How To Remove Black Urine Stains From Hardwood Floors… For Under a Dollar
As many homeowners know, hardwood floors and sneaky dogs don’t always mix. Whether you have a cute puppy who is just learning how to be house trained or an older dog that simply forgets where to “go”, there’s almost always a point when you’ll have little liquid accidents on your hardwood floors.
The black urine stain left by our little dog. The stain is totally dry.
When caught quickly, most pet urine can be wiped up with a minimum of damage because wood floors are usually sealed against liquid spills. But as most dog owners can attest, you don’t always find these little accidents when they happen.
We have hardwood floors in our home and we have throw rugs strategically placed around our home to add some warmth and color to most of our rooms. Our little Papillon found one of these rugs to be just a little too comfortable to resist and thought it would make a great substitute for going outside (especially when it was raining!)
We were doing some spring cleaning and we picked up a throw rug and we were shocked to find not only a dark stain on the bottom of the rug, but also a dark, almost black, urine stain on the hardwood floor beneath. Because our little furry friend had been using the same spot on the rug for a while, the dampness and acid in the urine had left a dark black stain.
Hydrogen peroxide drop test. The light round area is where I tested a drop of hydrogen peroxide and allowed it to dry overnight.
After uttering a few obscenities we were faced with the problem of what to do with this black stained wood. I scraped at it with my fingernail, but the stain went deep and it certainly didn’t smell very appealing.
I search around the internet and found lots of possible solutions. There are literally hundreds of different expensive products you can buy that claim to remove pet and dog urine stains from hardwood. If you don’t want to use one of these cleaners some sites suggest trying to sand away some of the stain if it isn’t very deep. Some hardwood flooring websites even recommend ripping out the boards of from the floor and completely replacing them. I’m pretty handy, but replacing hard wood floors is not high on my list of home improvement projects I want to try anytime soon.
But then I stumbled upon another much cheaper and easier solution. Instead of “removing” the stain I could mask the stain by making it lighter in color. But I couldn’t use a harsh whitener like bleach on my hardwood floors. Bleach is typically too strong for wood and just turns it gray and colorless in most cases. However, there is a way to lighten things with a simply household chemical that typically costs less than $1.00 a bottle: hydrogen peroxide!
Yep, simple hydrogen peroxide and a little restraint. If you’re going to use this method I strongly suggest you take it slowly because too much hydrogen peroxide can harm your floors just as much as bleach or dog urine.
The “lightened” floor with no pee stain! It even looks much better in person than it does in the photo!
Here’s what I did: I sat down next to the stain with a bottle of hydrogen peroxide and decided to try a little bit at a time. I stuck my finger in the bottle and then simply tapped my soaked finger on the black stain on the floor, leaving a small puddle on it. I did not pour on the hydrogen peroxide or paint it on. I just put on a few drops from my finger and let it dry over night.
Sure enough, the next day the spot was much lighter where I had left the hydrogen peroxide drops. The next night I did the same thing with a little more of the stain and by the third and forth night I had covered the last little bit of the stain and by the next morning the entire spot was lighten to the point where it matched the color and grain of the wood all around it! Now remember: this is great for wood floors that are light in color. Lightening a stain with hydrogen peroxide will only work if you want your dark stain to be lighter in color. If you have dark wood floors you probably don’t want to do this because the light spot might actually stand out more than the stain.
When I did this on my light colored floors the wood still had plenty of color, it still still matched the surrounding area, and it was fairly odor free. Success!
To be sure, I did end up using a commercial product to remove the odor from the rug. I also used this product on the hardwood floor to help alleviate the remaining odor once the black stain was removed. It’s called KIDS ‘N’ PETS Brand Stain & Odor Remover
So there you have it! With a 94 cent bottle of hydrogen peroxide I was able to remove a nasty black dog urine stain from my hardwood floors and save myself hundreds of dollars worth of floor repair costs!
Technorati Tags: pet urine, dog pee, remove stain, hardwood floors
Comment by Jennifer
Looks good!
I’ll throw in a plug for Simple Solution, an enzymatic cleaner you can buy at Petco/Petsmart. It truly erases urine/poo/throwup stains from our carpet. I haven’t tried it on hardwood… .but the stains come up WITHOUT scrubbing off of our carpet…
Our dogs are so big that you can’t miss the sound of the waterfall starting…
Comment by Harvey Geller
I am thrilled to know there is a solution, and that it is cheap. Now-I will have to try it to believe it for myself.
Comment by Tom
Yes, it really does work! I promise that I don’t own millions of dollars in “hydrogen peroxide” stock! I would still test a little spot of hydrogen peroxide around the edge of your stain first, and I would definitely only do it on lighter wood, but I was amazed and pleased at how good the stained area came out.
We now keep a plastic bag under that spot of the rug where our dog seems to favor as a “wetness shield” so even if she does use that spot again, the liquid won’t be able to reach the wood.
Comment by helen saysoff
did you have to do anything to your floors after putting the peroxide on it?
Comment by Tom
I did not put anything on my floor afterwards because this was a small spot that was under the rug. My floors are finished with a water-based product and I haven’t noticed any difference in texture… Maybe someone else can offer more insight into this?
Comment by Michelle
I am glad I am not the only one who has this problem, thanks for the info, I am trying it now
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Comment by GB
I have black pet stains on my hardwood too. I was just wondering what concentration of hydrogen peroxide that I should use. The only concentration I have found so far is 3% but I do not know that it will be strong enough to remove the stain. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!! thanks!
Comment by Tom
Ooo.. Good point! I used the stuff you can get from a drugstore. I just checked and it is indeed 3% hydrogen peroxide. Use a little bit at first and if it doesn’t work, then put a little more on the next day. It was just trial and error for me!
