Have a pet stained sofa? Here is the best way to get Pet Urine Odor out of a Microfiber Couch!
Looking to get pet urine smells out of your couch? You are in the right place! If you are looking for more great pet ideas (we have a cat and a dog!) check out all of our pet projects here.
I have a problem. I love my little kitty cat; he is the fluffiest, snuggliest little baby I know, but he has decided that my couch cushion is his litter box.
Any time I leave him alone, he pees on the cushion. It's weird because he very rarely does it anywhere else!
I'm working on getting him to stop- I've used pheromones, I lock him up while I'm gone during the day- but if you have any other suggestions, please let me know.
I have taken him to the vet and they said nothing is wrong with him- it is just behavioral. Lucky me.
I'm really sad because I feel like my couch is being ruined. So, I combed the internet for cleaning techniques to deodorize the sofa.
My couch is microfiber and from Ashley Furniture. I desperately want a new couch, but am afraid that he will ruin it immediately.
Health hazards associated with pet urine
Breathing in tons of pet urine has been shown to cause respiratory issues including asthma, and eye and skin irritation if you are exposed. It also is stinky and can make furniture feel permanently wet. It's best to clean it as well as you can.
What is the best urine cleaner for a couch?
Baking soda + white vinegar is a natural way to clean pee stained upholstery. Plus, you probably already have it on hand!
For tougher stains, an enzyme cleaner like Nature's Miracle is your best bet.
How do you prevent a pet from peeing on the couch?
Here are a few tips to help discourage your pet from peeing on the couch.
- Take them to the vet to be sure they don't have a UTI or medical issue
- Give them toys and exercise so they are not bored
- Take dogs out more often or clean the cat's litter box more often
- Look for things that might be stressing them out and try to resolve the issues
- Consider containing your pet in another room when you are not home
- Consider trying a pee deterrent spray
Process for getting pee smell out of couch
So, in the meantime, here is what I do to clean the couch cushions:
- As soon as you discover the "accident," use paper towels or a white cloth to soak up as much as possible.
Luckily, Cesar usually doesn't go very much- another clue to me that this is just behavioral. - As soon as possible, fully saturate the area with an enzyme cleaner. I like Nature's Miracle.
Follow the directions on the bottle, but some say to use a white rag to soak up the moisture after 5-10 minutes. - If you want to do a deep cleaning, take the cushion covers off of the couch & run them through the washer with 1 cup of vinegar. Unfortunately my cushion covers are sewn to the foam cushion. You can't take them off without ruining the couch.
- Take the cushions off of the sofa. I set mine on my screened porch. Spray with a mixture of ½ white vinegar, ½ warm water. I sprayed until they were very wet all over.
5. Then, sprinkle the entire cushion with baking soda. I sprinkled heavily, using a whole box on the 2 cushions.
6. Let sit for at least an hour- I left mine over night.
7. Vacuum well. I used the brush attachment and vacuumed slowly, twice in each direction (vertical & horizontal).
Then I placed the cushions back on the couch.
8. Optional- I scotch guarded my whole couch again once I got it clean.
This will hopefully help in the future (it was also scotch guarded when I bought it about a year and a half ago.)
9. Finally, I sprayed the whole thing heavily in Febreeze. I like the super odor eliminating kind, especially for pet odors.
That's it! That's how to get dog smell out of microfiber couch.
My couch seriously smells and feels 10,000 times better! I am very happy with this system- it took a little time but was physically easy and used all ingredients I already had. Most importantly, it worked!
How to Get Pet Urine Odor out of a Microfiber Couch
This is the best and easiest way to get pet urine smells out of a sofa or couch. It works well on all furniture and carpet or rugs, too!
Materials
- Paper towels
- Enzyme cleaner
- White vinegar
- Baking soda
- Scotch guard
- Air freshener
Tools
- Spray bottle
- Washing machine
- Vacuum
Instructions
- Use paper towels to soak up as much of the moisture as possible.
- Fully saturate the area with an enzyme cleaner, following the directions on the bottle.
- If you have removable cushion covers - take the cushion covers off of the couch & run them through the washer with 1 cup of vinegar.
- Spray cushions with a mixture of ½ white vinegar, ½ warm water
- Sprinkle the entire cushion heavily with baking soda.
- Let sit for at least an hour.
- Vacuum clean.
- Optional- apply scotch guard to help protect in the future.
- Spray with Febreeze or odor eliminator of choice.
