How to Get Pee Smell out of a Leather Couch: 5 Practical Options

Our pets sometimes have accidents in the house, and it’s unfortunate when they have one on a leather couch. Few substances are worse than the lingering stink of urine, whether on a leather couch or the floor. Luckily, getting the pee smell out of a leather couch is possible but challenging. Although you can purchase a cleaning product to remove the odor, you can also use DIY methods. In this article, we’ll discuss several practical solutions to get rid of the urine odor from a leather couch.

Before You Start

If you’re trying to get the pee smell out of a leather couch, you must locate the source. If it turns out that your dog urinated on your carpet instead of on your couch, you’ll need a different solution. You don’t want to spend all your time and energy cleaning your leather couch only to discover that the smell still lingers.

Once you’ve confirmed that the odor is coming from your leather couch, it’s time to proceed with the cleaning process.

Point to Note:

Once you try one method and it doesn’t work, don’t try another method immediately. Give your leather couch a few days before trying something else.

The 5 Practical Options for Getting Pee Smell out of a Leather Couch

1. Baking Soda and Vinegar

Baking soda and vinegar are classic ingredients for cleaning household stains. In fact, baking soda can be used to clean almost anything. Getting the pee smell out of a leather couch is no exception. It will neutralize any leftover bacteria in the fabric. You can combine it with vinegar for an extra punch against stubborn pee stains!

What Do You Need?

• Vinegar
• Baking Soda
• Cloth

Steps to Follow

1. Remove all the cushions from the couch.
2. Sprinkle baking soda generously over the entire surface of your leather couch.
3. Pour vinegar onto a clean cloth. Then, use it to scrub the baking soda into the leather.
4. When you have scrubbed the entire furniture with the vinegar-soaked cloth, allow it to sit for at least an hour.
5. Wipe off any remaining residue with a damp cloth.
6. Allow the couch to air dry completely before using it again.

2. Hydrogen Peroxide and Baking Soda

Hydrogen peroxide and baking soda are the most commonly used substances to clean surfaces. You can also use this combination to clean stinky urine out of leather couches. Baking soda will neutralize the smell while hydrogen peroxide lifts stains from the leather couch.

Hydrogen peroxide is often a cleaning solution in public restrooms since it removes odors and kills bacteria that cause bad smells. If the hydrogen peroxide alone doesn’t eliminate the smell, you can always enhance it by adding baking soda!

What Do You Need?

• Hydrogen peroxide
• Baking soda
• Soft brush
• Cloth
• Clean towel

Steps to Follow

1. Remove all the cushions from the couch.
2. Put on rubber gloves and mix one cup of baking soda with two tablespoons of hydrogen peroxide in a bowl until it forms a thick paste.
3. Spread this paste over all areas of your leather furniture that smell like urine (especially where your pet urinates).
4. Use a soft brush or cloth to work it into the leather.
5. Allow it to sit for 20 minutes (or overnight for more stubborn stains).
6. Wipe it off with a clean, damp cloth, and dry it with another clean towel.

3. Using an Enzymatic Cleaner

Enzymatic cleaners contain special enzymes that dissolve the protein in the urine. It’ll help you get rid of the urine odor and make your leather look glossy and new. Enzymatic cleaners produce a series of chemical reactions, including oxidation and hydrolysis (the breaking down of proteins), to remove the stain and odor.

What Do You Need?

• Enzymatic cleaner
• Damp cotton cloth
• Rag
• Paper towel
• Vacuum cleaner

Steps to Follow

1. Apply the enzymatic cleaner generously over the affected area.
2. Let it sit for about half an hour to work on the stain and odor.
3. Wipe away the cleaner and the stain using a wet cotton cloth.
4. Blot off any excess moisture with a paper towel or rag.
5. Clean the entire surface of your couch with this process.
6. Vacuum the sofa when you are done cleaning it to remove any residual cleaning material, odor, or dust particles.

