Having pets can be both a wonderful experience and a danger to your furniture. Cleaning urine from couch cushions or other leather furniture is not always pleasant, but prompt attention to accidents like this is essential to ensure that the furniture is not damaged permanently. Fortunately, cleaning this sort of mess can be accomplished easily with the help of some household products and commercial cleaners.
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Initial Cleanup of the Mess
If at all possible, mop up the urine as soon as it is left. Use damp paper towels to soak all of the liquid up gently. Then, wipe the spot with clean and damp paper towels to remove lingering waste. Continue until the leather furniture is both clean and dry.
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Next, use a mixture of 1 cup vinegar and 2 cups cold water to wipe the surface. You can use a soft cloth or a paper towel for this part of the process. Scrub the leather with the mixture until there are no visible signs of urine. Then, dry the surface thoroughly.
If possible, you may also wish to remove leather coverings from your furniture so that you can be sure the urine didn't soak through to the other side. If it did, use the vinegar and water mixture to clean the reverse side, too.
Removing Urine Smell on Leather Couch
Odor neutralizing powder is available for purchase and can be sprinkled on your leather furniture to remove dog pee on a leather couch or the smell of any pet urine that has penetrated the fabric. These products rely on enzymes to eat away at the remaining traces of the stain and clean your leather. Take care to check before use that the product you have purchased is appropriate for use on leather.
Follow the manufacturer instructions, which usually dictate that you pour the powder on the place where the stain occurred. Typically, you will be required to leave the odor neutralizer on for several hours or overnight, then vacuum it off. Sometimes, you will use a brush to gently work the powder into the surface of the furniture before removing it. Once you've vacuumed away most of the powder, you can use a damp soft cloth to remove any residual. Dry the area thoroughly when you've finished.
An all-natural method for removing a urine smell on a leather couch requires the use of 1-quart hydrogen peroxide, 1/4 cup baking soda and 1 tablespoon liquid soap. Mix these together gently and apply to the leather with a spray bottle. Don't mix too vigorously, as a chemical reaction can occur and cause the bottle to overflow. Use a soft cloth to rub this mixture into the leather for a deep, more natural clean.
After Cleaning the Furniture
Depending on how long the mess occurred before you were able to clean it up, you may need more than a mixture of vinegar and water to restore your leather sofa or bomber jacket. The combination of cleaning and odor-neutralizing chemicals can remove many stains and smells, but you may also wish to recondition your leather.
Olive oil or a commercial leather conditioning product can be applied to leather furniture. This will help to add moisture back to the material, which can be stripped away during the cleaning process. Failure to keep your leather moist could lead to cracking or peeling over time.