How to Remove Urine Smell From Carpet

Anna M
by Anna M
I had an incident where my cat urinated all over my rug while we were out of town. Here is the solution that worked to get the urine smell out. This was a small rug so I was able to remove it from the room and take it outside where I flipped it over and sprinkled it with baking soda. Then using vinegar I saturated the piece of carpet and let it sit for an hour. Find out my results below.
Sprinkle the rug (or carpet) with baking soda.
Spray the rug (carpet) with white vinegar and then let it sit for about 5-10 minutes while it works to eliminate the smell.
Anna M
Want more details about this and other DIY projects? Check out my blog post!
Go
Frequently asked questions
Have a question about this project?
  1 question
  • Joseph Joseph on Feb 17, 2016
    Would this work with human urine, as well? I'm a caregiver and need something for my patient's bedroom carpet.
Comments
Join the conversation
2 of 137 comments
  • Patrice Paige Patrice Paige on Apr 18, 2016
    My friend's dog hiked this leg on my white couch (several times) while she used my beach condo for a month, even all appropriate cleaning solutions did not totally take care of the smell or the stain. Then someone suggested using a hydrogen peroxide dilute and it worked beautifully, I sprayed and blotted (a lot) and the rings on the fabric and the smell disappeared literally overnight. Test, before using on a colored fabric.
  • Teresa Teresa on Apr 22, 2019

    DEFINITELY will try this. Living in a rental, with dogs who are confused about moving 4 times in 4 years, my daughter's new BF (EVERYTHING he's brought in to the house, HER male Lab, who normally is stellar, has peed on it! I know he is jealous because the BF has taken his place in her life in many occasions, to spite me bringing it to her attention) I'm dealing with behavioral issues. The new carpet cleaner does as well as could be, however my efforts using carpet cleaning powders, a name brand odor eliminator, peroxide, high traffic pet specific carpet cleaner, even diluted bleach are cleaning after several "layers" are brought out of the mauve colored carpet, all thwarted. I WILL be giving this one a shot for sure! THIS home belongs to friends who are open to removing and replacing the carpet and also who are ready to sell it to me, however, I'm not sure of the location, so I'll continue to search for options until my preference would be to remove them completely (the carpets-dogs NEVER).

Next