If you have a dog and live in a house with artificial grass, then you know how difficult it is to keep the urine off of both.
Every morning when you let your dog out to pee, they always head straight for the artificial grass in your backyard.
How do you get that nasty urine smell out of the fake turf? You can’t just use any old cleaner or soap for this job because those products will damage the blades of artificial grass.
We’ve got a step by step guide, that will show you how to remove stains from synthetic lawn caused by animal urine, including how to neutralize pet odors with a home remedy recipe.
Contents
- What happens if a Dog Urinates on Artificial Grass?
- How do you Neutralize Dog Urine from Artificial Grass?
- Steps To Clean Fake Grass From Dog Urine
- Step 1 – Blot
- Step 2 – Wipe with Vinegar
- Step 3 – Wash with Detergent and Hot water.
- Step 4 – Sanitize
- Step 5 – Repeat as Necessary
- What not To do when Cleaning up Dog Urine?
- How do you get rid of Pet Odors in Fake Grass?
- Conclusion
What happens if a Dog Urinates on Artificial Grass?
Dogs will always mark their territory, even if it’s in your backyard. When they urinate on synthetic turf blades, these tiny plastic fibers begin to absorb both liquid and odor.
If you don’t get the urine out of the synthetic grass quickly, it will begin to smell like ammonia because bacteria start feeding on both saliva and nitrogen in dog or cat urine.
Then if your pet urinates again, these microbes further feed off this mixture, creating a toxic gas that smells awful!
It will put stain marks on artificial grass blades and can also cause the turf to discolor.
Dog urine on artificial grass blades causes plastic fibers to break down and start curling up or popping off of surfaces because ammonia corrodes their structures, just like bleach does with cotton fabrics.
How do you Neutralize Dog Urine from Artificial Grass?
The best way to remove pet stains from artificial grass is by using a dog-specific enzyme cleaner.
These cleaners work by breaking down organic matter such as urine or feces into smaller particles that you can easily remove from surfaces where applied.
Remember that you cannot use any cleaner safely on fake grass. Some may cause discoloration or bleaching, while others could eat away at the surface, destroying its integrity over time.
That’s why we recommend going with an enzymatic-based formula for this job.
Steps To Clean Fake Grass From Dog Urine
Here are the steps to clean dog urine artificial grass.
Step 1 – Blot
The first thing to do upon finding dog urine on your fake grass is to blot up as much of the liquid as possible.
If you try to clean without first blotting, the stain will be harder to remove. To avoid this, make sure you use a thick absorbent towel or paper towel for the process.
Step 2 – Wipe with Vinegar
After you have removed as much liquid as possible by blotting, it’s time to wipe down the area again with white vinegar diluted in water.
This will help neutralize any remaining odors that might attract your pet back to this exact spot.
You can also use an enzyme cleaner mixed with water to wipe the area, but this may take a few hours to work.
Step 3 – Wash with Detergent and Hot water.
After you have allowed the vinegar or enzyme cleaner time to do its job:
- Go ahead and wash out the space under running warm water (faucet or hose).
- Add in some dish soap and scrub well with your hands.
- Rinse again thoroughly afterward. If there were any remaining odors from previous accidents, they should be gone now.
- Make sure you don’t miss rinsing anywhere, though!
Even a tiny bit of odor left behind can attract your pup back to that spot very quickly.
Step 4 – Sanitize
Finally, it’s time to put on your rubber gloves and sanitize by spritzing the area with a 1:1 ratio of white vinegar and water.
Allow the space to air dry or dry it off quickly with paper towels or an old towel you can throw into your washing machine.
Step 5 – Repeat as Necessary
If you still notice any spots on your grass, repeat steps 1-4. Sometimes dog urine can leave stains in artificial grass very quickly, so this is something you should continue doing until the area stays clean for good!
At that point, stop using vinegar or enzyme cleaners on it because these liquids may attract your pet back to that exact spot again in the future.
What not To do when Cleaning up Dog Urine?
The worst thing you can do when cleaning up dog urine is to use a product with ammonia.
Ammonia smells similar to natural urine and will encourage your pup to mark the same place over and over again.
If this kept happening, he could also begin to have accidents elsewhere in the house, so it’s better to avoid using ammonia-based cleaning products altogether!
How do you get rid of Pet Odors in Fake Grass?
If there is an existing pet odor, we recommend using a home remedy such as baking soda or vinegar , which both neutralize the scent and eliminate organic compounds.
This process can take several weeks before noticeable results occur but it’s much less expensive than buying cleaners at your local hardware store .
Conclusion
We’ve compiled a list of suggestions for how to clean and remove urine odor from fake grass. One of these methods may work better than others depending on what type of cleaning method you have chosen.
Which method did you choose?
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