Shampooed carpet, urine smell everywhere

vyger

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You can use bleach on wood. Unlike cloth like cotton which will get holes eaten through it bleach will not physically damage the wood. It will take the color out of it though but since the wood you are talking about is not for a finished floor it won't matter. Bleach solutions are used on hardwood floors that have been flood damaged. It removes the swamp smell and takes out the black staining left from putrid flood water. However on a finished floor the finish needs to be redone after it is treated. So you could use a bleach solution to soak the wood but you need to not get it on other things that might be damaged like the carpet. And one nice thing about bleach is it's inexpensive and easy to get.
Bleach is used in woodworking sometimes to lighten the color of wood so it can be matched to other woods. It is the opposite of staining.
This is a by the way to the above

If it smells like ammonia don't use bleach. Bleach and ammonia do not play well together, they react and can make chlorine gas which is really bad to breath. In this case things have long since dried up and the ammonia has left, evaporated. Vinegar, since it is an acid can neutralize ammonia if it is still active. Bleach can treat the stain and remove other odors but only if there is no ammonia. You almost need to have a chemistry degree for this stuff.
Now I am wondering if misting a litter box with vinegar would be a thing to do since it gets rid of the ammonia. ---- I can just see the headlines now ------ Cat owner ends up dead on the floor after playing in used kitty litter ----
 
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syzygycat

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I'm going to stretch by chemistry muscles and reply to everyone by describing how all these fixes work chemically. (not necessary reading) The stinky stuff in all mammal urine is Urea, your liver combines 2 ammonia molecules a Carbon dioxide molecule creating one urea one water molecule.

Since urea is essentially 2 ammonia molecules stuck together by a carbon, urea will be highly soluble in Ammonia (main ingredient in window cleaners), one dissolved you just need to wipe it dry and its gone.

Urea is a weak base, this means it can be neutralized with a strong acid like lemon juice (citric acid) or Vinegar (acetic acid)

Urea can be easily hydrolyzed, mixing urea with peroxide, the 2 turn into a new substance called Hyperol, Hyperol is a bleaching agent, it will bleach your close, For cat owner purposes , putting peroxide on dark cat urine stain on wood, will start bleaching it light and lighter over several days (until you stop adding peroxide). Commercially this Urea-peroxide compound is wat they use for teeth whitener.

Baking soda + water + urea has a similar effect, they 2 bond making a gross easy to clean paste

If you want to restore the color of stained wood keep adding peroxide. Don't add bleach, urea will break down to 2 ammonias again when exposed to bleach, Bleach + Ammmonia creates Mustard Gas (the toxic gas they used to kill each other in world war 1)

The enzyme, in enzyme cleaner is supposed to undo what your liver did, turn urea into ammona and C
 
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Silver Crazy

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I am by trade an Industrial chemist and agree with what you say..but the window cleaner I used has cloudy ammonia in it and for the life of me cant remember what cloudy ammonia is..lol
Have to hurt my pride and resort to google
 
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syzygycat

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I am by trade an Industrial chemist and agree with what you say...
I'm a small molecule pharmaceutical chemist. We need to find a biochemist, then the 3 of us can solve this thing once and for all.

Since you can speak my language; wouldn't pouring aqueous Hydrochloric acid on cat urine should be able to turn urea into CO2 and Ammonium Chloride (which can be washed out with just water)

CH4N2O + H2O + HCl = NH4Cl + CO2

you can buy HCl as Muriatic Acid from homedepot, dilute it down to 5% concentration (outside, with gloves on) to avoid acid burn
 
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basscat

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If I was that far into it, I would set a circular saw cutting depth....the thickness of the wood. Draw a line outside the area, cut and remove the flooring. Then replace.
If it's "particle board", I'd re-do the flooring in that WHOLE room. If not particle board, just the stained area.
From the depth of your project (how far you've gone right now). Hiring a "handyman" to remove that section of floor and replace it...should cost less than $200.
Which is better than experimenting with $250 worth of cleaners and other products.
 

Silver Crazy

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I'm a small molecule pharmaceutical chemist. We need to find a biochemist, then the 3 of us can solve this thing once and for all.

Since you can speak my language; wouldn't pouring aqueous Hydrochloric acid on cat urine should be able to turn urea into CO2 and Ammonium Chloride (which can be washed out with just water)

CH4N2O + H2O + HCl = NH4Cl + CO2

you can buy HCl as Muriatic Acid from homedepot, dilute it down to 5% concentration (outside, with gloves on) to avoid acid burn
Good idea, we should get our brains together and invent something that really works ;)

OIP.jpg
 
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syzygycat

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Two updates, more of an FYI for anyone still interested.

1) Read that while ammonia based products help clean off cat urine (like dissolves like), it increases the chance of the cat peeing in that spot again, smells close enough to urine chemicals, but isn't their urine to the territorial instinct kicks in.

2) I did the Hydrochloric acid thing anyway, made a weak solution, saturated the spot for 15min, Then sprayed it with baking soda water to neutralize, Used a lot of 35% isopropyl alcohol/water and a wet dry vac to suck out all the crap soaked into the floor. It helped somewhat, but the floor also smells and looks like slightly burnt wood. I'm fine with that result, smells like camping, but its not a marketable idea...
HYDROCLean "Reduces cat urine smell and chemically burns hard wood floors"
 
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