Are you looking for an enzyme cleaner that can keep your house clean and your pet happy? We recommend the Hepper Advanced Bio-Enzyme Pet Stain & Odor Eliminator Spray, which permanently gets rid of the most stubborn stains and smells. There’s even a 100% satisfaction guarantee so you can try this cleaner risk-free! Click here to order your first bottle.

At House Grail, we’ve admired Hepper for many years, and decided to take a controlling ownership interest so that we could benefit from the outstanding products of this cool cat company!

4. Apple Cider Vinegar and Baking Soda

Apple cider vinegar is a powerful cleaning tool. If you prefer not to use household cleaners or vinegar, you can use apple cider vinegar and baking soda instead. It’s excellent for removing stains and odors from carpets, laundry, leather furniture, and a wide range of surfaces.

What Do You Need?

• Baking soda
• Apple cider vinegar
• Spray bottle
• Vacuum cleaner

Steps to Follow

1. Pour your apple cider vinegar into a spray bottle and spray it on your couch until the spot is saturated.
2. Then, sprinkle your baking soda onto the wet spot. Make sure that every part of the urine spot is covered with baking soda and apple cider vinegar.
3. Let this mixture dry overnight.
4. Vacuum up the dried mixture in the morning, and the smell should be gone!

5. Use Rubbing Alcohol

If you don’t have any commercial cleaners available, try rubbing alcohol. It will eliminate the horrible pee smell on a leather couch by killing the bacteria that cause the smell. You can find it at most grocery stores.

What Do You Need?

• Rubbing alcohol
• Clean rag
• Non-acetone nail polish remover
• Cloth

Steps to Follow

1. Mix equal amounts of rubbing alcohol and non-acetone nail polish remover in a bowl.
2. Dip your cloth into the solution
3. Rub it over the affected area to neutralize the urine odor.
4. Allow it to dry naturally for about an hour before using your leather couch.

Point to Note: First, test a small area with rubbing alcohol and let it air dry. If the rubbing alcohol removes color from your couch, don’t use it.

Avoid rubbing alcohol if your leather couch has a finish because rubbing alcohol can remove finishes.

Effects of Urine on Your Leather Couch

Urine contains many chemicals, such as urea, creatinine, ammonia, and uric acid.  Ammonia (a highly alkaline substance) reacts with the acids in urine to create more concentrated crystals as the urine dries. The more concentrated the urine is, the worse the smell.

The longer urine remains on your couch, the greater the likelihood of permanent discoloration. The acidity of urine bleaches colors on fabrics and carpets. It can leave yellowish or brownish spots where it has been sitting for some time. Over time, the spots will darken again as the acid in the urine begins to eat away at the leather couch.

Urine left untreated can cause permanent damage, and your leather couch may need to be replaced. How do you prevent your pet from peeing on your leather couch?

Pets are like family, even when they do things we can’t stand. First, you need to determine why they’re going on the couch. For cats and dogs, it’s because they’ve not been trained to do it since a young age, or maybe they’re showing dominance. Here’s how to prevent your pet from peeing on your leather couch:

Call for Professional Help

Have you tried to remove stains with these methods, and the pee stain and odor remain? If you find that the smell is lingering even after cleaning and conditioning your couch with these methods, call in professional help, preferably from an upholstery cleaner. They specialize in cleaning leather furniture.

They can recommend the best cleaning method for removing the urine smell from your leather couch.

Conclusion

Pet owners must deal with many smells, including the not-so-pleasant urine odor. If your pet has urinated on leather furniture, you have to act fast to remove the stain and the smell. A leather couch may be the focal point of your living room, but like any other furniture, it can be a pain to clean. It’s challenging to remove urine because leather is porous, and it has an offensive odor. Luckily, several methods can help you eliminate your leather couch’s urine smell, as we discussed above.

Featured Image Credit: Sarah Fields Photography, Shutterstock