Keeping your home clean with a new dog in the house can be challenging, and some canines take several weeks or longer to adapt to potty training. What do you do when your pet urinates on clothing or fabrics?
Luckily, you do not have to seek professional help unless the soiled garment is silk or another dry-cleaned fabric. Most of the chemicals used to eliminate uric acid from dog pee are probably part of your standard household supplies.
Before You Start
Depending on the age of the stain, you may have to treat the soiled garment several times. You can purchase additional items already stocked at your home to ensure the cleaning projects do not drain your household supplies. Although DIY treatments are much cheaper than professional cleaning, enzymatic cleaners cost much more than baking soda or hydrogen peroxide.
All of the lists below generally include the same products but have slightly different cleaning processes. Another thing they all have in common is the use of an enzymatic cleaner, which was created to lift urine stains and odors, among other messes, from soft and hard surfaces the first time. If you have a pet, an all-natural enzyme cleaner is a must-have!
Our Favorite Cleaner Hepper Advanced Bio-Enzyme Pet Stain & Odor Eliminator Spray is our favorite all-purpose cleaner for pet messes. It permanently lifts the very worst stains and odors, making clean-up and accident prevention a breeze. Hepper offers a 100% guarantee, which is a great bonus! Learn more about it here. At Dogster, we’ve admired Hepper for many years, and decided to take a controlling ownership interest so that we could benefit from the outstanding products of this cool pet company!
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Removing Urine From Clothes
These methods remove urine odors, but we suggest using the vinegar and water treatment for fresh stains and trying the hydrogen peroxide solution or enzymatic cleaner on dried stains.
1. Vinegar and Detergent
If you have other clothes to wash, it’s better to wait until you’ve finished cleaning the soiled garments to prevent uric acid from seeping into other items. First, set your washer to the cold water setting and add the soaked clothes. Add 1 cup of vinegar and wash on the spin cycle.
When the cycle ends, add laundry detergent to the washer and use the hottest water setting to allow the detergent to saturate the garments thoroughly. If you still detect an odor, you can soak the clothes in ½ cup of vinegar mixed with ½ cup of water and let them soak overnight. Wash the clothes the next day with only detergent and hot water.
Although vinegar can eliminate the urine smell, you may have to repeat the process several times until the odor is gone.
2. Hydrogen Peroxide and Baking Soda
Dried stains often require a more reactive substance to remove urine odors, and you can mix 1 ¼ cups of hydrogen peroxide with 1 teaspoon of laundry detergent and 2 tablespoons of baking soda for a potent urine remover. However, this solution can stain clothes if it sits too long, and it helps to set a 60-minute timer to prevent color changes.
Place the dirty clothes in a plastic tub or container and saturate them with the hydrogen peroxide mixture. You can check if the smell is gone before the 1-hour mark; minor accidents take less time to sanitize than large urine stains.
If the odor is gone, rinse the garments in cold water immediately. Wash the clothes in cold water on the spin cycle and dry accordingly.
3. Enzymatic Detergent
Enzymatic detergent is a few dollars more than premium laundry detergents like Tide, but it’s more effective than previous techniques. Follow the manufacturer’s directions for using the correct portion and wash the clothes in cold water. If any smell remains, you can repeat the process, but most premium detergents will remove the urine proteins and odors in a single wash.
The only drawback of enzymatic products is the shelf life. Unlike hydrogen peroxide, enzymatic chemicals lose their effectiveness after 6 months.
Removing Urine From Fabric
Washable fabrics like dog bed covers and blankets can be cleaned in the washer with the same chemicals used for washing clothes, but non-washable materials require another approach. Although the steps seem identical to those for clothes, the third step uses enzymatic cleaner rather than detergent.
Try not to get the two mixed up because the cleaner may be too powerful for delicate garments.
1. Enzymatic Cleaner – Most Effective
Enzymatic products remove odors by eliminating the proteins that cause them. Most cleaners do not require you to rinse the stain with water, but some take several minutes or hours to treat the stain and remove the smell. Follow the company’s directions closely and repeat if you detect a trace of urine.
2. Vinegar and Detergent
This technique works best on wet stains. First, use the wet vac to remove the liquid. If you do not have a wet vac, you can use paper towels or a microfiber towel to absorb the urine. With a towel, you should only apply light pressure and blot the stain. Scrubbing the stain will force the uric acid particles deeper into the fabric.
Next, mix 2 cups of water with 1 tablespoon of vinegar and 1 tablespoon of cold water. Dip a towel in the mixture and carefully blot the stain. Wait for 10 minutes, then clean the area with a wet towel. Check for scents and repeat the process if any smell remains.
3. Hydrogen Peroxide and Baking Soda
For dried stains, mix 3 tablespoons of baking soda with 1 ¼ cups hydrogen peroxide and 1 teaspoon of dishwashing soap and pour the mixture into a spray bottle.
You may have to test the solution on a small piece of fabric to ensure it will not affect the color. Spray the site and let it sit for 1 hour. Then, rinse the stain by blotting it with a wet towel until all the detergent is removed. Let it air dry and repeat if any smell remains.
Preventing Your Pet From Marking Your Home
Minor accidents are likely to occur with a new pup in your family, but your clothes and other belongings can take a beating if your pet frequently marks them with urine.
1. Spend More Time Outdoors
A pee-soaked garment is not a welcome sight, but it may mean that your dog needs to spend more time outside. Most dogs are fine with a morning or evening walk, but new dogs often experience anxiety until they get used to your routines.
Let your dog play outside for longer, or add a nightly walk before bed, ensuring that they have time to urinate outside before coming indoors.
2. Have Your Dog Fixed
Getting your pet neutered or spayed can reduce the likelihood of indoor accidents. Males are more likely to mark their territory indoors than females, but ladies in heat tend to urinate inside more than spayed dogs.
Neutering and spaying also minimize escapes and keep your pet from chasing after other unfixed canines in your neighborhood.
3. Use Enzymatic Products
If you used vinegar or hydrogen peroxide solutions to clean a urine stain, you could use an enzymatic product to sanitize the area. Unlike standard fabric and garment cleaners, enzymatic formulas do not contain ammonia.
Ammonia-based products will only mask an odor, and the ammonia may convince your canine to mark the fabric again.
4. Visit the Doctor
If your pet urinates inside frequently, the problem may be related to a medical issue. When you speak to a veterinarian, mention how many times your dog urinates and any issues they have with appetite, exercise, or sleep. Possible causes of excessive urination include diabetes, urinary infections, kidney disease, or bladder stones.
If you need to speak with a vet but can't get to one, head over to PangoVet. It's our online service where you can talk to a vet online and get the advice you need for your pet — all at an affordable price!
Final Thoughts
Dogs provide us with infinite love and companionship, but sometimes their bathroom etiquette makes us dash for the cleaning supplies. Cleaning up after our pets is an unfortunate part of being a devoted pet parent, but it’s much easier when you rely on the practical methods we discussed.
Random accidents are likely to occur occasionally, but a complete veterinary checkup and urinalysis are required when your dog urinates multiple times indoors.
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Featured Image Credit: Pixel-Shot, Shutterstock
