Urine Stain Removal

Urine stains in clothes and carpets can produce unpleasant odors. If left for a while, they fade, but you can still smell their presence. Here are some tips to find and get rid of the urine stains for good.

If the urine stain is fresh, on carpeting or clothing, you can quickly and easily deal with it with minimum effort. On clothing, apply a paste of baking soda and water to the stain, and gently rub away the stain. Next, soak the clothing in the sink in a mixture of vinegar and water. Simply fill the sink with water and add 1/4 cup of vinegar. Soak the clothes in this for half an hour. Rinse the clothing well, then check to see if the stain is still there. If the stain is still there, dab at the stain with dish detergent until it disappears.

In carpets, to find a urine stain if it has dried, obtain a black light. Turn off the lights and shine the black light on your carpet. Any urine stains will glow whitish under a black light. Once you've found the stain, blot at the stain using paper towels dipped in a solution of water with a few drops of dish detergent. Blot away as much of the stain as you can, then spray at the stain with a commercial stain remover (read the package to be sure that it will work on urine, and don't forget to test anything you use on your carpet in an inconspicuous area or on a carpet sample).

You can also use a mixture of equal parts water, vinegar, and rubbing alcohol. If you don't have rubbing alcohol, try a mixture of one part vinegar and three parts water. Saturate the stained area, and then press firmly on the stain with paper towels. Place a thick layer of paper towels or towels down on the treated stain, and weigh the towels or paper towels down with books or boxes. Wait a few hours, then remove everything from the area. The stain should be gone, as well as the odor.

If the stain is not gone, try spraying the stained area with straight vinegar, blotting away as much of the stain as you can, then rinsing the area by spraying it with pure water.

You can also make a paste of a little bit of water mixed into baking soda. Lay this paste on top of the stain, working it slightly into the carpet fibers. Let the paste dry for 6 hours to a full day, and then just vacuum the baking soda away.

Do not use bleach on urine stains. Urine contains ammonia, which reacts with bleach to produce poisonous gases.