Being the animal lover I am, with three cats, two dogs, a horse, and some future chickens, I’m forever cleaning up animal messes. Most of the commercial pet cleaners you can buy are full of all kinds of chemicals and greatly contribute to indoor air pollution.
These chemicals hurt not only us, but our pets as well. In a study conducted by the EWG ‘Dogs and cats were contaminated with 48 of 70 industrial chemicals tested, including 43 chemicals at levels higher than those typically found in people’ (study summary here). So we know these chemicals do bad things to our bodies, what might they be doing to our pets? They are smaller, have a shorter life span, and have a higher concentration of these chemicals! If this is a concern for you there might be two potential options to consider when cleaning the carpets. One could be to enquire when looking for Charleston carpet cleaning or carpet cleaning in your local area, to see if they offer less chemical-heavy options, that are safe for dogs and cats. Or you could use a natural carpet cleaner if the first option was not suitable. But there is no natural pet stain and odor remover that gets everything out like the chemicals right? RIGHT?!?!?
Well, thanks to this pretty old lady cat, I have had plenty of experience testing out natural cleaners and my favorite has been this DIY recipe. Pumpkin Pie had a very bad hip injury before I rescued her and has a hard time feeling the urge to go. Usually by the time she starts making her way to the litter box it is already too late. So I am left with lots of cat messes. If you have ever dealt with cat urine you know the smell is awful and almost impossible to get out but this cleaner has done the trick every time! If you don’t have the time to do this yourself or you have a serious stain problem then perhaps using a carpet cleaning service would be the right choice for you, but if not check out this awesome, natural stain remover recipe!
So without further ado here is my AWESOME
DIY Pet Stain and Odor Remover
- 1 Cup Vinegar ( I use this one) I find apple cider vinegar works the best, but you can use white vinegar if you’d like.
- 1 Cup Distilled Water
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 10 Drops Lemon Essential Oil
- 10 Drops Purification Essential Oil Blend
- 10 Drops Lavender Essential Oil
I went through many oil brands before finding one I LOVE. Discover what brand I use and how to get the best deal (click here) on all your oily purchases!
Directions:
- Pour the vinegar and water into your glass spray bottle.
- Drop your essential oils into your teaspoon of salt then add it to the bottle.
- Put the lid or spray nozzle on and shake.
***I re-purposed an old vinegar bottle and bought a spray nozzle to use. If you do not have an old bottle to reuse you can buy a glass spray bottle here. You must use a glass bottle because citrus essential oils break down plastic.
To Use:
- Soak up as much of the mess as possible before using.
- Shake bottle and then spray area.
- Let sit 5-10 minutes.
- Then blot up the excess and let it dry.
If the stain is set in:
- Sprinkle baking soda over the stain.
- Rub into the carpet and let it sit for 10 minutes.
- Spray your cleaning mixture onto the stain and baking soda.
- Let it fizz and bubble away once it stops blot and spray again.
- Repeat this process until when you spray there is no longer any more fizzing or bubbling.
- Spray one more time and wait 10 minutes then blot and let it dry.
The Test
I even tested out this awesome spray on a stubborn set in urine stain for you! Old Lady Cat Pumpkin always realizes she needs to go to the bathroom when she is at the top of the stairs. I have been keeping a puppy pad there for her, because when she has to go it is immediate, right now, can’t go another step. So for the love of this blog and y’all, my awesome readers, I removed the puppy pad and let her go on the landing. And then I let it sit….for an entire week! No blotting, no cleaning, no treatment of any kind. I let it sit and sink in there, reaaal deep, and made my whole house smell like cat pee. The things I do for y’all! 🙂
Then I cleaned it using my set in protocol and it came out and now you’d never know it was there! Don’t take my word for it though, check out the pictures at the top of this page!
I have a house I just moved into the rooms are horrible if we don’t have to replace the carpets and I can clean the urine out I would rather do that! Do you have any tips of ingriedients on big areas??
If you are doing big areas I would look into renting a steam cleaner or carpet cleaner for the whole room/s and then spot cleaning any left over areas with this treatment. Nature’s Miracle makes a great natural enzyme carpet shampoo that you can use in most rented machines. You can get it on amazon here: http://amzn.to/2eijLj0
I am going to try the pet stain/order remover. I have an older, over sized min pin with diabetes and he has the same problem as your cat, even though he tries. I made a commitment when I adopted him from min pin rescue and I will love him and keep him until it is his time…messes and all.
