We love beautiful hardwood floors. But we also love our pets. And sometimes these two things we love just don’t seem to go together.
Despite our best efforts, our beloved pets sometimes have accidents on our beloved hardwood floors, leaving behind a black stain that can damage the wood. Not to mention the odor which just seems to linger.
Fortunately, it is possible to remove black urine stains from your hardwood floors. Here are eight methods to try.
How to Remove Old Black Urine Stains From Hardwood Floors: 8 Methods
Hydrogen Peroxide
If you’re wondering how to remove old black urine stains from hardwood floors, your best bet might be hydrogen peroxide. This is an especially handy method because you probably have a bottle of it sitting in your medicine cabinet right now.
Disclaimer: hydrogen peroxide is a strong discoloring agent, so always try the solution on the inconspicuous area first.
Hydrogen peroxide usually comes bottled in a 3% solution which, fortunately, is exactly the right concentration that you need for this job. If the solution you have is higher than 3%, you can still use it; just dilute it with water first.
Start by soaking a cotton swab in the peroxide and then scrubbing the stain, dampening the swab as needed. If you notice the stain is coming up right away, keep scrubbing it until it’s gone, then let your floor dry. This may be enough to do the trick. However, if the stain is a deep one, you may need to take more time-consuming measures.
Place a paper towel saturated with hydrogen peroxide over the stain and leave it there for several hours. During this time, check on progress every hour until the stain has been removed.
As a result of this treatment, you may find that your wood floor has sustained some slight discoloration. If that happens, you’ll probably need to refinish all or part of the flooring in that area.
Baking Soda
Baking soda is an excellent option if you discover a stain while it’s still wet because it will absorb any kind of liquid from wood. This method is especially good if you need to clean unfinished wood floors. One of the great things about baking soda is that it can lift up a stain evenly, and even remove any odor. And it’s another common household item that’s probably sitting in your cupboard or refrigerator right now.
Just put some baking soda right on the stain and let it sit for a few hours, checking progress on an hourly basis. Once you’ve done this, go ahead and rub the baking soda gently over the stain with a soft cloth. Since baking soda is abrasive, you’ll want to be as gentle and light as possible with this step so it doesn’t damage your floor by scratching the wood.
Once the stain is gone, go ahead and sweep or vacuum the baking soda from the floor.
In some cases, baking soda alone might not be enough to get rid of the stain. If that happens, try spraying some white vinegar over the baking soda. This will make it more effective. Leave the baking soda and vinegar to sit for a few minutes, then gently wipe away the stain.
Another method: prepare a solution by mixing baking soda, dish soap, and hydrogen peroxide. Apply this solution to the stain, let it sit for a few minutes, and then wipe it away with a microfiber cloth.
White Vinegar
If you’re wondering how to remove not just a stain, but also how to get old dog urine smell out of hardwood floors, white vinegar could be your best bet.
That’s because it’s acidic enough to remove both dirt and foul smells. Plus, vinegar is a natural substance that won’t harm the environment. And of course, yet again, this is an ingredient that you probably already have in your kitchen cabinet.
Prepare a solution by adding one cup of white vinegar to a gallon of warm water in a bucket. If you really want to up the ante on eliminating odor, try adding a few drops of grapefruit oil to the solution. This provides a nice, fresh scent; however, you can certainly eliminate black urine stains and odor with vinegar and water alone. Scrub it into the stained flooring, with particular attention to the spots where the stain is most prominent. As you scrub, you’ll notice both the stains and the odor vanishing. Leave the mixture to sit for a while on the floor, and then wipe up any residual moisture with a soft cloth.
Enzyme Cleaner
A good enzymatic cleaner works great on stains because they are designed to break down body fluids. Look for a cleaner specially formulated for pet urine stains and odor; also check the label to make sure it’s safe to use on wood. Not all kinds are safe to use on your hardwood floor. Using the wrong kind can damage it.
Enzyme cleaners will neutralize the urine so that it disappears. Plus, they’re non-toxic, so you don’t have to worry about breathing in harmful fumes as you might with some other kinds of commercial cleaners. Just be sure to follow all the directions on the label very carefully, because each enzyme cleaner works a bit differently. It’s also important to apply it only to the stain, not to any other areas.
Keep in mind that you may have to repeat the cleaning process several times if the stain is really stubborn.
Enzymatic cleaners are not cheap, but there is enough of variety of them on the market that you should be able to find a suitable brand that fits your budget. And you will probably find that their stain-lifting and odor-destroying abilities make them well worth the expense.