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FAQs
How do I get dog pee out of a microfiber couch?
Apply a stain remover to the couch. You can use white vinegar + baking soda or Nature's Miracle. Let sit and then vacuum thoroughly.
How do you get the pee smell out of a couch that has been dried?
You can still use white vinegar or nature's miracle to remove stains from a couch even if the pee stains are dry. However, you are going to need to scrub harder to get the dried stains up.
If that doesn't work, try a steam cleaner. This will loosen up the stains and make them easier to remove.
How do you clean a badly stained microfiber couch?
Use a stain remover to blot at the stains as much as possible. Vinegar + baking soda can be a great option using things from your kitchen. After scrubbing it, vacuum the couch to help finalize the clean.
What cleans urine out of a couch?
Nature's Miracle is your best bet for neutralizing urine smells in upholstery.
Professional cleaning
If you don't want to mess with cleaning yourself or simply cannot get it clean enough, it might be time to hire help. Most carpet cleaning companies will also deep clean sofas and upholstered furniture.
Do you have any tips for cleaning pet odors? What about for keeping them from being bad in the first place?
Click here to pin this process to your Pinterest board
**Edited to add: if you have further problems with deep pet stains (especially in carpets or upholstery), we love our Bissell spot clean stain remover.
Check out the (unsolicited/not-sponsored/we genuinely bought and love it) review here!
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diana says
This works great. Thanks for the help!!!
CharlestonCrafted says
I'm so glad it worked for you! I know how frustrating the whole thing is!
Kim says
I had to buy a plastic carpet runner and turn them upside down (nubs up) to keep my cat off my couch. I hate to do this but I can't afford to buy a new couch and washing the covers cause wear and tare and frustration after a while.
Morgan says
thats a good idea! My dad has put upside down (sticky side up) tape on the hood of his car to keep the cat off! (he loved to throw up on the convertible roof, haha)
John says
Just reading thru this for some additional tips. Thought I would give and take. When using enzymatic cleaner, if it smells WORSE after use, that is GOOD. (It means the enzymes are breaking down the stuff and ammonia and more is being released.) Not many websites tell you what to do next, and I've not seen it on a bottle of enzyme cleaner anywhere. However, I found it on an obscure website, and sure enough, works like a charm. Cleaning vinegar. After the enzymatic has dried, simply mist heavily with vinegar and then let air out for a good hour or two. The vinegar naturally dissipates, leaving you with zero smell. Under $2 a half gallon jug at any box store (mart, depot, etc). I hated chemistry, but supposedly, the science of how it combines with the ammonia to neutralize it is pretty simple. The enzyme stuff is essential though, need that to quickly break down to ammonia first. Worked great for ferret smells for me! (And those are STINKY critters.) Hope this helps some folks!
Christy says
White vinegar or apple cidar??
Sean says
White vinegar!
Randi says
I need to do this as my kitty has just used my nee couch as a toilet. I am terrified though because my last couch was microfiber and when it was cleaned, there were water spots EVERYWHERE! How do I get rid of the water spots or avoid them all together!? Help! 🙂
Sean says
We didn't get any water spots when we did it. With the cleaner and the baking soda to soak it up, we were able to vacuum everything up. It worked out well for us.
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Lacey says
This post is a Christmas miracle. Thank you for sharing your brilliant advice, you saved our couch and me a little piece of mind before the holiday shindigs start!
Morgan says
I'm so glad! I 100 percent understand your frustrations and hope this helps a lot!
Joy says
Best thing I've used to avoid pet urine stains? Plastic shower curtain! Cats usually hate plastic so they won't jump on it much less pee. And if they do, it's plastic! Much easier clean up! Saved my bed from my cat with a major attitude problem! Good luck!
CharlestonCrafted says
Thanks for the tip! I know my dad has used packing tape - sticky side up!
Joy says
lol sounds like a good plan but messy clean up! My cat was a Persian. So long hair covered in duct tape sounds like someone is getting their butt kicked by a cat! Hope you figure out what's going on and life can go back to a urine free couch soon!
Joy says
lol sounds like a good plan but messy clean up! My cat was a Persian. So long hair covered in packing tape sounds like someone is getting their butt kicked by a cat! Hope you figure out what's going on and life can go back to a urine free couch soon!
Reta says
The problem that I'm having is that my cushions do not remove from my couch. It's all sewn together. I've used enzyme cleaners over and over again. But she still keeps going back. How do you keep her from continuing to do it?
