Even if you have a balcony that looks fantastic, pet urine can ruin the atmosphere immediately. Whether you have cats, dogs, or wild animals leaving a pee odor outside, there’s nothing that you can’t fix. The main key takeaway is that you have to remain consistent once you remove the problem.
To get rid of pee smell on your balcony, spray it off with a hose and scrub it down with baking soda and white vinegar. Next, use coffee grounds to alter the scent, spray it down with an odor-eliminator, and train your pets to use an elevated pee pad. You could also sand the balcony if it’s wooden.
Throughout this article, you’ll learn the following information about ridding your balcony of a foul pee smell:
- Step-by-step instructions to get it done quickly
- How to prevent any odors from coming back
- Simple tricks to keep your pets from peeing on the balcony
1. Spray the Balcony with a Hose
As Rover states, water is often enough to remove most pee odors. Spray down the balcony with your garden hose or use a gardening water can to dilute the urine. Make sure you cover the whole area since the pressure of the hose is usually what does most of the work. Splashing water won’t do anything; You have to aim the hose right at the source.
The longer urine sits on your balcony, the deeper it’ll sink into the porous cement or wood. If you wait too long, it’ll create a stay that’s much tougher to remove. Fortunately, there are dozens of methods, including the following solutions:
2. Sprinkle It with Baking Soda
Start by sprinkling a thin layer of baking soda around the urine stains. Cover every exposed area of the balcony that the odor is coming from. It’s important that you get all of it since the chemical reaction created by the next step only targets the contacted points. You can use a broom to lightly apply the baking soda if you dump too much in one area.
Remember that too much baking soda isn’t a thing; You can apply as much as you want, it’ll just take a bit longer to remove the urine. However, too little baking soda won’t get the job done. It’s better to wait a few more minutes by adding more baking soda than not have enough.
3. Add a Small Amount of White Vinegar
Next, slowly apply white vinegar everywhere that you put the baking soda. You’ll definitely have a massive chemical reaction, so make sure you’re wearing shoes. It’ll start to fizz, which is exactly what you want to happen. This is the cleaning process that pulls the urine from the ground, eliminating the stains and odor.
Allow this solution to fizzle down until it’s no longer bubbling. Depending on the amount of white vinegar and baking soda you used, it may take a few minutes. A longer reaction time is generally better since it means that it’s been cleaning for a while.
4. Scrub the Balcony with a Sponge
Get an abrasive sponge and start scrubbing away at the stain. Any area that had the baking soda and white vinegar should be scrubbed vigorously. You’ll have to spend quite a bit of time since this is the most time-consuming portion of the entire process. However, it’s also the part that removes the urine the best.
If you don’t have a sponge, there are all sorts of alternative solutions, including rough rags, steel wool (as long as it doesn’t scuff your balcony), and scouring pads. All of these options will work just as well, as long as you spend at least 5 to 10 minutes scrubbing the surface.
5. Try Using Coffee Grounds
Coffee grounds are used as palate cleansers, odor eliminators, and all sorts of other sensory stabilization purposes. It naturally neutralizes the smell of pee and other strong-smelling substances. As The Spruce states, coffee grounds can be an excellent tool to quickly cover up the scent of urine on your balcony.
Note: Coffee grounds cover the scent as mentioned above, but they don’t eliminate the source. For this reason, you’ll have to follow the white vinegar and baking soda steps to complete the full cleaning process. Simply using coffee grounds without cleaning the area will allow the odor to come back.
6. Consider Sanding a Wooden Balcony
If your balcony is made of wood, or the portion that’s urine-stained is wooden, then you could consider sanding it down. Using sandpaper or a sander tool, you can remove the top layer. This method will only remove the visible stain, but it won’t eliminate the odor. Much like the coffee ground suggestion, you’ll still need to clean the balcony for the best results.
Another benefit of sanding a wooden balcony is that it’ll become more susceptible to cleaning solutions. You can choose to do this before or after using the white vinegar and baking soda. Either way, it’ll present you with a fresh start to prevent urine stains from coming back.
7. Use Odor-Eliminating Spray
Rocco & Roxie Professional Strength Stain & Odor Eliminator is a great odor-removing spray. It’s made with enzymes that naturally eat away at the stain, leaving your balcony looking as good as new. You can use it in tandem with the previously mentioned cleaning method, or try it by itself.
Perhaps the best feature of this spray is the fact that you can use it on your balcony, carpets, furniture, litter boxes, and more. It’s an all-in-one spray that won’t leave stains or sticky residues, unlike the vast majority of sprays in the same category.
8. Train Your Pets
Training your pets to pee on a potty pad or turf is how you can prevent the urine from staining your balcony. Nobody wants to open their door to a wall of urine odors, so using these scented pads will keep your balcony looking and smelling fresh. In the long run, you’ll save time and money instead of cleaning the area.
The PETMAKER Artificial Grass Bathroom Mat has a removable tray to collect the urine. You’ll be able to dump it and clean the tray whenever you want to without worry about the balcony getting stained. Furthermore, it teaches your dog or cat to seek grass rather than peeing on anything they walk by.
9. Keep Your Balcony Clean
Last, and perhaps most importantly, you should always clean the urine as it happens. As soon as you see an accident, clean it up. Almost all balconies are made with some sort of porous material that’ll soak the urine, causing stains, odors, and other unpleasant issues within a few hours.
You can use odor-eliminating sprays, soap, and water to maintain the balcony once you’ve followed the initial cleaning steps. This weekly maintenance will keep you from having to keep coming back to spend hours scrubbing away.
Conclusion
As you can see, it’s fairly easy to fight the pee smell that covers balconies with pets. It shouldn’t have to be a struggle. All you need is baking soda, white vinegar, and a sponge to remove almost any urine stain or odor.
Here’s a quick rundown of the post:
- Spray your balcony with a garden hose to loosen urine stains.
- Allow the baking soda and white vinegar to sit for a few minutes to react with one another.
- Consider using coffee grounds and odor-eliminating sprays when you’re all done.
- Train your pets to use a potty pad or fake turf to prevent urine odors.
- Clean your balcony regularly to maintain a fresh scent.
