Does your whole house smell like dog urine? Or maybe it is just in a few areas where your dog may have had an accident which is out of character for them. There is a multitude of excellent dog odor and urine remover products on the market. However, if you have the inclination you can use items you have around the home to make your own Homemade enzyme cleaner for dog urine stain and odor.
Urine odor clean-up can be a messy job, but it’s important not to just mask the smell. Many products on the market only mask the odor. Until you completely remove all traces of urine enzymes the odor will continue to resurface once the masking agent has evaporated or worn off. In addition, unless the urine enzymes are completely eliminated your dog will continue to go on that spot. It becomes a continuous cycle. You clean the area, your dog marks the spot again.
Bacteria start breaking urine down as soon as your dog has excreted it. Urine contains nitrates, which are the essential building blocks of ammonia. That is why dog urine has a strong ammonia smell to it. If it is really bad you can feel it burning your nostrils.
If it is a fresh wee it is obviously easy to know where your dog has gone. However, if you don’t know where it is that your dog has gone the first thing you need to do is locate the problem.
Use A Black Light To Find The Source
I highly recommend using a Black Light to find the urine odor source. The Escolite UV Flashlight is one of the essential tools in fighting pee odors since it can reveal long-dried stains and urine traces that you may have missed.
Make sure the room is completely dark before you start searching for the dog urine patches. The urine stain should look like a shiny mark so it shouldn’t be difficult to locate it. Be diligent and use the black light on floors, walls, and carpets to make sure you don’t the urine areas you can’t see.
Homemade enzyme cleaner for dog urine
The most common and simplest homemade dog urine neutralizer is to use white vinegar with equal parts of warm water. But does this actually remove the dog urine odor? That depends on how old the urine stain is. Dog urine tends to have a strong ammonia smell, which has alkaline properties. Vinegar is acidic, so it has the ability to neutralize the urine scent.
Vinegar isn’t the most powerful dog urine odor neutralizer. If the urine smell is rather weak, using vinegar may be enough. It does, however, have limited effect with really stubborn urine odor. In that case, it is actually better to use a specialty dog urine odor product.
From my experience of having many puppies over the years, I have found Natures Miracle Advanced Formula to be the most effective. This can be used on carpets or hard floors, furniture, and even clothing. Like me, you may have had the experience of a puppy weeing on you. This is available in a foam aerosol also,
Treating a freshly done wee
You will need white vinegar, baking soda, and paper towels. You may also need household strength (3%) hydrogen peroxide for the most effective result. I would suggest wearing rubber gloves as this is not the most pleasant job. You may also want to use a scrubbing brush or toothbrush.
- Blot up as much of the urine as possible by using the paper towels.
- Mix together the water and vinegar and pour or spray it on the affected area. You really want to work it down into the carpet.
- Work the mixture into the carpet with your fingers or a scrub brush or toothbrush. Be careful not to scrub too hard as heavy scrubbing can damage the carpet fibers.
- Blot up all the vinegar and water until it’s as dry as possible. If you have a wet and dry vacuum cleaner or steam cleaner this would be helpful.
- When the area is very close to being dry, sprinkle the baking soda on the stain.
- Work a small amount of the peroxide into the stain with your fingers. Obviously, use the rubber gloves for this. The baking soda and peroxide will start to foam like crazy.
- Once again blot up all the liquid possible with a paper towel.
- Let the spot dry completely. Vacuum off any remaining residue.
Treating an old stain
If there is a visual stain you will know what area needs to be treated. If you are not sure where the odor is coming from, use the Escolite UV Flashlight to locate the problem area. Spray the area with your equal parts white vinegar and warm water solution.
Gently work the solution into the area with your gloved fingers or with a brush. Using paper towels. blot up as much dampness as you can. Once the area is almost dry, sprinkle on the baking soda. Once the area is fully dry, vacuum the area to remove any remaining residue.
If this method fails to fully remove the stain or urine odor you may need to opt for a commercial specialty dog urine stain and odor spray. There are many good quality products available. My recommendation is Natures Miracle Advanced Formula.
What not to use to remove dog urine odor
There are some commercial cleaning products that are just not suitable for this task. Even if your dog as done their business on a hard surface, a normal floor cleaner will not do the job probably. Even if you can’t smell the odor your dog probably still can. Dogs have a much more developed sense of smell than us and can still smell remnants of his urine on the floor. This means they are likely to go in that area again. This will make potty training that much harder.
Don’t use a product that has ammonia in it. Dog urine smells like ammonia so your dog will continue to mark the same spot you’re trying to clean. Also, do not use a bleach. Bleach fumes are harmful and it is highly toxic. You obviously don’t want your dog licking and ingesting bleach.
Use an Air Purifier For Dog Odors
If you find your whole house smells like dog urine you may want to use an air purifier. Even if you have done a good job of cleaning up there may still be an odor in your home.
Urine contains compounds that release strong chemicals into the air. These eventually get oxidized and along with the presence of bacteria cause a strong smell. Your dog can also leave traces of urine in places you can’t get to or you don’t even know about.
An air purifier with a charcoal filter can trap and eliminate any air odors in your home. An alternative to purchasing an air purifier is to use Moso Natural Air Purifying Bag Deodorizer.
These are a cheaper option for clearing the air from unpleasant odors and allergens but they only cover small rooms. It is best to have one in each room that your dog goes. They are safe to use around pets. They also have a reasonably long use and will stay effective for up to two years.