Christina asked: How do I cat urine from a leather couch? My cat urinated on some clothes that I had sitting on my leather couch. The urine soaked through to the couch, and it smells really bad. I’ve tried all sorts of cleaning products, but yet the smell remains. I’m about to have to throw the couch out. It’s only three years old and was a gift from my hubby, so I really don’t want to do that.
Table of Contents:
Cat urine contains proteins that create the odor and are difficult to remove. There are products available that will remove these proteins and the odor that lingers.
Removing Odors with Commercial Products
You Will Need:
- Nature’s Miracle (available at pet supply stores)
- Spray bottle (if not provided with odor remover)
- Leather conditioner
Steps to Remove the Odor:
- Disassemble the couch and remove the cushions from the covers (if the urine has soaked through to the cushions). If the odor is only on the cover, it is not necessary to remove the covers.
- Soak the cushions with Nature’s Miracle and allow air-dry. Repeat if necessary.
- Spray the covers with Nature’s Miracle and allow them to air dry.
- Once the odor is removed, reassemble the sofa.
- Apply a leather conditioner to the leather to maintain its flexibility.
Removing Odors with a Homemade Remedy
This home remedy does not remove stains, only odor. Always test a small, hidden area of the leather first as hydrogen peroxide can have bleaching effects and may discolor some leathers.
You Will Need:
- Hydrogen peroxide (3%)
- Baking soda
- Liquid soap
- Small non-metal container
- Spray bottle
- Leather conditioner
Steps to Remove the Odor:
- Mix together one quart hydrogen peroxide, ¼ cup baking soda and 1 tablespoon liquid soap in a non-metal container. Do not stir or shake vigorously when mixing. Hydrogen peroxide and baking soda create a large amount of oxygen and over mixing will cause the mixture to overflow out of the container.
- Place the mixture into a spray bottle and gently mist the affected surfaces.
- Blot the areas if needed to remove the moisture.
- Allow the area to dry completely.
- Apply a leather conditioner to the leather to keep it supple and flexible.
Additional Tips and Advice
- The proteins in cat urine are similar to those in skunk spray. Cleaning products used to remove the skunk smell can also be used to remove cat urine odors.
- Cat urine odor must be neutralized with either a commercial product or chemicals that will break up the proteins. Normal washing will remove the stains, but not the odors.
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In your directions for the homemade remedy to get rid of cat smell on a leather sofa, the list of ingredients does not include vinegar, yet the directions say not to mix it too vigorously due to the reaction of the peroxide and vinegar. Is there indeed meant to be vinegar in the mix or is that a typo? If there is meant to be vinegar, how much? I’d like to try this, but am uncertain as to what to mix.
I went to the Nature’s Miracle site and they state that their products are NOT recommended on leather…
I have used Nature’s Miracle on my top-grain leather sofa, and it doesn’t harm it in any way. I follow with leather cleaner and conditioner just to keep it soft, however, I find Nature’s Miracle doesn’t always do what it should, and works better on cloth than leather.
Our cat is 11 years old, and in the last year she has decided that going poop outside her litter box was the way it was going to be. She has pooped on my leather furniture, and I am unable to get the smell out (I need help). This morning she pooped on my rug by the front door and her litter box was completely clean. I am desperate and need help with our cat, I am on the last straw and I am thinking of getting rid of her, but she is my daughter’s cat and my daughter loves her. Please, please help!
Perhaps try changing the type of litter you use. See your vet, as well.
When you get “old” and have “potty” problems – which you will – should your family consider getting rid of you? I think teaching your daughter that when something or someone becomes inconvenient, to do away with them is an excellent life lesson.
My cat started going on our furniture because of a health problem. It turned out he had diabetes and his ability to hold and go was lost. The vet saw that inside the mouth or ears was a yellowish color that indicated the liver had stopped functioning properly. Hence, go where they lay.
Sheila,
Get off your high horse and stop acting holier-than-thou.
