Any products that will neutralize the smell of cat urine?

[csaba81]

Once upon a time, one of our cats used an armchair as a toilet. The cushions are not removable, so have only been able to wipe out all the crevices. Must have soaked into the padding somehow because each time you sit down you squeeze out a fresh batch of stink.

 

Perfuming will only compete with the bad smell so I'm wondering if there's something available that will actually react and neutralize.

[sammieuk1]

Suggest a box of matches by the sound of it ????

[4MyEgo]

30 minutes ago, csaba81 said:

Perfuming will only compete with the bad smell so I'm wondering if there's something available that will actually react and neutralize.

Not to my knowledge, back in the day, we had a tenant who had a cat, it urinated on the fix floor covering in the loungeroom, after steam cleaning it, it was worse, even when dried, so we had to replace it.

 

Could be time for a new armchair, a leather one perhaps ?

[Nonthaburi Boy]

Only two things I know of...

 

Vinegar if that is an improvement in smell, maybe with baking soda mixed in 

Coffee grounds (ground beans not the instant stuff)

 

But what has happened is that the urine has concentrated - just the ammonia (not solely ammonia) crystals left - so you'll need to help the coffee get to the crystals. 

 

Also the cat may still be peeing on it - just a little mark every now and again.

 

Real nuclear option is to drench the chair in coffee, leave for a day, drench in water and dry in the sun. But even that may just be improving rather than resolving - depends what the cushions are made of.

 

Probably make a nice bed for a dog. 

[ozimoron]

Get the cat neutered if it's a tomcat. In fact, any cat.

[dddave]

Baking soda on it's own usually works, liberally sprinkle it around the stinky areas.

DO NOT mix it with vinegar as another poster suggested.  Vinegar is acid, Baking soda is a base.  Mix them and get a big, foamy mess

[KannikaP]

1 hour ago, ozimoron said:

Get the cat neutered if it's a tomcat. In fact, any cat.

How will that stop it peeing?

A dose of arsenic, strychnine or cyanide, or a puffer fish for breakfast would do the trick. Then a trip to Ikea.  555

Edited January 25, 2023 by KannikaP

[ozimoron]

16 minutes ago, KannikaP said:

How will that stop it peeing?

A dose of arsenic, strychnine or cyanide, or a puffer fish for breakfast would do the trick. Then a trip to Ikea.  555

Both male and female cats can mark with urine. Urine marking is most common in intact (non-neutered) male cats. When an intact male sprays urine, it will have the characteristic “tom cat” odor that is strong and pungent. Castration or neutering will change the odor, and may reduce the cat’s motivation for spraying, but approximately 10% of neutered males and 5% of spayed females will continue to spray.

 

https://vcahospitals.com/know-your-pet/cat-behavior-problems-marking-and-spraying-behavior

[Mark Nothing]

To remove the unpleasant odor from your armchair mix together a bottle of hydrogen peroxide, a handful of baking soda, water and a squirt of dish soap.  It works on mattresses removing all the odor and 90% of any staining.  

 

Apply liberally with a scrub brush.  Put it in the sun to dry.  If too heavy use a fan to dry it out.

 

 

[Nonthaburi Boy]

On 1/25/2023 at 4:41 PM, Mark Nothing said:

To remove the unpleasant odor from your armchair mix together a bottle of hydrogen peroxide, a handful of baking soda, water and a squirt of dish soap.  It works on mattresses removing all the odor and 90% of any staining.  

 

Apply liberally with a scrub brush.  Put it in the sun to dry.  If too heavy use a fan to dry it out.

 

 

This sounds much better than my DIY solutions. 

[Nonthaburi Boy]

On 1/25/2023 at 3:43 PM, dddave said:

Baking soda on it's own usually works, liberally sprinkle it around the stinky areas.

DO NOT mix it with vinegar as another poster suggested.  Vinegar is acid, Baking soda is a base.  Mix them and get a big, foamy mess

I thought the foamy mess was a good thing for cleaning? It really is a thing. And you won’t clean a seat cushion without liquid soaking in. Making a big mess first is probably essential - although I’m keen to try the hydrogen peroxide idea now. I’ve kept lots of ‘rescue’ cats for a long, long time and my success rate once the pee has dried is very limited, even if the cushion can be taken out.

