unload a loveseat.
posted by terrapin at 2:10 PM on August 15, 2020 [3 favorites]
posted by terrapin at 2:10 PM on August 15, 2020 [3 favorites]
I think Kids N Pets works better than Nature's Miracle & does not have a weird after-odor.
posted by belladonna at 2:36 PM on August 15, 2020
posted by belladonna at 2:36 PM on August 15, 2020
Seconding little mouth on Nature's Miracle: the name is appropriate.
posted by ivanthenotsoterrible at 2:45 PM on August 15, 2020
posted by ivanthenotsoterrible at 2:45 PM on August 15, 2020
Be aware that anyone recommending Nature's Miracle based on experience from several years ago might be thinking of a product that does not contain a noxious perfume. I find the current product unusable for that reason.
posted by HotToddy at 3:53 PM on August 15, 2020
posted by HotToddy at 3:53 PM on August 15, 2020
I find that even the best enzyme cleaner has it's limits if you just douse a urine spot. What has truly worked for me is a wet vac like this which you can fill with enzyme cleaner to both douse the spot and pull out as much of the urine as possible. Works like a charm, and is also great for the occasional cat puke on a rug. Trust me, I lost an entire couch to an ongoing marking bonanza about a decade ago and have since bought 2 wet vacs which have saved multiple couches and mattresses. I also like the enzyme cleaners by bissel that come with the units quite a bit.
posted by amycup at 4:55 PM on August 15, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by amycup at 4:55 PM on August 15, 2020 [1 favorite]
Best answer: My cat repeatedly sprayed a room that we don’t go in much and I used my carpet cleaning machine with all the suggestions above (and MANY MORE suggestions I read online) on the carpet and upholstered chair and none of it helped, though Thornell Cat-Off seemed to work the longest and smells like nice men’s cologne to me! For everything I tried, the smell would go away and then a week later I would smell it again. But it would be worse because apparently inefficiently cleaning cat pee does that.
I had a professional carpet/upholstery cleaner come and the smell came out and never came back, at least not for the year and a half since he came, and cost less than I spent over a year trying Nature’s Miracle/Thornell/Angry Orange/every enzymatic cleaner known to humankind/baking soda/vinegar/eye of newt etc.
By all means try one of the suggestions above because my cat is a special kind of jerk so it wouldn’t surprise me that his pee is extra special too. But if that doesn’t do it, spring for a professional, preferably one who says they can handle cat urine because from my reading it sounds like there’s some specialized cleaner they use that aren’t available to lay people. (I realize COVID makes strangers in your house not easy or feasible for everyone right now.)
posted by the thorn bushes have roses at 5:39 PM on August 15, 2020 [3 favorites]
I had a professional carpet/upholstery cleaner come and the smell came out and never came back, at least not for the year and a half since he came, and cost less than I spent over a year trying Nature’s Miracle/Thornell/Angry Orange/every enzymatic cleaner known to humankind/baking soda/vinegar/eye of newt etc.
By all means try one of the suggestions above because my cat is a special kind of jerk so it wouldn’t surprise me that his pee is extra special too. But if that doesn’t do it, spring for a professional, preferably one who says they can handle cat urine because from my reading it sounds like there’s some specialized cleaner they use that aren’t available to lay people. (I realize COVID makes strangers in your house not easy or feasible for everyone right now.)
posted by the thorn bushes have roses at 5:39 PM on August 15, 2020 [3 favorites]
“because from my reading it sounds like there’s some specialized cleaner they use that aren’t available to lay people.”
Might be worth a call to one of those janitorial supply places that sells to the public, to see if they have anything special.
posted by MexicanYenta at 6:50 PM on August 15, 2020
Might be worth a call to one of those janitorial supply places that sells to the public, to see if they have anything special.
posted by MexicanYenta at 6:50 PM on August 15, 2020
The only product I am aware of that uses an actual living culture of bacteria which hunt down and metabolize stains and odors is Bac-Out, made by Biokleen.
posted by jamjam at 7:32 PM on August 15, 2020
posted by jamjam at 7:32 PM on August 15, 2020
Oh — I did actually find out what this extra special cleaning solution made for pet urine was when I was in the midst of my cat pee hell. It’s been a few years so I don’t know remember the name, but I’m not going to look it up now because I don’t think it’s helpful — you can buy it but it’s not only pricey, being sold in vast quantities for carpet cleaning businesses, but you need a machine to use it that can get the solution deep enough to get to all the urine but will then extract it and dry it quickly (apparently speed of drying is important too) and my home carpet cleaner couldn’t do it. Nor did I really want to pay $100 for something I wasn’t sure would work when at the very least I could get my carpets cleaned in the rest of the house for that price.