CharlestonCrafted says
If they do not remove then I would clean them directly on the couch. Enzyme cleaners, vinegar, baking soda, and applying a lot of pressure to try to absorb the moisture out of there. I have tried laying tin foil or tape sticky side up on the cushions to keep the cat off! Good luck.
alex says
I have a sectional and my cat speed on the recliner part. I can't take it apart or take it outside 🙁 I just got my sectional a month ago so I'm really trying to take care of it. I don't know what to do anymore. Help please
CharlestonCrafted says
All you can do is spray it (soak it!) with the urine remover, then use rags to try to soak up all the moisture. Then I add the vinegar and baking soda, let sit, and vacuum. The best thing you can do is try to keep the cat off the chair - easier said than done I know. Try packing tape sticky side up or tin foil on the spots he likes to jump on - landing on that a few times will scare them away! Good luck.
alex says
I'm going to try that tonight. I've already soaked it up a little with water and vinegar but the next day the smell was still there. I just got some baking soda and I'm going to definitely use it later. Thank you for your advice. I'm going to do both, the tape and tin foil. Lol thank you so much again. My family and couch will be very grateful. 🙂
Shannon says
Bubble wrap!! Cats hate it, and it's everywhere, easily moved and easy to put back.
Sean says
love this idea!
Alyssa says
I actually saw a suggestion on another website that if you can't take it outside, use a hairdryer to dry the cushions out. Also, maybe you could move it to a section of your house that gets sun
Ellie says
This problem is very familiar. I too lock up my cat when I'm gone. -- It looks like I have a similar couch and I too thought the covers were sewn on. After investigating more, I found when you unzip the covers, there are six ribbons that run through the cushions and are fastened by plastic bobbins . All you have to is take out the six plastic bobbins. Kinda hard at first. I hope it works, really helps to treat the cushion directly.
Morgan says
That's a great tip! Hope you got it treated well!
Sarah says
The root of your problem lies with your cat. I assume your cat is male, his name is Ceasar? Male cats & dogs like to mark their territory, claim it as theirs with their scent. There are two ways cats do this, pee or rub their whiskers on it. Marking decreases after neutering and can completely stop. The important thing is to remove the smell completely, which reduces the likelihood of remarking.
CharlestonCrafted says
Thanks for the tips! He is a neutered male. We got him to stop peeing on things by separating him from the dog - he was definitely marking his territory! Cesar lives with my parents now and is an "only child"
Vanessa says
I am struggling with the same issues, except I have a 4 month old puppy. He has finally learned that he can climb on the couch, but doesn't know how to jump off. So if we are not paying attention, he pees on the couch. The cushions are sewn on, but it is modular so I can clean each section individually. We've been using a really good enzyme spray from the pet store, so tonight I'm going to try the vinegar and baking soda! I will share my results in a few days.
Morgan says
yikes, good luck! let me know how it goes.
d says
Awesome post.
Beth says
My cat started peeing in the dog beds and when he finally hit our couch we took him to the vet. He had a UTI, but even after he was cleared of the infection, kept ruining dog bed after dog bed. Soooo frustrating!
I stumbled across a website that commented on how cats don't like to eat where they use the bathroom. So I started feeding him his wet food (that he loves and gobbles down) right in the dog beds in the same spot that he peed in multiple times.
I have been doing this for about 3 weeks and he hasn't peed in the dog bed yet!
Morgan says
that's so smart I love the advice! Hope it stays better.
Channing says
I'm glad I found this because I'm in serious need of help! Question though..........what if my dog peed on more than the cushions, will this technique work on the whole couch?
Morgan says
You can certainly try. The more of a mess there is, the more you will need to clean it, but if it is a similar material, I don't see why it wouldn't work. Good luck!
Kendall says
Will the baking soda be okay on dark couches?
Sean says
Yeah - you vacuum it up so it shouldn't matter what color the couch is! The baking soda absorbs moisture, but then you totally remove it from the couch. Good luck!
Monique says
Any tips for when I can't remove my couch cushions? My cat urinated in the crease between the end of the cushion and the back of the couch, but my cushions aren't removable. I've used enzyme removers and the smell is still overpowerimg.
Morgan says
This same process should work - just work it into the crease of the couch and maybe use a hair dryer to help dry it. Good luck!
