If you have kids, you will likely have a few stuffed animals. At times, the kids, dogs, cats, or other pets in your house might pee on the stuffed animals, implying you have to remove urine from the plush toys. Urine stains can quickly come out of stuffed animals. However, removing urine smell from the stuffed animals can be a challenge.
In most cases, you won’t be able to remove the urine smell from stuffed animals by washing the plush toy in a washer with ordinary laundry detergent. You must pre-treat the stuffed animal with different household products such as baking soda, vinegar, baby powder, and bleach. You then wash the stuffed animal with a strong enzyme-based detergent.
The ease of removing the urine smell from a stuffed animal will be determined by the urine on the stuffed animal and the time that the urine has been on the stuffed animal. Fortunately, you can use different products that you already have in the house to get the pee smell out of a stuffed animal. This article explains various methods to eliminate urine odor from a stuffed animal.
Will Urine Smell In Stuffed Animal Go Away Over Time?
Removing urine stains on a stuffed is not a complex undertaking. However, eliminating smell can be challenging. Irrespective of whether the urine smell is from a cat, human being, or other pets you might be having in the house, the urine smell can last a while, even after the stain has been removed on the stuffed animal.
Indeed, after treating and washing the urine stain from the stuffed animal in the washer, you could be convinced that the urine smell has also been removed. However, that is not the case at times since different factors can cause urine smell to come back even after you have washed the stuffed animals.
Mainly, it is always hard to get pee smell out of stuffed animals because urine has uric acid that makes the urine have a smell. The acid forms acid deposits that might not be completely removed even after you have washed the stuffed animal.
Interestingly, the salt deposits that are not washed away when you wash the stuffed animals do not have any smell when they are dry. Thus, as long as you keep your stuffed animals dry, you are unlikely to notice any urine smell from them.
However, when the stuffed animal with dry salt deposits from urine is exposed to moisture or becomes wet in different ways, the salt from uric acid reacts with the humidity making your stuffed animal that did not have a urine smell before start to smell.
As your stuffed animal dries again, the urine smell will go away on its own. However, unless you ensure that the salt deposits from the uric acid are completely removed from your stuffed animal, the smell will come back whenever the stuffed animals come into contact with moisture.
Can You Remove Urine Smell From Stuffed Animals?
When a cat, dog, baby, or anything else urinates on a stuffed animal, the uric acid in the urine deposits salt on the stuffed animal. This salt is what makes the stuffed animal smell even after you have effectively removed the urine stain.
With the right products, you can remove the urine smell from stuffed animals. However, since mild detergents do not have potent cleaning agents needed to remove the salt deposits by uric acid that causes the smell, you should never use a mild detergent to remove the urine smell from plushies.
To ensure that the urine smell is effectively removed, you have to pre-treat the plush toy with the urine smell before you can wash it. When washing the plushies with a urine smell, you have to use a detergent that is clearly labeled to contain special properties to get rid of stubborn odors. Let’s now look at 9 different methods that can be used to get urine odor from stuffies.
How To Get Urine Smell Out Of Stuffed Animals – 10 Ways
If your stuffed animal has just been urinated on and the urine is fresh, use an absorbent towel or a paper towel to absorb as much urine as possible from the plush toy.
By absorbing the fresh urine, you will make the process of removing urine smell easier since you will absorb some of the uric acid that makes your stuffed animal smell like urine.
If the urine smell has been on the plushie for a long time, you will not be able to absorb any of the urine as it will have already dried. However, irrespective of whether the urine smell is fresh or has been on the plush toy for a long time, you can use different products to get the cat pee smell out of the stuffed animal.
All the methods described in this article can be used to remove any type of pee smell from your stuffed animal as well as your clothes. However, for most methods, you will be required to wash the stuffie after treating the urine stain and smell.
To wash the stuffed animal, check the care label and confirm that the stuffie is machine washable. Then, place the plushie in a mesh bag or zippered pillowcase and wash it on a delicate cycle using regular washing detergent and cold or cool water.
If you have a non-washable stuffed animal or you are not sure whether the stuffie can be washed in the washing machine (you can’t find the care tag), you should spot clean the stuffie.
1. Hydrogen Peroxide
As a deodorizer that oxidizes very quickly, hydrogen peroxide can be used to break down the natural odor. However, to get out a strong urine odor from your stuffed animal, you should mix hydrogen peroxide with baking soda and dish soap.
Here is the procedure to use hydrogen peroxide and get the urine smell out of your stuffed animal
1. Mix 8 ounces of hydrogen peroxide with 3 tablespoons of baking soda and a couple of drops of dishwashing liquid in a mixing bowl.
