No matter how well your dog is trained, dog accidents happen – perhaps your best friend is under the weather or you have a new puppy. As a pet parent, you need to forgive, move on and clean up the mess. Now you can say goodbye to pet accidents on hardwood floors with these tips on how to clean dog urine from hardwood floors.
If the accident happens on a hardwood floor, you’ll need to clean up the mess and the smell. Sometimes the human nose might not pick up the scent, but dogs will, as they have much more sensitive noses.
It’s important to remove the smell of urine so that your dogs don’t return to the same area and have another “accident”.
There are a few ways to clean dog urine (and other mistakes) from hardwood floors.
Store-Bought Solutions:
Simple Solution Hard Floor Pet Stain and Odor Remover
This product contains a complex enzymatic formula to remove tough stains, odors and odor-causing bacteria from hard surface areas. Apparently, it also prevents dogs from repeat marking and works on old stains. It’s made to tackle pet vomit, urine, and feces.
Nature’s Miracle Hard Floor Cleaner
Nature’s Miracle has a large variety of stain and odor removal products. You might want to try their Nature’s Miracle Hard Floor Stain and Odor Remover or the Nature’s Miracle Stain and Odor Remover.
Stink Free Hardfloor Pet Stain & Odor Remover
STINK FREE Instant Urine Odor Remover for Pet Urine is an aggressive, multi-functional (non-enzyme) formula that works instantly on contact.
We were surprised it was a non-enzyme formula, but it has great reviews on Amazon, so we decided to include this as an option.
Apparently, it eliminates both the odor and its source through the process of oxidation, which breaks down and changes chemical compounds into odorless and inert substances. It’s also powerful, fast acting, non-toxic, non-flammable, and biodegradable.
How to Clean Dog Urine From Hardwood Floors With Homemade Solutions:
White Vinegar and Water:
White vinegar is a common natural household cleanser. It’s acidic and dissolves mineral salt deposits, a basic component of dog urine.
Because of it’s strength, dilute the white vinegar by at least half. Use a sponge or mop to clean the area thoroughly.
Baking Soda and Water:
If the white vinegar and water solution does not work, you can increase the odor removing strength by adding baking soda to the white vinegar and water solution.
Pour baking soda onto the area first, then add the diluted vinegar-and-water mixture.
Note that it will likely make a fizzing sound. Baking soda has odor-absorbency properties and can help with particularly tough odors.
Alternatively, stir baking soda into the water until it forms a paste, and scrub the paste into the affected area. Let it sit for several hours, and rinse it with fresh water.
Lemon and Salt:
Pour some lemon juice into a bowl and add a handful of salt. Use the salt and lemon juice solution to scrub into the urine-affected spot.
Important Tips:
- Remember to always test an inconspicuous spot on your hardwood floor first to ensure the cleaning solution you use will not damage your hardwood floors!
Hardwood floors have many different types of finishes and may react differently depending on the solution.
- Be patient – to remove dog urine odor completely, the process may need to be repeated several times over a few days or even weeks.
- Never use Windex or ammonia to clean a urine spot. Dog urine is partially made of ammonia, and thus, if you clean with it, your dog will think it is ok to go back and mark the spot.
- No matter how frustrating in terms of time, always let the wood dry thoroughly before repeating applications of a cleaner.
- As with all household chemical projects, you should wear rubber gloves.
Check out our other post on How to Clean Up Dog Urine from Carpet.