Wendy says
My cats have caused thousands of dollars in damages. My male neutered cat sprayed the heck out of my apartment so I got rid of him. Here I am with that cats mom for 6 years still destroying things. Mattresses, couches, carpets. I have tried everything and natures miracle didn't work for me. The only thing that works is I have to catch the pee while it's still warm. Dump a gallon of apple cider vinegar. Let it soak in and when it dries the next day let baking soda absorb. I had one sectional professionally cleaned and it got it out. But here I am again in this sectional pee situation and am screwed. Dumped the vinegar and didn't work. Called pros didn't work. I'm just gonna throw a pet couch protector over it so hopefully the smell is trapped under it. I lock my cat up when I'm not around and she is never allowed on our bed or the couch again.
Morgan says
Wow! This is a horrible situation. I am glad to hear that you are working on it and not giving up your cats.
Tonia says
Cat got into my husband van last weekend and peed and sprayed it. I researched a bit and found peroxide fixed it, so I sprayed it on straight and let it dry then sprayed again and gone. Black light vanished, scent vanished, even after a hot day in the sun closed up no smell...it is gone. Tried it on chair cushions on my porch...success odor gone.
Kellie says
So all you had to do was spray the area with peroxide, allow it to dry and repeat once more?
Lorraine says
I have a female cat and after she peed 3 times on my microfiber love seat I took her to the vet and found out she had a UTI. But she has peed other places too, on a bare floor, on a small rug we put shoes on and got the shoes and on bed pillows and the rug area under and near the love seat! 🙁 But, the love seat has no places to take the cushions out and I am ready to buy a new one. I use the vinegar/water solution and baking soda, but in reverse. I am going to try the vinegar/water solution and the baking soda, but I can't take off any cushions. Should I keep trying to get it out?? So bummed....
Morgan says
You should definitely try. unfortunately if it was peed on many times it can be nearly impossible to get out completely. I hope that your cat gets better and that this method works for you!
Lorraine says
Thank you Morgan! I tried Natures Miracle for cats, urine destroyer. I don't smell it now or as bad. But... She actually peed on our couch last night too! Grrrr! I read stress will cause it too. Going to keep trying the natures miracle and use plastic on the furniture. Thanks again!
Wendy says
I still get updates for this post. On our sectional that didn't have removable cushions I dumped pure apple cider vinegar and then baking soda when it dried, had it professionally cleaned. Didn't work. We ended up having to toss part of the sectional and the other piece ended up being smelly for months. I kept it covered with a blanket and would try every month to clean it and finally the smell is gone. My cat used to get chronic uti's due to dry food diet. After January I switched her to all wet food diet (as that is a cats natural diet in the wild) and no peeing or uti's since! Switch to wet food.
Lorraine says
Thanks you Wendy! I used that first but ended up buying Natures Miracle for cats, urine destroyer and it seems to take out the smell or most of it. I may apply again. But my cat peed onthe couch last night! I couldn't believe it! I am going to keep using and just put plastic garbage bags on the couch and love seat. It's just annoying. They say maybe he cat s stressed or something is bothering it. Hard to tell! I hope it stops! Thanks so much again!
Teresa says
When I purchased my micro fiber couch I was told not to use febreeze or like products on my couch yet you recommend using it to deodorize. Please advise
Morgan says
I have never heard that before! I definitely sprayed mine with no ill effects. MY suggestion would be to try it in a small discrete area before spraying the whole thing.
Carol says
I used this sane method when my kids use to wet the bed. I had a bed wetter. It saved the mattress many times. Worked like a charm.
Patty Yopp says
Hello,
My sons cat peed on our micro fiber couch for the first time. I didnt notice it till the next day because of my work schedule. I sprayed it down with Natures Miracle waited then wiped it down and then sprayed it again. The thing is I can NOT remove my cushions. So any advice. It is right in the spot where my husband sits and he is very aggrivated that he can not sit there. Plus I smell it and its gross!! Please help!!!!!!!!! God Blesss!
Patty
Sarah Kite says
So smart! Thank you for the tip!
Kuburat Tokurah says
This is actually the most effective way to clean any type of urine on a fabric couch.
I have tried it several times and I'm amazed at the result.
Sean says
Glad it worked well for you!
Sarah says
Thanks for sharing this process! I was given an old sofa from my friend to use in my first apartment, and it had some pretty bad pet urine stains on the cushions that reeked of urine odor. My parents usually just get all their upholstery cleaned once a year by a local carpet cleaning company and they remove urine stains and smells. But for this one sofa, they thought I could clean it myself. Your method worked very well, and I'm excited that I don't have to use a smelly couch. Thank you so much!!