Hardwood Floors: Getting Rid of Dog Urine and Odor

You might see a pet stain on your hardwood flooring and think that it’s fine if you take your time with it. It doesn’t stain like carpet, after all.

But pet accidents on your hardwood flooring should be handled just as quickly to prevent permanent damage to the wood’s smell and appearance. Especially considering that the smell can seep into the wood, you don’t want to wait to long to clean up the stain.

Become your own home’s quick response team when you handle your hardwood floors. Don’t worry— I’ll teach you how to clean those dog urine stains right for odorless, clean floors.

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Why clean fast?

You shouldn’t wait to clear up your pet’s urine stains on the hardwood. The longer you wait, the more the urine will soak into the hardwood flooring. It will react with the varnish, paint, or other coating to eventually leave a stain. If you wait this long, it will be really difficult to clean up the stain. In the end, the flooring might need to be replaced.

Remove pet urine quickly

When you notice that stain, grab your paper towels right away. Blot up the stain by pressing firmly to draw the urine out of the wood. You might need to repeat this action a few times to ensure that you soak up as much as possible.

Mop Up Pet Urine

Next, pick up a bottle of enzyme-based floor cleaner from a pet store. You can probably find these as your regular grocery store too. Take that bottle and squirt about 2 ounces of the fluid into a bucket. Pour some hot water in after that and use the water mixture to mop up the wood. The enzyme solution will help to break down the proteins in the urine, which eliminates the odor too. Read best tile mops

Now, you may not have access to an enzyme-based floor cleaner. If you don’t, that’s no problem. Just vigorously scrub the area with a mix of your usual dish washing detergent with some baking soda included. This will give you the same results.

Avoid Dog Pee Odor

Let the wet area air dry. Following this, you’ll want to pour vinegar on the pet stain and let it sit for 24 hours. Your nose might wrinkle at the smell of vinegar, but this will pull residual urine and odor out of the floor. Rest assured that the vinegar won’t smell for too long either, and should clear out after 24 hours.

Protect the hardwood floor

You’ve cleaned the stain and saved your wood. There’s still more you can do to protect your wood though.

Take an old towel and soak it in hydrogen peroxide. You can just drape this over the previously-stained wood and weigh it down with a phone book or another heavy object overnight. This will remove any permanent staining from the wood, and will also help protect your wood in the event of future stains or damage.

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Removing previous old dog pee stains

You know what to do if you catch that dog urine stain quickly. But what about if it’s been a while and there’s some damage? There’s a little more work involved, so grab some sandpaper and sanding block. Make sure that your sandpaper is 240-grit, and is very fine.

First, you’ll begin by pressing the sandpaper gently against the area. Use a circular motion to remove a bit of the stain or sealant from the floor. Just wipe off the sanding debris next and examine the hardwood. Keep standing until you can no longer see the stain.

Fixing the stain

Take an old paintbrush and dip it into a shellac-based primer. You’ll want to brush a light coat of the primer onto the sanded chunk of the floor and let it dry. When you touch it, it shouldn’t be tacky any more.

Brushing the floor

Now, all you need to do is brush a coat of your flooring stain or polyurethane on top of the primer. Try to match the coloring for your flooring so it blends in well. Once it’s completely dry, you’ll be able to walk on it without a problem.

Other Fixes

If these dog urine wood floor cleaning methods aren’t working, there are a few other options. For instance, if the stain has completely soaked through your hardwood flooring, you might instead want to cut out the piece of flooring with a rotary tool. Then you can replace it with a piece of flooring that matches your current color.

For your Pet

You might also notice that your pet is urinating in random places after moving houses. This is because they might smell previous pet odors on the floor. To prevent this, apply a pet odor neutralizer to prevent the smell and help your dog figure out that the only place to potty is outside.

Do remember though that if you notice your pet urinating randomly, that it’s best to take them to the vet to get them checked out.

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Hire a carpet cleaner

There are always people in your area who can help you out if you notice that the stain is too much. Or if you find that you can’t get the sell from an old stain to disappear. It’s easy to find someone online, hopefully not for too much cash. How to clean hardwood floors after removing old carpet?

For the most part, a professional wood cleaner will cost around $15-$20 per square foot. This can help a lot when it comes to odor removal.

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