Has your cat been peeing on the couch? The discovery of wet or dry cat pee can ruin your day. You can’t put the couch (even the cushions) in the washing machine, so what can you do? Here are some tips to clean cat pee from the couch and figure out why your cat is doing this unacceptable behavior.
Soft surfaces are notoriously difficult to clean because they are porous. Because liquids can soak in deep, your cleaning job has to go beyond what you can see on the surface. As deep inside as the cat pee has gone into the couch, that’s how deeply you have to clean it.
The fixing of the cat peeing on the couch problem is a two part process. First you have to completely clean the area, then you have to work on figuring out why your cat is doing this.
If you want to safely neutralize cat urine smell, we recommend:
Cleaning the Mess:
- If the pee is fresh, blot up as much of the liquid as you can with lots of paper towels. Get every last drop if you can. Do not rub or scrub. This will just spread the urine and possibly do more damage to the surface of your couch.
- Use an enzymatic cleaner that is formulated for cat urine. Cat urine is very concentrated and a cleaner made for dogs (or just a generalized ‘pets’ formula) will probably not be good enough.
- Completely saturate the area of the stain. I mean completely. You are not just treating what you see on the surface. You have to allow the product to go deep into the couch in order to reach all of the urine. It is better to use too much enzyme cleaner than too little. You may want to compress the cushion or sides of the couch (whatever the cat has peed on) to make sure the cleaner is really getting down in there, not just sitting on the surface.
- Allow the enzyme cleaner to sit in contact with the peed on area for a minimum of one hour. However, longer is better. Enzyme cleaners work well, but it is best to give them a chance to do their thing.
- Cover the area with a plastic bag or large sheet of tin foil. You don’t want the enzyme cleaner to wick up into the covering (as it would if you put a towel or newspaper down). Covering the cleaner makes sure that no one accidentally sits in the wet spot, and it slows the rate of evaporation. Again, the purpose is to keep the product in contact with the peed-on surfaces.
- After a few hours, you may wish to repeat the process of blotting heavily, saturating again and covering. If one cleaning is good, two will be better.
- Be patient. Allow the cleaner to get in contact with the urine and do its job. To be sure you can still use the couch while the product is drying, you can put a towel on top of the foil or bag. Do not attempt to speed up the drying process with a hairdryer. This kind of intense and direct heat can denature the enzymes and cause them to stop working permanently.
Now your couch has been cleaned of urine odors and your cat is feeling safe, secure and loved again. Go back to appreciating your beloved pet for the special and unique little creature that they are.