Super Easy steps to Get Rid of Pet Urine Odors from Concrete

Concrete floors are known for being resistant and long-lasting, but what people don’t know is that concrete is highly porous, which means that any liquid that lays on it will be absorbed and will require special measures to clean it properly.

Cleaning pet urine odor from concrete will take more than the average cleaning set. The first step is preparing the floor by cleaning, the second step is to apply a proper product to do the cleaning, and then the third step is to rinse it all.

This is also – and especially true – for pet urine. Once your pet pees in your concrete floor you’ll smell it forever, unless you do something to remove the urine from the concrete pores.

This happens because of the crystals that settle and saturate on the concrete and won’t be removed if you don’t use the right product.

Preparing the Floor

To remove the pet urine odor you won’t go directly for it, as counterintuitive as it may seem. You can follow the cleaning process I described in this post or go for a simpler one by scrubbing water and soap.

It’s important to clean the floor before cleaning the pet urine because the products used to clean pet urine will make spots of different colors on the floor. This cleanses just has to take the superficial dirty of the floor.

Even though the cleaning doesn’t need to be deep, there are some products you may want to avoid either because they don’t work or because they’ll make the smell worst.

Bleach isn’t the best option because its action is just to disinfect and it’s risky to you if you don’t protect yourself from its use. Bleaching isn’t making any difference in the pet urine stain.

Bleach isn’t also safe for you since it could cause scary effects from breathing or touching your skin.

Ammonia shouldn’t also be an option for your pet urine stain cleaning. Ammonia is one of the components of pet urine and will make the odor worst. It will also attract your pet to urine on the same spot again – that’s not what you want.

Soap and water will make good work preparing the floor, but won’t remove the pet urine odor.

The first step is to know where are the stains, for this, you can use a black UV light. Pet urine will shine yellow, blue, or green. When this happens mark the spots with chalk. In case this method fails you can use your own sense of smell, which also works but takes a lot more time.

Cleaning

Cleaning pet urine stains is basically about choosing the best product. Vinegar is the easiest to get option but isn’t always the one that will work the best. The best options for this kind of cleaning are Enzymatic cleaners and Ionic cleaners. Each of them has its particularities.

As a first attempt you can try using 2 parts of vinegar diluted in 1 part of hot water, pour it, and scrub waiting a while to rinse it, at least 24 hours. This should work on superficial stains but you may want to test in a small portion of your floor before applying it to all its extension since it could cause unwanted patterns.

For a more efficient cleaning [amazon link=”B00CKFL93K” title=”Enzymatic cleaners”/] work fine, they’re made of bacteria that act on the uric crystals on the concrete that is responsible for the odor breaking it down into smaller bits and making it possible to rinse it away easily.

When choosing your Enzymatic cleaner make sure you pick one specific for pet urine since other kinds will only dissolve for a while and you’d have the odor again within a few months. Also, pay attention to not choose one that requires mixing with a carpet shampoo for these may not be so effective to the concrete as well.

Applying the product has no secret at all, spray it over the spot and set it on the concrete for several hours according to the instructions of the manufacturer, which could include cover it in plastic as well. You’ll want to keep the enzyme wet as long as possible to increase its power.

Before letting dry completely make the UV test again or the sniff test to make sure the procedure worked and your floor is odor-free.

Keeping your Floor Smelling Good

After working on your concrete floor to make it smell good again you don’t want to have pet urine odor on it again, and I’m here to tell you how to have it for good.

Once the concrete floor is cleaned and is free from pet urine odor sealing it is the best way to keep the good smell on it while being animal-friendly.

Acrylics, silicates, and polyurethanes are good options for long-term sealing. The sealing process will be very similar to the first steps to cleaning pet urine odor – cleaning.

It’s important to keep it spotless, follow the instructions of the manufacturer when applying the sealing and take all the safety measures to avoid accidents since some of them can be toxic for humans and animals. Nor you or your pets should be around the concrete floor while it’s drying.

It’ll be easier for you to seal if you separate the floor into sections and work each of them separately from the bottom to the front, always keeping it ventilated to avoid respiratory issues.

Sealing isn’t only making your concrete floor more pet-friendly, it will also make it easier to clean so you just have to worry about following all the step-by-step I described in this post once. It’ll also avoid the bad smell coming back since the sealer will form a layer above the concrete.

Conclusion

Pets are joy givers and we are always trying to make our homes more and more adapted to them, this includes making our concrete floors urine-proof. If yours still aren’t you can simply follow this guide and get rid of the odor before it.

When thinking about a concrete sealer pay attention so you don’t choose one that’s hard to clean so you can keep your floor always spotless.

Keep a regular cleaning schedule since animal urine is highly concentrated and becomes strong once settled, possibly causing asthma, allergies, and other respiratory problems but having a regular cleaning schedule you’ll be left only with the perks of having a pet.