Bless you Sam! I wish more people were like you!!
Me too! That’s amazing! I wish more people cared more about the saved animals than saving their floors from “the big bad totally cleanable urine!” I’m referring to landlords mostly as they do get a huge lump sum of deposit for the people and the pet’s as well as the higher rent they charge for the extra lives! I mean imagine if everyone loved animals as much as family how beautiful our world or at least country would be. Only beautiful people have enough love for lives over “potential possible accidents on floor’s”! Imagine if we treated babies this way since they have accidents too! Omg! Thank you for everyone who loves and cares for animals and lives more than “Stuff “ that will get replaced or repaired no matter what! 🥰God absolutely bless you beautiful people!!🙏🏼❤️
Kayla, do you think this would work on laminate floors? I have four dogs so no carpet just a few rugs. I am also a Young Living distributor, they are awesome aren’t they? Thank you for the recipe.
Dana, yes it would! I would always just spot test but since you aren’t letting anything soak in with laminate it is usually fine. Yes, Young Living is!
What about cats being harmed by essential oils??
Melinda, while some essential oils, especially ones that are filled with synthetic chemicals can harm animals, especially cats. The oils in this recipe are greatly diluted and are not covering every inch of your home and dissipate quickly. I talked to my vet and was told using oils this way is perfectly fine but I encourage you to reach out to a holistic vet and speak with them!
I hope this helps,
Kayla
Would this work on poop stains as well?
Becky,
Yes, it will!
Would this recipe work without the Essential Oils–just the water and the vinegar?
I should have added–I am not concerned with stains (our house is all tile), but I worry about needing a non-toxic odor eliminator from the dog’s potty area. Thanks…love your site and just subscribed to updates!
Donna, yes the water and vinegar will help some but the essential oils are really what give it the odor fighting power.
Can you say what is in the Purification blend? I have lemon and lavender but not Purification.
Yes, it is Citronella, Lavandin, Lemongrass, Rosemary, Myrtle, and Tea Tree.
I have cat urine on a leather couch???
Will the essential oils leave a residue on the carpet that will then collect more stains?
will this technique harm bunnies
No it should not. I always tell people to double check with a vet that knows essentials oils though to be 100% certain.
A male cat had sprayed my HHR truck on Christmas Eve. I went to go to church and that scent is very strong.
I have no way of knowing exactly the spot.
How to fix it and prevent it? These are feral cats at my home that are girls. This male feral cat is not fixed like my two girls are presently.
Do you think this would work on a bed mattress?
Yes! It definitely will.
Thanks for the info. I used this recipe today and I used apple cider vinegar. I think the brown apple cider is leaving a mark. I have blotted the area over and over. Each time it begins to dry it begins to get dark. Should I wait for it to dry and then go over it with a shampooer??? Thinking I should have used white vinegar. I do think it smells better.
Hmmm, I have never had a problem with the apple cider vinegar coloring my carpet, may be that the mess/stain is very deep set in your carpet and when it dries it is just more visible. You could definitely try a shampooer if you wanted it may do better at sucking up the stain than just blotting it does.
Why distilled water, can I use filtered water?
What essential could be used in place of the Purification? I don’t have the Lavandin or the Myrtle.
I would really recommend getting it if you can, it is a wonderful oil blend. If not the big powerhouses in the blend are the lemongrass, rosemary, and malecula (tea tree). I’d add 3-4 drops of each into the mix.
Would this work on tile flooring as well? I’m most concerned with the smell! I just tried a home remedy with peroxide, baking soda, vinegar, and citrus essential oil. It made the smell worse. I had an older dachshund that lost control of her bowels and she passed. My other dachshund liked to mark his territory because as a result. Now I have a chiweenie and it’s a game of who can mark what.. except when we go to camp NOTHING. No accidents.
So tile can be a bit tricky, especially if it hasn’t been sealed in a while. The urine soaks into the grout and sometimes even underneath the tile and whenever liquid is applied the smell is just awful. I would honestly say try an enzyme based cleaner, like Nature’s Miracle Urine Destroyer https://amzn.to/2LsEznE. DIY is wonderful, but even I have had trouble with tile. Bonus, it will clean your grout! If you have a dark grout though be sure to spot test this, it can bleach out dark grouts. Then I’d say once you have it all cleaned and smell free seal your grout again.
Great post and information. Thank you for sharing!
Could I use filtered water?
Is this a mix and use immediately or how long would the mix be useable in the spray bottle?
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