 

Having said that, I realise I haven’t actually tried the two together, pre-mixed, for this purpose, only thought about it. So I really did screw up. I have only used separately on same item. Plus I didn’t say what type of vinegar or that you might want to add water - although if I had started thinking that much I would have remembered I hadn’t actually tried the mix. So thank you!

[blackshadow]

would haiter bleach do the job???

[Boomer6969]

I'd take a pee on the armchair myself, the last peër always wins. Can lead to a protracted conflict though.

[dddave]

2 hours ago, Nonthaburi Boy said:

I thought the foamy mess was a good thing for cleaning? It really is a thing. And you won’t clean a seat cushion without liquid soaking in. Making a big mess first is probably essential - although I’m keen to try the hydrogen peroxide idea now. I’ve kept lots of ‘rescue’ cats for a long, long time and my success rate once the pee has dried is very limited, even if the cushion can be taken out.

 

Having said that, I realise I haven’t actually tried the two together, pre-mixed, for this purpose, only thought about it. So I really did screw up. I have only used separately on same item. Plus I didn’t say what type of vinegar or that you might want to add water - although if I had started thinking that much I would have remembered I hadn’t actually tried the mix. So thank you!

I don't want to sound like a nanny but the sad fact is that many people have died for the simple mistake of mixing ordinary household cleaners.

A restaurant manager near my home town died from toxic fumes when he mixed 2 different floor cleaning products.  There was only a small amount in each bottle so he decided to mix them.  Fortunately, other workers were in a different part of the restaurant but he collapsed and died from the fumes.

A lot of strong cleansers do not play well together.  The best known is mixing household bleach with household ammonia.  The result can be CHLORINE gas which is deadly and many have died as a result of this mixture.  Drain cleaners can be deadly as well.  Hardware stores sell bottles of sulfuric or hydrochloric acid to unblock drains.  They also sell cans of DRAINO and other lye based products for the same task.  Mix the two and deadly fumes can result.  There have been instances in apartment buildings where a tenant on an upper floor puts a lye based cleaner in a common drain, then a tenant on a lower floor pours in acid. The two mix in the main drain and deadly gas results. People on lower floors, especially young children and elderly have died in this situation.  

In Thailand, they sell bottles of very strong floor and bathroom cleaning products.  I would be very careful of ever mixing any of these because the ingredients are written in Thai and no way to know which chemicals you are putting together.

Edited January 27, 2023 by dddave

[csaba81]

On 1/25/2023 at 8:41 PM, Mark Nothing said:

To remove the unpleasant odor from your armchair mix together a bottle of hydrogen peroxide, a handful of baking soda, water and a squirt of dish soap.  It works on mattresses removing all the odor and 90% of any staining.  

 

Apply liberally with a scrub brush.  Put it in the sun to dry.  If too heavy use a fan to dry it out.

 

 

I'm guessing the HP is to kill any germs and the BS to absorb the odor. Might not it be better used one after the other?

[csaba81]

2 hours ago, blackshadow said:

would haiter bleach do the job???

probably would but Haiter also bleaches the color out of everything. Not to mention, the noxious odour would linger for some days.

[Nonthaburi Boy]

On 1/27/2023 at 11:34 AM, dddave said:

I don't want to sound like a nanny but the sad fact is that many people have died for the simple mistake of mixing ordinary household cleaners.

A restaurant manager near my home town died from toxic fumes when he mixed 2 different floor cleaning products.  There was only a small amount in each bottle so he decided to mix them.  Fortunately, other workers were in a different part of the restaurant but he collapsed and died from the fumes.

A lot of strong cleansers do not play well together.  The best known is mixing household bleach with household ammonia.  The result can be CHLORINE gas which is deadly and many have died as a result of this mixture.  Drain cleaners can be deadly as well.  Hardware stores sell bottles of sulfuric or hydrochloric acid to unblock drains.  They also sell cans of DRAINO and other lye based products for the same task.  Mix the two and deadly fumes can result.  There have been instances in apartment buildings where a tenant on an upper floor puts a lye based cleaner in a common drain, then a tenant on a lower floor pours in acid. The two mix in the main drain and deadly gas results. People on lower floors, especially young children and elderly have died in this situation.  

In Thailand, they sell bottles of very strong floor and bathroom cleaning products.  I would be very careful of ever mixing any of these because the ingredients are written in Thai and no way to know which chemicals you are putting together.

Just to be clear, we're trying to remove dried and crystalised  cat urine from a cushion, not a dead cat in there.