Dog Pee

Updated on July 27, 2010
A.B. asks from Anoka, MN
11 answers

i bought a couch off of craigslist and the seller did not disclose the full condition of the couch. she had dogs and i now know they had urinated on the couch. (good thing i only paid $60 for it!!) it is made out of microfiber. i have gotten it professionally cleaned twice and he used an irradicator. this helped with the smell but 2 of the cushions are still very stinky. i love this couch and would like to try to save it. any recommendations would be appreciated. (febreeze also does not work) my last resort is to replace the foam in the cushions. the covers zip off (can those be dry cleaned?) thanks!

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S.B.

answers from Sioux City on

Unfortunately, you will probably have to replace the foam rubber cushion inserts. I would replace all of them though. Take the covers to the cleaners and ask their advice. Good luck.

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S.P.

answers from Minneapolis on

Try soaking/saturating the foam cushions in Nature's Miracle (or similar) - that's a product with enzymes in it that eat organic matter (including urine). And then dry clean the covers.

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M.H.

answers from Atlanta on

A natural enzyme cleaner is the only thing that will work on bodily fluids of any kind. I use Solumel and it gets the odor out of everything I've ever tried it on. The Febreeze is not an odor eliminator as it says. It actually has a chemical in it that affects your olfactory glands and tricks your brain into not recognizing the smell. It's a pretty dangerous product as well.

If you can't get the smell out I'd go with changing out the cushions. I just priced cushions and reupholstering my couch and it's probably going to cost you about what you paid for the sofa. If you love it, it will be worth the price.

M.

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D.K.

answers from State College on

Not sure if this would work, but try a pet enzyme cleaner and separate the foam and covers to do this, so it can really soak into the foam. I would try saturating the foam in something like nature's miracle and blotting up what you can and then letting it air dry. Color test it on the fabric and try it there too if the covers smell. Check with your dry cleaner or if there is a tag on the sofa about washing the covers. You can also try using a 50/50 solution of vinegar and water to get the smell out. It sounds like the cushions were probably really saturated with urine and some of it is probably old. Good luck getting it cleaned and you may be right that the foam needs to be replaced.

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C.H.

answers from Dallas on

I would have considered asking for my money back as soon as I noticed the smell.

Barring that, if the cushions still stink, can you separate them from the foam and smell the foam? Air out the covers, maybe partly in the sun, to see if that smell subsides. Or try their suggestion of Nature's Miracle on the covers.

Replace the foam. If you have to unsew and resew them, some upholsters will do that and replace your foam for about $100 area.

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L.S.

answers from Minneapolis on

I had a naughty dog that insisted on peeing on our couch. The dog was given to a friend who loved her in spite of her "problem" and I got rid of all the smell with vinegar.

I literally soaked the cushions with a 50/50 white vinegar/water solution and then sucked them mostly dry with a wet vac. Then finished drying them outside. When they were dry, there was no vinegar smell and no urine smell.

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L.C.

answers from Duluth on

I have a microfiber couch with covers that zip off. It is fine to take them off and throw them in the washer. Mine has a padded cushion top in the cover and I washed them last week in the machine. It worked wonders and they came out fine, I dried them outside since the dryer could shrink them.
Hopefully someone else has a suggestion on a product to help rid the urine smell but they will be fine in the washer!

P.W.

answers from Dallas on

Nature's Miracle for sure.

Febreeze chokes me! Read the label.

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R.K.

answers from Appleton on

Dry cleaning won't take out the smell. Vinegar should work but the pee has been absorbed into the foam and it won't come out. Since foam is a petroleum product it is very exensive it may not be worth the cost to save the couch. I don't shop on Craig's list so I don't know the rules but I would think you should be able to contact the seller and ask for your money back.

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T.P.

answers from Boston on

Definitely Nature's Miracle. You can find it in pet stores. Try and pull off the microfiber covers from the cushions and wash them in a sanitize cyle. Good Luck. Or if all doesn't work get a pretty sofa cover.

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D.W.

answers from Indianapolis on

If you can find the name of the manufacturer on the sofa anywhere, I'd call them and ask about recommendations for the microfiber. We had a microfiber sofa that could only be spot cleaned with water. It looked horrible after a few years.

But, they may have something on their website or a customer service number to call. I'd definitely try to replace the cushions, if possible to save the sofa.

Good luck!

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