Also, since I’m commenting again, might as well mention that I tried Bac-Out (it was the first thing I tried since I already had it; I also had an incontinent Great Dane for awhile so I am way too familiar with getting animal fluids out of stuff). It doesn’t do anything for cat pee. Or it didn’t for my cat, who again is a real piece of work, so your mileage may vary.
posted by the thorn bushes have roses at 12:48 AM on August 16, 2020
Also, since I’m commenting again, might as well mention that I tried Bac-Out (it was the first thing I tried since I already had it; I also had an incontinent Great Dane for awhile so I am way too familiar with getting animal fluids out of stuff). It doesn’t do anything for cat pee. Or it didn’t for my cat, who again is a real piece of work, so your mileage may vary.
posted by the thorn bushes have roses at 12:48 AM on August 16, 2020
A big limitation of Bac-Out is that the biocides in stuff you've already tried, such as the bleaching agents in Oxi-Brite or Clorox, or alcohols, can kill the cultures.
posted by jamjam at 1:24 AM on August 16, 2020
posted by jamjam at 1:24 AM on August 16, 2020
I come to strongly recommend against Nature's Miracle. Like HotToddy, I find the formula that's available on shelves today is just an extremely strong perfume, and a disgusting smelling perfume at that. The enzymes do almost nothing, but the perfume lingers on for months. I have an area that was sprayed with Nature's Miracle 10 months ago and is cleaned regularly with normal cleaning products and to this very day it smells exactly like faint cat piss and the overwhelming perfume they put in the bottle. It used to be a decent product, but changed dramatically for the worse a couple of years back. I have thrown away all my Nature's Miracle products because the perfume will stick forever to anything it touches.
I had somewhat better luck with Sunny & Honey which has a more herbal type of perfume that's less overwhelming, but I recommend against that as well because it still takes months to get rid of the perfume even if you clean over it religiously.
Professional cleaning has its limitations. I spent an unfortunate few nights on a couch that had purportedly been professionally cleaned twice but continued to have a more-than-dim aura of cat piss. It was worse before the cleaning but not cured by it. Your mileage may vary, but be aware that disappointment is a real possibility.
In the olden times, I would recommend ExStink (to the point that in the early years of Ask I was famous for linking it repeatedly) but even that is far from perfect. You have to be willing to invest a lot of time applying, waiting, removing, and reapplying the product to get ideal results, but it does work.
posted by majick at 12:56 PM on August 16, 2020 [1 favorite]
I had somewhat better luck with Sunny & Honey which has a more herbal type of perfume that's less overwhelming, but I recommend against that as well because it still takes months to get rid of the perfume even if you clean over it religiously.
Professional cleaning has its limitations. I spent an unfortunate few nights on a couch that had purportedly been professionally cleaned twice but continued to have a more-than-dim aura of cat piss. It was worse before the cleaning but not cured by it. Your mileage may vary, but be aware that disappointment is a real possibility.
In the olden times, I would recommend ExStink (to the point that in the early years of Ask I was famous for linking it repeatedly) but even that is far from perfect. You have to be willing to invest a lot of time applying, waiting, removing, and reapplying the product to get ideal results, but it does work.
posted by majick at 12:56 PM on August 16, 2020 [1 favorite]
This is the tool you need. Sorry, dark humor. Cat urine is so. darn. persistent. Repeated steam cleaning may help some.
posted by SinAesthetic at 2:09 PM on August 16, 2020
posted by SinAesthetic at 2:09 PM on August 16, 2020
SinAesthetic has the right answer.
The problem we had was that even with an attempted thorough soaking with an enzyme cleaner, the cat decided to spray again. And again, and again, etc... This cat had some toileting issues, and we think in part he just *really* liked the microfiber feel of it.
The only solution was to toss the couch (sigh) and get a cheap (used) water resistant pleather couch.
We put a sign on the couch, "Cat Pee" so anyone considering taking what looked to be a beautiful couch in great condition would be warned as the smell was less noticeable while outside.
posted by nobeagle at 7:04 AM on August 17, 2020
The problem we had was that even with an attempted thorough soaking with an enzyme cleaner, the cat decided to spray again. And again, and again, etc... This cat had some toileting issues, and we think in part he just *really* liked the microfiber feel of it.
The only solution was to toss the couch (sigh) and get a cheap (used) water resistant pleather couch.
We put a sign on the couch, "Cat Pee" so anyone considering taking what looked to be a beautiful couch in great condition would be warned as the smell was less noticeable while outside.
posted by nobeagle at 7:04 AM on August 17, 2020
Response by poster: Nature’s miracle worked really well, thanks. It does have a slight perfume scent, but that’s ok!
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 9:35 AM on September 12, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 9:35 AM on September 12, 2020 [1 favorite]
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