2. Put the solution in a spray bottle.
3. Since hydrogen peroxide can bleach the fabric of your stuffed animal as hydrogen peroxide is a bleaching agent, spot test the solution on a small section of the plush toy to ensure that there will be no discoloration.
If you notice that the solution will discolor the fabric of the stuffie, you should stop using this method and use any of the other nine methods.
4. Spray the stain with the solution and let the solution sit on the stuffed animal fabric for at least one hour.
5. Place your plushie in a mesh bag or zippered pillowcase and wash it on a delicate cycle using regular washing detergent and cold water. For stubborn urine smell, you can add 1 cup of white vinegar to the wash.
If you have a non-washable stuffed animal or you are not sure whether the stuffie can be washed in the washing machine (you can’t find the care tag), you should spot clean the stuffie.
2. Baking Soda
Baking soda is one of the best products to remove fresh urine stains and odor from plush toys. Indeed, if the smell in the plushie can’t go away by just blotting the specific part of the toy that has been urinated on, then baking soda could be your best option.
Nevertheless, if the urine smell on the stuffie is old, it will be better if you use baking soda and another product to remove the pee smell.
To remove the smell of urine from the plush toy, here is the procedure you should follow:
1. Blot the urine with a paper towel or an absorbent towel.
2. On the specific section of the plushie with the urine smell, sprinkle the area with a fair amount of baking soda. Ensure that you have sprinkled enough baking soda since it will be used to neutralize the smell.
3. Using a soft bristle brush or a spare toothbrush, work the baking soda into the stuffed animal fibers.
4. Leave the baking soda on the stuffed animal for at least 8 hours. If you have a sealable bag that your plush toy can fit in, you can put the toy in the bag and leave it there for 8 hours.
5. Remove baking soda from the plushie by dusting it off and then wash the stuffed animal to get out any baking soda and urine on the toy.
6. To ensure that the urine smell has been completely removed from the plushie, you can add baking soda to the wash.
3. Vinegar
For urine smell that has lasted on the stuffie for long and has already dried, vinegar is your best bet to get out the urine smell. When using vinegar, it does not matter whether the urine is from human beings or pets since vinegar can remove any type of urine smell from your stuffed animal.
This is the process you should use to get the pee smell out of a plush toy with vinegar:
You should use this method if your stuffie is washable. Check on the care label whether the stuffie is washable.
1. In a washtub or bucket, mix white vinegar with water. Ensure that there is enough water to fully submerge the stuffie.
2. Submerge the stuffie in the solution of water and vinegar and leave it soaking for one hour.
3. After one hour, remove the stuffie from the solution.
4. For stubborn urine smell, you can apply baking soda to the stuffie after removing it from the solution.
5. Wash the stuffie in the washer. However, instead of using detergent, use one cup of white vinegar.
To protect the stuffie from being damaged in the washer, place it in a mesh laundry bag, zippered pillowcase, or pillowcase before loading it in the washer.
6. To remove the vinegar smell from your stuffie, you can wash it again with detergent once the urine smell has been removed.
4. Enzyme Based Detergent
Enzyme-based detergents contain naturally occurring enzymes that break down stains and odor molecules into small particles that are easily washed away during a regular wash cycle.
This is how you can use enzyme-based detergent to remove urine smell from stuffed animals:
1. Place the stuffie in a mesh laundry bag, zippered pillowcase, or pillowcase before loading it in the washer.
2. Load the stuffie into the washer.
3. Put enzyme-based laundry detergent in the detergent compartment – ensure you use enzyme-based detergent since other detergents will not work.
4. Set your washer to a delicate wash cycle and wash the stuffie. Take note that you must use warm water for the enzyme-based detergent to be effective.
However, if the care label of your clothing does not allow you to use warm water, cool water will be fine.
5. After washing and drying the stuffed animal, check to confirm whether the smell has been removed. If you still have the urine smell, wash the plush toy with enzyme-based detergent again.
5. Air Drying On Sun
Unknown to many people, sunlight will remove most scents and odors on stuffed animals. Specifically, the ultraviolet light from the sun kills the bacteria that cause urine smell in your stuffed animals.
However, it would help if you were careful since the sun can also fade the stuffed animal as it is a natural bleach.
To remove the urine smell from a soft toy with the sun, you need to leave the stuffie in the sun for a few hours. Then, ensure that the specific part of the toy stained by the urine is in direct contact with the sunlight for a few hours so that UV lights kill the odor-causing bacteria.
To have the best results, it is recommended that you treat the stain with any of the other methods and then air dry the stuffed animals in the sun.
