Cat + drool + couch = stain?

May 13, 2010 9:25 AM

Love my cat. But my cat drools on my couch. How do I clean these stains?

Couch is light green, drool stains are dark green. (And yes, I'm sure it's drool based on observation.) Usual techniques (nature clean, textile cleaner, etc) aren't working so I'm wondering if anyone has secret tricks.

posted by jennyhead to Pets & Animals (11 answers total)

Dishwashing liquid has gotten all manner of pet residue off our couch.
posted by mkultra at 9:26 AM on May 13, 2010

Just as an aside, I know healthy cats do drool, but you might want to make sure it's teeth are okay. I took in a super drooly cat that left stains everywhere and it turned out she had a bad tooth. Once the tooth was gone, so was the drool. And the stains were ineradicable, even on things that I could stain stick and put through the wash multiple times, much less a couch. So I'm no help there.
posted by HotToddy at 9:30 AM on May 13, 2010

You don't say what type of fabric it is. We've got a couple of microfiber chairs that our cats inexplicably love licking. The only thing I've found so far that gets rid of most of those marks is brushing them with a good, stiff brush. I use a furniture brush attachment that came with my vacuum cleaner.
posted by telophase at 9:31 AM on May 13, 2010

Seconding HotToddy. I know it's not an answer to your question, but I highly recommend that you get your cat checked out by a vet. A drooling cat is not a normal thing.
posted by amro at 9:42 AM on May 13, 2010

Response by poster: My cats have both been to the vet recently. Their teeth are a-okay.
posted by jennyhead at 9:43 AM on May 13, 2010

One of my cats has a snot problem. It's probably cancer in the sinus cavity. :( The end result is she sneezes giant gobs of boogers everywhere. The best solution I've found to get it off of my couch and chairs is warm water, a stiff brush and some elbow grease. This works better on the microfiber couch than the standard cloth chairs, however. But I've pretty much conceded the chairs to the cats anyway.
posted by cgg at 9:50 AM on May 13, 2010

I once had a very drooly cat (well, what he really liked was to nurse on fabric - the couch, blankets on the bed, your pants, etc.), and although I can't recommend a particular way to clean off existing spitty spots, you can mitigate it by keeping a throw or blanket of some sort of the couch.
posted by rtha at 9:53 AM on May 13, 2010

Best answer: Wow. I've had boatloads of cats, and never a drooly one. Guess I've been lucky. (Although I imagine it'd be cute for a minute.)

But, yeah, tiny dabs of dishwashing liquid, scrubbed vigorosly(sp?), are your friend for pet stains.
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 10:16 AM on May 13, 2010

We have a small machine that's similar to a big carpet cleaning machine - kind of like this. It's so nice to have around for things like this, or spilled food, or the occasional ... I really don't want to enumerate the disgusting cat-related accidents we've had, but this thing is handy.
posted by amtho at 10:30 AM on May 13, 2010

If it's microfiber, baby wipes may help (works for dog drool).
posted by waterlily at 12:17 PM on May 13, 2010

Best answer: Hot water is actually not recommended for this. Here are some recommended cleaning techniques.
posted by misha at 2:30 PM on May 13, 2010