How can I protect my hardwood floors from dog urine? Here’s What to Expect

Are There Other Solutions for Dog Urine?

If you don’t want to use a hydrogen peroxide blend for fear of staining or bleaching your flooring, there are some other options to help you remove urine from the flooring.

How To Remove Dog Urine

There are quite a few homemade options to help you remove dog urine. You can use products specially designed to remove pet stains, hydrogen peroxide, vinegar, or baking soda. Most of your steps will be the same regardless of the methods that you use. However, ensure that you ventilate your room as much as possible while attempting to remove dog urine from your floors.

Use a fan and open your windows to eliminate any toxic fumes, floating particles, and odors. Of course, you also want to clean up the dog urine. If the urine soaked into the carpet or the area rugs, spot clean them or even throw them into the washing machine, if possible. You want to have open access to your urine-soaked floors.

How To Clean Pet Urine From Hardwood Floors?

It’s super easy to clean up after your pet. But when it comes to hardwood floors, time is of great essence. Pet urine, like human urine, is slightly acidic. Hence, they have catalytic properties and react with the finish of the hardwood floors.

Letting the pee sit on the wood floors for a long time, willingly or unwillingly, will bring no good results. So, depending on how long it’s been since the bad deed, you should adopt the specified countermeasures below-

Time Span State Discoloration Cleaning Aftercare
5-10 Minutes – liquid urine – looks like splashed waters – light glistening – fresh pee-like smell no visible discoloration – DRY soft cloth/paper pad for soaking up all the urine – wood-friendly liquid cleaners for further cleaning – clean dry towel/mop for drying the surfaces – air fresheners, citrus-flavored for quick overpowering
5-10 Hours – concentrated urine – shriveled volume – sticky surface – enhanced smell slight discoloration – hydrogen peroxide for instantaneous cleaning – a dampened towel for soaking up the excess urine – dry-wiping the surface – sanding, if needed – air fresheners, scented candles, naphthalene, etc.
5-10 Days+ – crystallized consistency – breaks down – – easily like flecks of rust – deeply disturbing smell discernible discoloration, especially on dark-colored hardwood floors – concentrated cleaners for deep cleaning – let the surface soak for a while before gently scrubbing the dissolved urine – back to back cleaning to get rid of all kinds of residue – professional refurbishment for extended discoloration

How to get rid of dog urine smell and stain from wood floor

When you first get your little bundle of love, you’ll think you can love it no matter what happens; however, this quickly changes when it needs to go to the toilet. Puppies genuinely have no control over when they need to go, and they’ll urinate or poop wherever they may find themselves.

To protect your hardwood floors, we recommend not allowing your dogs on the floor until they are properly house trained. You can apply a thick coating of oil or apply several layers of hardwood floor sealants, with most people preferring to provide a safe spot for the dog to pee.

These are the basics of owning a puppy, but there are more things you can do to protect your floors than simply covering or sealing them. Many owners learn through trial and error that their puppies may not be ready for training, preferring to give them a place to be safe rather than letting them go wild.

Your dog may be the new love of your life, but if your entire house has hardwood floors, you will need to learn how to ensure it does not damage your floor. Most dogs nearing adulthood will not need to be closely watched at all times; however, this can take up to a year.

It would be best if you understood how each treatment to protecting your hardwood floors works, allowing you to enjoy having your dog around comfortably. We have tested through our trials and errors to see precisely which treatments help keep your floors perfect.

The first and the best solution to stopping your dog from staining your hardwood floors is sealing the entire floor. You should preferably have three to four layers of sealant on your floor, creating a proper protective layer on your floors that will keep all moisture out of the wood.

This will always be one of the best ways to prevent dog urine from staining your hardwood floors, as it directly creates protection for your floor. However, it will require a lot of work as you will have to sand between the first and second layers to ensure that the next few layers of sealant are smooth.

Many hardwood floor owners prefer not to have their floors sealed, as the look given by the sealant can be considered plastic-like. When this is a problem, you can turn to wood oil to provide the wood with a proper stain and look, keeping the feeling and luxurious look that hardwood owners want.

With oils, the wood is hardened, and the overall look of the wood will last a lot longer, requiring that you only have to treat the spot of the wood that has been soiled. Usually, just washing the spot that has been urinated on and then giving fresh oiling will have the floor looking perfect.

Probably the best way of stopping your dog from peeing on your hardwood floor is to have an area of your home where they can happily do what is needed. Even with the best trainers in the world, young dogs will relieve themselves wherever they may be, which means your hardwood floors are in danger.

For the first few months that you have a dog, it is best to have them live, sleep, and eat in this area, taking them out only when you are with them. This will allow you to stop or lead them into areas where it is safe to urinate or poop without getting into trouble that they may not yet understand.