What Shelia said rather ticked me off. I love my pets like family but I would get rid of one that continued to spray my home or ruin my house. I would try my best to resolve the problem, but if it couldn’t be resolved, I would definitely get them out of my house. Love them or not, the urine and feces does cause health problems in humans as I happen to know first hand. I was lucky and able to fix my past pets’ problem. To make a comment about a person’s parenting skills because they would get rid of a pet before leaving in a home that reeks of animal waste or having their home and furniture ruined is just lousy. Maybe you don’t mind living in a house that smells like an old liter box, but some of us do. That’s just nasty. When we age and have bathroom problems as adults, it doesn’t ruin our furniture or leave permanent odors or damage. What an ignorant, rude jerk you are.
I followed a very similar “recipe” that I found on another site to clean the urine out of my pillowtop mattress. It smelled perfect afterward. First, I applied the vinegar/water mixture, let it soak in, then dry it out. Next, I used baking soda, then hydrogen peroxide mixed with dishwasher soap (the recipe called for powered but I used liquid just fine) mixed slightly; I soaked it, blotted, and then let it dry. Now, the stain is gone and it smells like “fresh scent.” I didn’t even need to use citrus to mask it.
People with Shelia’s mentality are people who become animal hoarders, or hoarders in general. If something is interfering with your livelihood, get rid of it!
Nature’s Miracle doesn’t work for beans! I used almost a whole bottle and it did nothing. The baking soda and peroxide mix didn’t work either. I’m going to try the vinegar mix too; if that doesn’t work, then I’m afraid that my lovely leather chair is ruined.
One of my cats urinated on my leather sofa in two places. I followed this website’s cleaning instructions and the smell is now completely gone. It is crucial to the cleaning process to follow Nature’s Miracle’s cleaning instructions. I sprayed the leather cover and after 24 hours, there still remained a slight urine odor. So, I repeated the process. This time, after 24 hours, the odor was completely gone. The drying time is important to the process. For me, Nature’s Miracle really worked and saved my leather sofa from being trashed!
I have tried using Nature’s Miracle, but still have lots of work to do. The odor seems to linger and UGH. My leather sofa is also a recliner type – no removable cushions, just a complicated mechanical and leather contraption! I’m having the rug professionally cleaned to remove the smell. Now that it is out of the house, I realize I still have work to do. My kitty did have a urinary tract infection and is better now. Unfortunately, this has been quite an ordeal and a source of terrible stress between my husband and I. As much as I love my kitties, I doubt I’ll ever replace these pets when they are gone.
Bravo Sheila, for saying what any animal lover was thinking! Completely agree with you, and NO, I am not an “animal hoarder.”
To Al’s comment, if something (such as an elderly parent or sick child) is interfering with your livelihood, you would “get rid of” your parent or child??? My cats are my children, and I am currently dealing with my eldest at 22 years old (that’s 104 human years old) urinating on our leather couches at the present time (amongst other feline dementia issues). In searching for a good recipe or product online to remove the urine odor, I have to come across horrid people’s comments like these above about simply casting their cat off to the side because of the “inconvenience.” Hello, we are online searching for ways to fully clean and remove our cats’ urine odor, hence we are not living in urine or feces; obviously we have cleaned up the messes thoroughly and are just looking for a good way to completely remove the odor … I do not think the slight stench will kill you until you can find something to remove it! The thought of “getting rid of” my 22-year-old cat, or any age for that matter, has never and would never cross my mind! Shame on people like you, dogging Sheila’s comment … you should be coming down on Deb! You all are the people I have to read about that dump their poor, helpless, innocent animals off to over-crowded shelters because they don’t like the way their animal looked at them, or some other stupid excuse for ruining that poor animal’s life. I do suppose if you are not fit, apparently, to handle taking care of a pet, including seeking veterinary care when needed and providing plenty of love and attention, then you don’t deserve that pet and it probably would be better off without YOU. But then again, you probably do not deserve to be a parent to a human either. And if Trish “loves her pets like family,” I’d hate to be part of her family! Do something wrong and poof, she’ll get rid of you.
Right on, Sheila, right on. =^.^=