Comment by GB
Thank you for getting back to me I really appreciate it!! I have tried with the 3% and it helped a bit but not enough unfortunately.
I have also tried “Nature’s Miracle Dual-Action Hard Floor Stain & Odor Remover” which I have noticed a bit of change…but not enough. I guess I have stubborn floors. If anyone has any futher suggestions (other then replacing the floor) I would love to hear them. I am in a rental property and moving in a couple of months and need to have it fixed.
THANKS AGAIN!!!!!!
Comment by Tom
My only other suggestion would be to try it again a couple nights in a row. I did have a spot that I had to just put more than a few drops on. I just kept applying and waiting and each day the dark stain got a little lighter and lighter. Someone else suggested that you may get different results based on how your floors are protected. Good luck!
Comment by Jim
Thanks for the tip. I will give it a shot.
Comment by liane
Not sure I have the same problem but close. I just moved a pile of clothes from the corner of my bedroom only to find my daughter left a pee covered pajama with a pee filled pullup underneath. Now there is a dark stain. When I first noticed it it was black but m,y husband rubbed it a little and over an hours time it lightened up a little. It is still dark in places but we tried using a hairdryer to dry it up and it got lighter. Anyone try it on human urine? I’ll try and see if peroxide works. Thanks
Comment by Tamara
when i removed the carpet from my 100 year old floors (they need to be refinished, but were in great shape) there was a whole area that the previous owners dog obviously favored. it was about 3 ft square… i just dumped bottles of peroxide on it (that i bought at the grocery) it took several applications… i figured what did i have to lose and used a large amount. The finish was wore off in this area so not sure how it would have affected the finish.
another suggestion i have seen to get rid of the odor is vinegar, dont dump that on the floor! that actually stained it worse… so.. off i went for more hydrogen peroxide and its light again.
Comment by Amy
Does anyone know if this will affect the finish on our engineered hardwood floors ( Brazilian cherry ) , it seems that the urine leaked down in between the boards and stained …
Suggestions?
Comment by sally
if you want stronger h2o2, (peroxide) you can get it at a beauty supply store.
If you get the 40 volume, simply mix 1/2 with water to get 20 volume, etc. Be careful…….I’m using denattured acchol on the floor with some succes. TSP
can turn the wood gray. I have sanded small areas, but won’t do all 4 rooms.’
Moving the furniture is an issue. Guess, I’ll move downstairs to complete the project. I think that the varathane renewal kit loks great, but would like to avoid too may variances in color. One room was wet, and stripped and is a little gray, they to the haul that was wet and spotty. I’m trying the denatured alchohol to even out the color, then will probably try staining the spots to get an acceptable match. I bout the 25 cent samples from varathane
to try. I did use Minwax stain and sealer and it looks pretty goood on a splattered spot, it looks great from one angle, but needs a finish. Hey, it was there for 50 years, now and I am pretty thrilled at what was under the carpet. Needs a BIG cleaning, and think that TSP will be too harsh. Any ideas? Laundry soap, Dawn? I’ll try anything that has been used successfully! I need a handy husband to help me get the place ready to SELL!
Then there would be light at the end of the tunnel. I’m 63 and still look pretty good! If you can help in that department, e-mail me, OK?? Thanks! Sally
Comment by Jonathan
Help!
I made my own mix of hydrogen peroxide, baking soda and dish soap that I read works to get cat urine out of in-floor vents. However, some of this solution got onto the wood floors leaving black stains (I’m assuming stripping the finish off the floor?). Is there anything I can do to lighten the stains to make them less noticeable? I cannot afford tearing up the floor to put in new wood so I need a more affordable solution.
Thanks a bunch!
Comment by Tom
Jonathan,
Hmm, I have to wonder if the soap is what causes your wood to turn black. Dish soap has water in it and water stains in wood sometimes appear as black stains. I’m not entirely sure how to get rid of that black stain, but you could always try a few drops of straight hydrogen peroxide to see if that will lighten your wood or not. There are also specially designed wood bleaches which may work better in your case. Good luck!
Comment by Jonathan
Tom,
Thanks for the response. I am afraid the hydrogen peroxide may have been the cause for the color change but I can try a small area and see if it lightens it.
If I purchase wood bleach, I need to then find a stain that closely resembles mine?
thanks
Comment by Penny
Tom may be right - the detergent may cause darkening. I found an accident weeks later, put Nature’s Miracle on it, then citrus cleaner for wood, and finally when it didn’t lighten up - Oxy-Clean (which may contain some detergents). It just got worse. In fact, I dripped a little Oxy-Clean onto another area and it darkened immediately. BTW, my floors are maple, finished with non-VOC Rubio Monocoat. I dabbed the hydrogen peroxide on the drips and they vanished within an hour. The other area required some sanding and then light dabbing of peroxide. I am happy to report that the floor looks back to normal and now all I have to do is apply more Monocoat.
Comment by Jessica
I have red oak floors in my living room and sanded the floor like crazy, but was not able to remove black stains. I thought I’d put a light stain(no poly yet) on to see how well it would all blend, but the spots are still visible. Do you think I could still try dabbing peroxide on the black stains?
Comment by Tom
Jessica,
No matter what sort of floors you have I’d still test it over a series of days in a hidden spot… Maybe put one drop of hydrogen peroxide down one day, two drops the next and so forth for 4 to 5 days… And see the results…
Good luck!
Comment by LisaNTulsa
I wouldn’t recommend this fix for “engineered”/laminate hardwood floors, Amy. They are compressed wood and will warp.