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submitted 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago) by WokePalpatine@hexbear.net to c/askchapo@hexbear.net

So far I've tried oxiclean+cold water, then 92% isopropyl alcohol, then hot water and vinegar solution. Feel like it masks the smell for like 4-6 hours before it comes back. Usually spraying this stuff on pretty heavy, letting it soak for 10 minutes as I agitate it with a scrub brush, then suck it up with a hand shampoo machine. Smell was worse than ever today coming back home with the windows closed. I still can't exactly pinpoint the smell, it might be the underpadding.

Haven't tried vodka, or anything like Resolve Gold, Nature's Miracle, Clorox Urine Remover, Odoban, industrial enzyme-based stuff, etc. yet. I don't give a fuck about the carpet colour so don't worry about anything harming the colour, I care about removing the smell right now.

Edit: tempted to hit it with an enzyme cleaner hard, section by section, and then get an ozone generator off AliExpress and tactical nuke the house afterward with ozone (in moderation). I'm not even sure it's just cat smell, it's like a blend of smells from different places that I think have all combined into one super smell. The front entrance has a rusted metal closet railing on the floor that smells fucking awful. I think it's the coating, using vinegar just makes it worse unlike what people online have said. I've tried to remove it but the screws are rusted to fuck and I'm probably going to have to drill it out. The unused air registers smell really bad too, I've tried dumping cat litter in there and shopvacc-ing it out with very limited success. The carpets have brown stains over them that seem to pop up increasingly every couple weeks. I'm assuming that's cat pee or spraying, the brown plastic legs of the old-ass love seat had a stain like something wet was hitting the legs and then the plastic maybe had dye leech out into the carpet below it a little. I think it's telling that the bedrooms where the cat(s) don't got are mostly unscathed though.

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[-] TraschcanOfIdeology@hexbear.net 15 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

Enzymatic cleaner of any kind are usually available in pet shops or specially cleaning outlets.

If you can get your hands on an ozone cleaning machine, that's also a good option, it's the thing hotels use to deodorize rooms that stink of cigarettes or other things, it gets rid of most smells. Just make sure to LEAVE THE ROOM WHEN THE MACHINE IS RUNNING, AND LET THE ROOM VENTILATE FOR A WHILE BEFORE ENTERING IT AGAIN. OZONE WILL SUFFOCATE YOU, AND YOU WILL NOT NOTICE.

[-] mrbeano@lemmy.zip 9 points 6 days ago

I had to clean a rental once with a cat-pee-soaked corner. Nature's Miracle was the only thing that seemed to actually remove the odor instead of covering (had already tried carpet shampooer, vinegar, and loud cursing first). I did have to pull up the carpet edges and spray both the padding & floor board, and it took about a week with daily upkeep to get everything (also leaving the carpet pulled back to let it all dry in between treatments)

I really should've made it a problem for the landlord, for renting out a biohazard, but I was young & just glad to have a place

[-] Infamousblt@hexbear.net 6 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

Enzyme cleaner and a carpet cleaning vacuum. You can rent one from home Depot or if you're very lucky and live in a cool city with a tool library you might be able to rent one for free. Basically just follow the instructions on the enzyme cleaner. It may take a few treatments. Then use a carpet cleaning vacuum to suck all the residue out. This may take a few passes as well.

Source: I have a cat whose hobby is anxiety and peeing on everything and have had to do this many times to rugs and couches and shit. No I am not abusing my cat she is lovely and very well cared for she just has anxiety and pees on shit when her environment changes.

Im so used to your posting i was sure this was going to circle back to something about your wife until it didn't

[-] Abracadaniel@hexbear.net 5 points 6 days ago

Joining the crowd here to say enzymatic cleaners are your best bet, nothing works better.

[-] chgxvjh@hexbear.net 5 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

Cat pee is often visible under UV.

I used to use vinegar once, bleach another time. But maybe just because I know it's a bad idea to mix the two and I like living on the edge.