Hand Scrapers
A hand scraper, readily available from your local home improvement store, can work very well on smaller stains, especially if they’re fairly recent. However, you will need to be extremely delicate and careful when using this method so you don’t cause any damage to your floors.
Apply a hand scraper with gentle, steady pressure across the stained area, moving in the same direction as the wood grain. Your objective is to take off as little surface wood as possible while scraping away the stain. Avoid going deep with the scraper if you possibly can; it’s preferable to go over the same area several times on the surface than to make any deeper cut in the wood.
Once the stain is removed, evaluate the appearance of your floor carefully. If you can clearly see the edge of the area that you scraped, you will probably need to do some slight sanding with grit papers.
For this job, a plastic hand scraper may be best because the plastic will be gentler on your floor than metal. If you do use a metal hand scraper, make sure the blade is slightly dull to avoid damage. If you don’t have access to a hand scraper, you can also use a spoon or a dull knife.
Wood Bleach
For light stains, wood bleach is a highly effective way to remove stains. (Another name for this product is “wood brightener.”) It’s formulated to lighten the color of the wood and can work well not just for black urine stains, but other old stains, too. For best results, you may want to sand the stained area before applying so the bleach has more of an opportunity to sink in.
Diligently follow any safety precautions printed on the label. Wear gloves and open all the windows to properly ventilate the room you’re working in. Also, keep in mind that the use of wood bleach may permanently change the color of your floor. For that reason, it’s best only to use it on small stains so that this color change will not be as evident.
Apply the bleach with great care, following all the manufacturer’s instructions exactly. Make sure that you confine the bleach only to the stained area of your floor. If it does get onto any other areas of the floor surface by accident, be sure to wipe it up immediately.
A couple of other precautions to keep in mind: never put any kind of bleach in a metal container, because bleach will damage the metal. Instead, use glass or ceramic to contain it. You might also want to clean your floor surface with a damp cloth and then let it dry for a day before applying the bleach.
Sanding and Refinishing
For a stain that’s very large or very deep, sanding and refinishing may be the best course of action, because it gives you a whole new surface for your stained floor.
Depending on how deep the stain is, you may need to sand and refinish the entire floor. In some cases, the finish might match the rest of your floor so exactly that there is no need to apply the process to the entire floor. In that case, all you need to do is use some fine-grit sandpaper to remove the stain. Just be very careful and make sure you sand with the grain of the wood instead of against it. Afterward, simply refinish the spot you sanded so that it matches the surrounding flooring.
However, if it becomes clear that the stained area is going to look different from the rest of the room when you’re done, you’ll need to use a floor sander to sand the entire room. Again, make sure to sand with the wood grain. Afterward, just sweep or vacuum, clean, and refinish.
If you don’t feel up to the challenge of DIY sanding and refinishing, you can always contact a team of professionals to do the job for you.
Additionally, if your floors aren’t thick enough for sanding and refinishing, a better solution would be to replace the floor, or at least just the boards that were damaged.
Dish Soap
The household staple that cuts through the greasy food stuck on your dishes can clean just about anything else, too: including pet urine. This works especially well for a greasy stain because dish soap is formulated to break down grease. Still, if you’re dealing with an old, stubborn stain you might want to give the cleaning power of dish soap a little extra boost by mixing it with warm water and then adding just a splash of hydrogen peroxide or a sprinkle of baking soda. Stir until the mixture is thoroughly combined and until the baking soda dissolves, and you’ll have a powerhouse cleaning solution.
Dampen a soft cloth or a sponge and then run it over the stained wood, being careful not to get the floor too wet. After it’s penetrated the floor for a few minutes, wipe the stain away with another soft cloth. You may need to repeat these steps several times before the stain fully disappears. Make sure to dry off any moisture on the floor when you’ve finished either by wiping it with a dry cloth or applying a layer of baking soda to absorb the dampness. Sweep or vacuum the baking soda when finished.
Conclusion
Any of the methods listed above are effective at removing black urine stains from hardwood floors. But some work better than others depending on the size and the depth of the stain, as well as how long it’s been there.
In general, it’s best to start with the gentler methods and then gradually work your way up to more aggressive measures if these don’t work. If you’re lucky, you may be able to eliminate the stain without damaging your floor by using a common household substance that you already have on hand.
Accidents happen, and old urine stains are unsightly and can be costly if they damage your floor. But fortunately, with a little care and effort, you can keep your beloved pets without sacrificing your beautiful hardwood flooring.