Cat pee.

[Breaking Babylon]

A friend of mine gave me a couch from her basement as a house-warming gift, but, the thing is, I also inherited the old musky cat urine smell...

I need solid, tried and true advice on how to get that stench out.

 

[ChristoEtEcclesiae]

Baking soda.

 

[Andrew Ryan]

Baking soda.

^This, I honestly don't know what else to say aside from perhaps maybe having it shampoo'd or professionally cleaned. My cat uses her box only so, I don't have any experince in this regard.

 

[stone]

throw it away

 

[Andrew Ryan]

throw it away

What? And throw away a perfectly good couch?

 

[Breaking Babylon]

My cats are good cats too and I'd only had this problem a couple of times in all my years with them, but I handled it quickly and got the odor taken care of. This is really old cat urine, set in, and more than just a surface stain, you can tell it's probably soaked way down into the couch. I've already used an entire bottle of Lysol on the thing and let it air outside but no good yet, I'd say only 50% better. Next I'll try baking soda.

Definitely not throwing it away. I don't think it's impossible to get the smell out, just probably a big pain... besides, it'd be a slap in the face to my friend.

 

[FriendlyJosh]

If it's as bad as it sounds like, I think the only way you'll be able to really clean it is buy some heavy due specialty product for stains. Probably won't be very cheap, also be careful with mixing chemicals, most know that mixing amonia and bleach produces a harmful gas(mustard gas) but apparently mixing amonia with vinegar is extremely dangerous too! and I almost did that one. Btw lysol sells some cleaning versions of their produce, that's in liquid form, I still would do specialty product over that though if you really determined to fix it/can afford it. Whole knows you might find something good that's cheap too

 

[Rebekka]

I know from experience that baking soda doesn't get the smell out, although it helps somewhat.

 

[Blanche51057]

Fabreeze - the spray for upholstery. It may take a couple of applications, but it will work. When we first move to our new house, my older cat got very stresed out and would pee on my husband recliner - it worked like a charm!

 

[Winter]

WHITE VINEGAR!!!

Trust me. My cat has peed so many times - its the only thing that gets rid of it. You may have to remove the fabric covering (should be zippered) and wash it in the machine with white vinegar. Then take the foam from underneath and spray some white vinegar and let it air out. Yes, vinegar is stinky but in time it will evaporate.

I've tried every chemical spray concoction out there but none works like natural ingredients like baking soda or vinegar. You have to treat an organic substance (in this case, urine) with another organic substance.

Keep in mind, on occasion you may still get a slight scent of urine but it will not be strong or pervasive as before. Cat urine is strong and tough to get out - but with time it will dissipate especially if treated with vinegar.

Good luck!!!

 

[Winter]

Another idea - if worse comes to worse and nothing helps, you can always replace the foam. That way you don't have to throw out the couch. Go to an upolstery/furniture store and they should be able to replace the foam. Treating the fabric cover should be much easier anyway then the foam if the urine has penetrated beyond just the fabric cover. But try white vinegar first - do these options before replacing the foam. We never had to replace the foam but that's because we treated the incident immediately. If its been allowed to penetrate too long it will be more challenging to remove, but alot depends on how deep it went into the couch. You may have to do several washings of the cover in white vinegar and several sprays/airing out of the foam.

 

[Rebekka]

I tried vinegar too, and like baking soda it's not perfect. If the cat(s) peed on the couch often enough, it is very difficult to get the smell out. But it does help somewhat, and as Winter said, time does help, too. You have to repeat the procedure often, and wait.

 

[Andrew Ryan]

My cats are good cats too and I'd only had this problem a couple of times in all my years with them, but I handled it quickly and got the odor taken care of. This is really old cat urine, set in, and more than just a surface stain, you can tell it's probably soaked way down into the couch. I've already used an entire bottle of Lysol on the thing and let it air outside but no good yet, I'd say only 50% better. Next I'll try baking soda.

Definitely not throwing it away. I don't think it's impossible to get the smell out, just probably a big pain... besides, it'd be a slap in the face to my friend.

I thought of this for the cushions atleast. If they zip up and the smell could be soaked into the actual cushion part, unzip the cushions, replace the actual cushion part and throw the cloth part in the washer or something, could work.

 

[sea oat]

Try "Simple Solution."

I have a special needs senior dog who sometimes has trouble holding his bladder, and I have thick, plush carpets in my apartment. Simple Solution works like a charm. Gets rid of the smell, and everything.

 

[Tigg]

Good luck to you. Had a rug that was peed on due to hubby leaving cats in house unattended cept for food and water and one poor cat liter pan. No window open partially so cats did what they were forced to do behind the couch. Tried everything even professional cleaning (with their advice they might not be able to get it out). They tried 2 times and did not. Threw rug away. So I hope something the others have mentioned might help or do the trick.

 

[pgp_protector]

What? And throw away a perfectly good couch?

Well to be fair, having cat urine oder doesn't sound "Perfectly" Good.