How to remove cat urine from carpet with carpet cleaners?

[amtraksebo1997]

For the longest time, I've wanted to adopt a cat or a few. However, that hasn't happened for a few reasons. Our family has a history of owning them, though, with the most recent being my sister's cat. One of the cats that we had was a black cat named Daphne. My parents had her before I was born. From what I've heard of her, she was a nice and affectionate cat, up until my sister was born. Then I guess she became jealous of all the attention that she was getting. Then apparently she'd pee on just about anything that was white (probably as a way of marking territory). Notably, she peed in what is now my brother's room. My parents tried vigorously to remove the stain with their Hoover SteamVac Ultra, but apparently to no avail. So, they elected to just remove the carpeting in that room in it's entirety and replace it.

Hearing this story from them has got me a bit worried about this part of cat ownership, but at the same time, I find it hard to believe that it'd necessary to completely replace your carpets when your pets do their business on them, that's the carpet installation company mentality! Now, to be fair, their SteamVac Ultra was extremely beaten up when I was around to see it, so it might not have worked that well for cleaning up the stain, but I can't say.

In short, my question is how to effectively remove a cat urine stain from carpeting with a carpet cleaner, and what make of both machines/solutions work best.

 

[thevacomaticiec]

usually cant go wrong with a bissel big greeb machine

 

[amtraksebo1997]

Which one exactly?

There's been multiple models over the years. My mom has a Little Green Proheat. That has to be one of the worst carpet cleaners I've ever used. Barely picked up anything, leaked bad, etc. I have a Little Green 1400B (newer model, older tooling) that I got for Christmas. I've used that one to clean up after potty accidents by my dog. That one works much better.

 

[mark40511]

I had cat from 2005 to 2022. I still have one of those little greens (but not the pro heat version).. I found it to be a little amazing unit and it got me through LOTS of puke and a few pee accidents... I think you need an enzyme cleaner for that...I think you have to spray the urine area and then let it sit for a while.. then extract... I always just did that... when time to extract/rinse. I just poured some water from a cup on the spot and extracted it. I would do this several times..

 

[amtraksebo1997]

mark40511

I've heard that enzymes help with neutralizing odors from the bit of research I've done. I'd definitely want a carpet cleaning solution that has them in it. Interestingly, I have two bottles of Kirby Pet Owner's Carpet Shampoo, and they do say that they have enzymes in them. This has me wondering about the effectiveness of a Kirby Shampooer (both upright and portable) on such types of messes.

 

[huskyvacs]

You cannot use a machine to shampoo out cat urine especially if its soaked in. You will never get it out. I had to rip up all my carpeting and trash it. You can use it as a rinser to get the solution out of the carpet but it cannot get it out of the carpet on its own. Water will just spread the ammonia crystals out and make it worse and larger.

Cat urine is ammonia, and to neutralize it you need to use a a base agent and treat by hand. Such as vinegar a well as baking soda mixed with a little water and made into a paste.

It also needs a UV lamp to "bake" and activate the base agent into the ammonia. This will have to be done repeatedly until smell is removed.

Also Stewart's pet shampoo works very well along with the vinegar treatments and sunlight exposure.

Cat urine is extremely damaging and near impossible to remove. I do not allow cats in my house because of this. I have been dealing with cats ruining my house for 20 years.

 

[amtraksebo1997]

HuskyVacs

I find this extremely hard to believe. As far as I'm aware, all types of urine contain ammonia to some extent, so why would cat urine be any different?

Also, if you say that it is impossible to remove, then why are you recommending me a carpet cleaning solution?

 

[gottahaveahoove]

My late, beloved cat, Murphy, had Cancer

For a while, I was unaware.  He'd have 'problems' on a Chinese rug in the livingroom.


He's now gone to Heaven. I tried everything to clean that rug. I was encouraged to throw it out. I had to send it out, to a company that 'specializes' in Chinese rugs.


  They took it, clamped it to a pole, immersed it (dunk wash) in a solution... numerous times. Then, they rinsed, sanitized it, etc...


 The bottom  fabric is no longer stained. The rug smells like the day I bought it.


 It is perfect, once again.


  It was expensive, but, cheaper than replacing the rug. I had no choice, really, if I wanted to keep that rug.


 But...I'd do it again, to have Murphy back.