6. Borax
As a detergent booster, Borax is highly effective at removing odors from pets and human beings from different fabrics and upholstery. Moreover, the detergent can work on most fabrics, such as cotton and wool.
The process is simple:
1. Mix Borax with salt, vinegar, and water in a mixing bowl. Depending on the size of the stain, the mixing ratio should be; ¼ cup of Borax, ¼ cup salt, ¼ cup of white vinegar, and a pint of water.
2. Soak a soft sponge or towel with the solution.
3. Wring the soft sponge or towel and use it to wipe the section of the stuffed animal stained with urine.
4. Allow the solution to sit on the stained section for one hour.
5. Add vinegar to the wash, and wash your stuffed animal in the washer.
6. Repeat the process as needed.
7. Bleach
Bleach is commonly used to remove stubborn urine stains and smell since it is a base that neutralizes the uric acid that makes urine leave behind a nasty smell.
Nevertheless, take note that bleach is one of the most dangerous products to use when removing urine smell from stuffies. Thus, you need to be cautious and strictly adhere to the procedure when using bleach to remove the urine smell from stuffed animals.
Before using bleach on your stuffed animal, you need to determine whether you need chlorine or non-chlorine bleach. For white stuffed animals, you have to use chlorine bleach. For colored stuffed animals, you need to use non-chlorine bleach.
Here’s how to use bleach to remove the urine smell from plush toys:
1. Since the chemicals in bleach can be dangerous to your hands, put on rubber gloves to ensure that your hands are protected.
2. Mix water and bleach in a bucket or washbasin. Ensure you use the correct ratio of water to bleach as indicated in the bleach packaging.
3. Soak the stuffed animal with the urine smell in the solution for 3 hours.
4. Wash the stuffed animal in a cool delicate cycle.
8. Dish Soap
Dish soap is specially formulated to break down any form of dirt that could be on dushes and leave the dishes clean and smelling fresh. Thus, dish soap can also clean urine and at the same time get urine smell out of stuffed animals.
Here’s the process to use when using dish soap to eliminate pee smell on a stuffed animal:
1. Put water in a wash basin or bucket.
2. Add ¼ cup of dish soap to the water.
3. Use your hands to stir so that water and dish soap are well mixed.
4. Submerge the stuffed animal in the solution and soak for 30 minutes. Ensure that the plushie is fully submerged in water. Occasionally stir the water that the plush toy is soaked in.
In 30 minutes, the soap dish will break down the urine stains and remove the urine smell.
5. After 30 minutes, remove the stuffie from the solution and wash it with the washer.
6. When washing the stuffed animal in the washer, you should use laundry detergent. Do not use dish soap in the washing machine since it can produce a lot of suds that might be challenging to remove.
9. Baby Powder/Talcum Powder
Since the baby powder is highly absorbent, it can be used to remove the urine smell from stuffed animals. You have to expose your stuffed animal to the baby powder and let the powder set in the stuffie’s fibers for some time.
To remove the pee smell from the plush toy, here is the procedure you should follow:
1. If the urine stain is fresh, blot the urine with a paper towel or an absorbent towel.
2. On the specific area of the plushie with the urine smell, sprinkle the section with a fair amount of baby powder. Ensure that you have sprinkled enough baby powder, as the powder will be crucial to neutralizing the smell.
3. Using a soft bristle brush or a soft sponge, work the baby powder into the stuffed animal fibers.
4. Leave the baby powder on the plush toy for at least 6 hours. If you have a sealable bag that your plush toy can fit in, you can put the toy in the bag and leave it there for 6 hours.
5. Remove baby powder from the plushie by dusting it off, and then wash the stuffed animal to get out any baking soda and urine on the toy.
6. To ensure that the urine smell has been completely removed from the plushie, you can add baking soda to the wash.
10. Commercial Odor Removers
If you don’t want to use different products that are freely available in your house, you can use commercial odor removers to remove the pee smell from your stuffed animal.
There are different types of commercial odor removers available in various retail stores. The commercial odor busters have been specifically formulated to kill odor-causing bacteria and leave your stuffie smelling fresh.
The two main types of commercial odor removers comprise odor removers made from natural compounds and odor removers made from chemicals. If you are concerned about potential health risks, you should use odor removers made from natural compounds.
To effectively use commercial odor remover to get rid of urine smell from a stuffed animal, ensure you follow the instructions provided in the packaging of the odor remover.
Conclusions
When you have a urine smell on a stuffed animal, removing the odor can be a challenge because the salt deposited by uric acid on the urine is hard to remove.
By using any of the methods explained in this article, you can treat the urine stain and smell and effectively get them out of the stuffed animal. If you don’t remove the smell on your first attempt, you should repeat the process.