(Don't do that, not on a carpet, that's sounds potentially really dangerous)

Never had to deal with carpets the enzymes might be your best bet. The piss crystallizes like kidney stones and takes endurance to redissolve.

The cat might also keep pissing on it while you are away.

[-] Omegamint@hexbear.net 2 points 6 days ago

It’s a specific wavelength of black light that you want (365nm-395nm, and yes it makes a difference)

[-] microfiche@hexbear.net 4 points 6 days ago

Carpet needs to be lifted and the pad needs treated as well. It's probably the foam holding urine in.

[-] Juice@midwest.social 3 points 6 days ago

If you can get access to an ozone machine, it'll knock it out in one go

[-] Omegamint@hexbear.net 2 points 6 days ago

I honestly wonder how true this is, it’s the only thing I’ve not really tried (but luckily my problem cat, who is fixed, just sprays in the spring and it’s not super hard to find where she’s doing it and use enzyme). I do wanna buy a machine and blast my room though.

[-] Juice@midwest.social 1 points 6 days ago

My first exposure to the ozone machine was when I was detailing cars. Some young guy was transporting some gasoline in the backseat of his car, and the gasoline spilled. We tried everything to get it out. Finally the boss found someone with an ozone machine and and we ran it in the car for about an hour. When we checked back, the gas smell was completely gone.

Later when I worked at a paint store we had a customer who used them for cat piss. Typically, because the urine soaks into the carpet, the pad, and the subfloor, the carpet and pad need replaced, and the subfloor needs coated with a shellac-based primer, as it is one of the only things that will seal in the odor. This contractor I believe used the ozone machine instead. Or at least, he used it in conjunction with other steps in the process. I dont totally recall.

I dont know that an ozone machine would be an easy, one step, no fuss solution. The fact that it knocked out the gasoline smell, admittedly after a fair amount of cleaning in which the gas smell was still full strength by my memory, leads me to believe that with cleaning the carpet with a good enzyme cleaner, and then following with the ozone machine, you could get much higher abatement of the odor than with just a cleaner, if not total abatement.

It can be tricky to find someone who has one though. I'd def try it out first before purchasing one, or see if you can rent one somewhere. They really are incredible. My understanding is that the ozone dislodges the odor particles from virtually any surface. I'm not an expert but I think it is a solid avenue to investigate

[-] WokePalpatine@hexbear.net 3 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

Yeah, they're like $80 off AliExpress here meanwhile rental is about $85 for 2 days for an ozone generator. My dad's a chronic smoker and I'm tempted to get one so he can nuke his travel trailer too since he ruined that with cigarette smell.

[-] Omegamint@hexbear.net 2 points 6 days ago

You can buy them online, they aren’t that expensive. Funny enough I also worked at a car rental company, where I learned about using the ozone machine as the final maneuver when all else fails. I’ve been wanting to try one on my room but haven’t gotten around to it (and it’s gonna be an ordeal as ozone isn’t good to breathe in, so it’ll take sealing off my room as much as possible as well as keeping the cats far away)

[-] NephewAlphaBravo@hexbear.net 3 points 6 days ago

yeah get some odoban or whatever other enzyme stuff and really saturate the carpet down to the padding, pull it up to reach under there if you have to, that shit just doesn't come out any other way

[-] SchillMenaker@hexbear.net 1 points 6 days ago

It's worth trying hydrogen peroxide, I've had good luck using it to knock out soaked-in urine smells. It's definitely got the potential to mess with colors on fabric but if you don't care about that it's a cheap option. It's also phenomenal at removing blood stains.

[-] WokePalpatine@hexbear.net 1 points 6 days ago

Is that not what oxiclean is? I thought it was basically powdered hydrogen peroxide?

[-] SchillMenaker@hexbear.net 1 points 6 days ago

It's powdered sodium carbonate. Hydrogen peroxide breaks down into free oxygen radicals in a similar way that ozone does, it's one of the most reactive states that exists and will bombard just about anything.

this post was submitted on 21 Jun 2026
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