 

 

[mark40511]

don't ask me how I was able to do it... but my cat Leo was terrified of strange noises... like on trash day the loud trash trucks, or even just rain hitting the roof...and thunder, forgetaboutit... He was inconsolable...nothing you could do would make him feel safe...the best I could do was cover him with a blanket and I think that might have helped a little, but not much... I was always so paranoid that each scare incident was going to be a pee episode... He was so big and bad and tough when he wasn't scared... He peed in a corner on the carpet once, and once he literally missed the litter box and pee'd off the side of it... each time I got my bissel out and just poured plain water over the carpet and kept repeatedly doing that and extracting...then I sprayed the area with enzyme and just let it sit there for a day or so... then went back and rinsed and extracted more... that's all I did.. I felt like I could slightly smell pee if I got down close to it... but it faded and went completely way after some time..

I got really good about noticing if he was scared and would immediately wrap him in a beach towel in hopes that would catch most of anything had he pee'd... but 80% of the scare incidents we had he was able to hold it in...Poor thing. He was such a beautify healthy looking cat... but he died at 7... he got sick out of the blue one day, took him to vet, they sent him home next day... said he was fine. He wasn't fine! I kept calling the vet back going "are you SURE he's ok???" Later, took him back that same night they sent him home and before I got home my phone was ringing they said he passed...

 

[huskyvacs]

AmtrakSebo1997


I never said it could not be removed. I said it could not be removed by just going over it with a shampooer. You will find out.

 

[amtraksebo1997]

HuskyVacs

Maybe not traditionally (Spraying carpet cleaner solution and hot water, then extracting it), but spraying an enzyme-cleaner on it, letting it do its thing, then extracting it with cold water might. You could also blot it with a rag/towel to get up the stain/used solution.

 

[suzZ]

HuskyVacs

I find this extremely hard to believe. As far as I'm aware, all types of urine contain ammonia to some extent, so why would cat urine be any different?

Also, if you say that it is impossible to remove, then why are you recommending me a carpet cleaning solution?

I thought the exact same thing! And how have cats been destroying the house for 20 years when they don't let cats into their house? They must break in

 

[cheesewonton]

The enzyme cleaners are the way to go. Spray it on as soon as possible after your fur baby pees. Works on vomit too after you wipe the chunks off with a damp towel. We have cats and dogs and one of our dogs used to mark all the time ........... until our old female dog passed. Apparently she intimidated him ( big brave Border Collie aka Canis Wimpus ). Went through a lot of enzyme cleaner.

 

[Vacuum Facts]

From a lot of experience, I’ve found the best way to clean a carpet (of sticky dirt, distinct from loose particulate dirt, like dust) depends on the nature of the soil. A wet mess should be handled differently than a dry mess.

The worst messes are ones that are wet with lots of foreign matter (food spillage, vomit, faeces etc.) For those, I remove the bulk of the wet solid matter with paper towels and dispose. Then you’re left with a standard wet mess.

For wet messes (includes drink spillages, urine, ketchup etc), I use a cloth that’s been soaked in water with dish detergent (for its anionic surfactants) and wrung out until it’s very lightly damp. I take out most of the remaining liquid until it’s lightly damp, then literally wipe away until most of the stain is gone. Wetting carpets is usually bad for a whole host of reasons I’ll link to below, but if the cause is liquid-based, then it’s already wet anyway. This method also works for oils. I can get most of any stain out this way. What you’re left with is a mostly dry ‘stain’ type mess to deal with.

For dry messes, like dried mud and general grime, you can go straight to the final stage. If the stain didn’t start out wet, don’t wet it. If it was wet as in the above examples, clean it until it’s mostly dry with the damp cloth. The final stage (first for dry messes) is to use microsponges. Drop a small handful on the target area and brush in for a few seconds in a few directions with an indoor broom/soft brush. Leave it for half an hour and vacuum away. Repeat until the stain is gone—I’ve rarely needed more than two applications.

If you want an example of the worst stain I ever had, I accidentally stood in a huge pile of thick, ultra dirty, super thick, black oily chain grease, and walked it all through the house in a rush. It was like tar. Didn’t realise until later when it had set in. It was so bad I thought I’d ruined the whole carpet. I had to wipe and blot for several minutes on each spot over a few days, multiple times with the cloth as above. It very gradually diluted away until, eventually, it was barely visible. Then about 2 or 3 applications of the microsponges got rid of it completely. It was very impressive. If a wipe with a damp cloth soaked in dish detergent and some microsponges can do that, then a bit of cat pee will be no problem.

I’ve made a playlist of different methods of cleaning and examples, including why wet cleaning should be avoided (unless a spot stain is already wet). Wet cleaning carpet washers are a bit of a scam for the most part, as evidenced beyond all reasonable doubt in at least one of the videos. There’s also a playlist showing professional cleaning using microsponges.