Cleaning up urine accidents is just par for the course when you’re a pet owner. However, failing to clean up these messes correctly can leave behind lingering stains and odors. Worse, if your pet can still smell the urine odor, it may believe the site of the accident is its new bathroom.

Thankfully, cleaning up pet accidents isn’t too challenging when using the right products and techniques. Read on to learn our tips and tricks to clean up pet accidents with Clorox Urine.

Why Pet Accidents Happen

Understanding why pets have accidents can help you take measures to prevent them. The most common reason dogs and cats have accidents in the house is that they are still potty training.

When pets are young, they don’t initially understand that they need to use the bathroom in specific areas and not in others. You must spend time teaching them where you expect them to use the bathroom and the consequences of going outside these areas.

The potty training stage can last longer for some pets than others. For example, cats typically learn how to use their litter boxes by around eight weeks, though slow learners can take up to six months before they use their litter boxes reliably.

Meanwhile, most dogs are fully potty trained by four to six months, while some may take up to a year. This will be dependent on the breed, and how you’re training the puppy.

When dogs and cats have accidents after they are fully potty trained, there’s typically a reason behind their behavior. Here are a few reasons cats may urinate or defecate outside their litter boxes:

  • They don’t like their litter.
  • They don’t like their litter box location.
  • They object to environmental changes.
  • The litter box isn’t clean enough for their liking.
  • They’re experiencing health problems that prevent them from getting to the litter box in time.

Meanwhile, dogs can have accidents in the house because:

  • They have separation anxiety.
  • They are marking their territory indoors.
  • They did not have a way to get outside when they needed to.
  • They are experiencing health problems.

How To Avoid Accidents In The Future

Once you understand the reason behind a dog or cat’s accidents, you can begin taking steps to reverse the behavior.

If your pet is still in the potty training phase, giving them plenty of opportunities to use the bathroom in the correct spot is essential. You should take a puppy outside at least once per hour to use the bathroom, then give it a treat or another reward every time it goes in the correct spot.

If your dog is outside the potty training stage, you can consider these tips to avoid accidents:

  • Take your dog outside frequently.
  • Learn how often your dog needs potty breaks.
  • Avoid leaving your dog alone for more than a few hours until you solve the issue.
  • Look for body language that indicates your dog needs to use the bathroom.
  • Set your dog’s water bowl out of reach before bedtime.

Meanwhile, if your cat has begun urinating outside its litter box, you can:

  • Move the litter box to a new location.
  • Switch to a new type of litter.
  • Clean the litter box more regularly.
  • Remind the cat of the litter box’s location.

If none of these steps work, consider taking your dog or cat for a vet exam. Sometimes, underlying health problems can make it challenging for pets to control their bladders and bowels.

Our Three-Step Accident Clean-Up Process

When your pet urinates where it’s not supposed to, you should make sure to clean the urine thoroughly and eliminate any lingering odors and stains. Your pet uses its nose to determine where to go to the bathroom. If it can smell its urine in a particular spot in your home, it may instinctively urinate in that spot again.

We recommend using a three-step accident clean-up process to remove the urine stain and odor altogether. Here are the three steps you should follow in cleaning up pet accidents:

Identify The Treatment Areas

Your first step in cleaning up dog or cat urine is identifying the treatment area. You can initially perform an “eye” check to locate the general area of the urine stain. However, if you have dark carpet or flooring, the urine may not be visible at a glance.

You can also identify the treatment area by pressing a paper towel or a gloved hand on the carpet. This process can help you identify saturated regions of the carpet that you may not be able to see.

Additionally, if you have a blacklight, you can hover the light over the general area to identify any splatters or minor stains.

Remove As Much Mess As Possible

Once you’ve identified the treatment area, you should soak up as much of the mess as possible with paper towels. This step can give your stain remover a better chance of removing the stain completely, creating a more effective clean.

We recommend layering a few paper towels, placing them over the soiled area, and applying firm pressure to the towels. This pressure will allow the towels to penetrate the bottom layer of the carpet and soak up urine that has saturated it.

Once your paper towels have soaked up as much liquid as they can, repeat the step with a new stack of paper towels. Continue soaking up the urine until your paper towels are completely dry.

Note: If possible, avoid letting the urine dry on the carpet. The stain will be much easier to remove while it’s wet. However, if the urine has already dried, you should be able to remove most of the stain through the next step.

Treat The Area With Clorox Urine

After you have soaked up as much urine as you can, you can use Clorox Urine to remove any remaining urine stains or odors. Here’s how to apply Clorox Urine to the carpet:

  1. Spray Clorox Urine directly onto the stain to completely cover it.
  2. Allow the solution to soak for three minutes.
  3. Blot the solution with a clean, damp cloth.
  4. Allow the solution to dry completely.

You can also use Clorox Urine to clean urine stains on tile or grout by following these steps:

  1. Spray Clorox Urine onto the stain to cover it completely.
  2. Allow the solution to sit for five minutes.
  3. Rinse the area with water.
  4. Wipe the solution dry.

Be sure to keep children and pets away from the stain while it dries. Additionally, you should avoid using this product on leather or silk upholstery.

Cleaning Up Old/Dry Stains

Catching your dog or cat’s accident right after it occurs isn’t always possible. Sometimes, you don’t realize your pet peed on the carpet until the stain has dried.

Clorox Urine can also remove old or dry urine stains from soft and hard surfaces. Spray the Clorox Urine solution onto the old stain and allow it to saturate the area for at least three minutes. You’ll notice the Clorox Urine solution beginning to bubble once it comes into contact with the old urine, effectively reacting with the urine to eliminate it.

Then, use a damp cloth to blot the solution and allow it to dry. You can repeat this process as often as needed to eliminate the old urine stains.

How Clorox Urine Works

Clorox Urine combines hydrogen peroxide and surfactants to remove urine stains and odors.

First, the hydrogen peroxide in the formula oxidizes the odor, removing the uric acid crystals that give urine its distinct ammonia smell. Then, the formula combines surfactants, solvent, and a low pH to remove urine stains from tough surfaces.

Clorox Urine also contains a mild fragrance that can leave the affected area with a pleasant scent while the formula dries. This fragrance can mask odors on contact, creating a fast and effective solution to eliminating unpleasant urine smells.

Clorox Urine does not contain bleach and has very low surface safety concerns. As a result, you can feel comfortable using it in homes with pets and children. You can also safely use Clorox Urine before and after other cleaners without issue.

Clorox Urine works on the following surfaces:

  • Finished hardwood
  • Tile and grout
  • Rugs and carpet
  • Mattresses and upholstery

Clorox Urine’s formula can effectively remove any organic or protein-based stains. The product can remove human blood, vomit, feces, and semen, along with urine. It can also help remove certain food stains, such as chocolate syrup, red wine, spaghetti sauce, and gravy.

You can also use Clorox Urine as a pretreatment for linens before laundering them in a washing machine.

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Keeping Clorox Urine on hand can allow you to clean up pet accidents quickly before they saturate your flooring or furniture. However, if you have pets, we also recommend purchasing other cleaning products that can remove pet stains and odors throughout your home. Owning pets can get messy, but having the proper cleaning solutions can make the clean-up job much faster and easier.

Purchase home cleaning products on Office Crave to get the best deals on Clorox Urine and other high-quality pet cleaners.