If you have a dog, then you know that accidents happen. And when they do, it’s essential to clean up the mess as quickly as possible to prevent any damage to your flooring. Laminate floors are a popular option because they’re budget-friendly and durable, but they can be susceptible to damage from urine. In this article, we’ll discuss how to protect laminate floors from dog urine.
Laminated floors are made of several layers, including a top layer of decorative plastic. The material is designed to resist scratches but not impact from sharp objects. Urine contains salts that can cause irreversible damage to the topmost layer of your laminate flooring.
If left untreated, the salt will dry into complex crystals to remove. If you have pets, then it’s essential to clean up any accidents as soon as possible with the right cleaning products and techniques.
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Common Problems Occur by Dog Urine on Laminate Flooring
Dog urine is one of the most challenging substances to remove – not only does it contain harmful bacteria, but its colorant can leave permanent stains on your flooring. Here are several problems that occur by dog urine:
Odor Problems:
Pet odors are always tricky to get rid of; however, it becomes even more complex with dog urine. Dog urine has an acidity level of 6.5 to 7.0. This level can cause permanent damage/stains on laminate flooring and porcelain tile floors. In addition, the acid levels in the dog urine can break down both surfaces easily, causing a dull appearance that won’t go away.
Fading and Yellowing:
Older stains can fade and yellow over time. The dog urine that gets into the floors will create a dull, discolored appearance. It can also seep down to the subfloor and cause damage there, too – permanently staining it.
Sticky Gunk:
Dog urine contains protein; therefore, as it breaks down, it leaves behind a sticky residue on your laminate flooring. This gunk is tough to remove with common cleaners because it is sticky, hard to dissolve, and often requires unique products just for this area of flooring.
Buckling and Bending:
How a dog pees on the floor directly impacts how much damage is done to it. When a dog stands up and uses a dominant leg, its rear legs will be higher from the pee spot. This causes an indentation that can buckle your laminate flooring or even bend your tile/stone floors too profoundly.
A Detailed Guide on How to Protect Laminate Floors From Dog Urine
Step 1: Determine the Texture of the Floor
The first thing you need to do is determine the texture of your floor. It might be easier to get rid of if it’s only a few spots than if there are many areas on your laminate flooring affected by dog urine. Also, consider how much traffic usually goes through that house area.
If people are tracking in dirt and debris all day, choosing a better option for shampooing may be required. However, determining where they can use water or steam mop their laminate floors without any negative consequences will suffice for most people. Choosing which you want will go on from there.
Step 2: Blotting and Cleaning with Water
If you have a localized area, the best thing to do would be to blot it dry and immediately clean it up. How can you tell if your floor is textured enough for this? If so, blotting and cleaning it up with water will be adequate. Be careful, though, not to let your dog drink any of the water on the floor because eventually, minerals in it will build up inside their body, leading to urinary tract infections or stones.
Also, make sure no one steps in any puddles left on the floor. You don’t want anyone falling or stepping around in them while they’re still wet because it could easily damage your floors on an even larger scale than before.
Step 3: Clean with an Enzymatic Cleaner
If your floors are textured enough, you can also go with an enzymatic cleaner. These cleaners will be more expensive than water, but they’ll get rid of bad odors on your flooring by eating them away. It works that either you spray or pour the juice onto the affected areas and then let it air dry.
Then since enzymes are proteins, not only does it remove nasty smells, but if anything gets tracked into that spot again after it’s been treated, the enzyme cleaner should eat away at the new smell to get rid of it.
Step 4: Treat Stains With Vinegar and Baking Soda
If you want to go completely natural and use home remedies instead, baking soda and vinegar will do the job. How it works is that one of these two chemicals alone can remove practically any stain. Still, when used together, they neutralize each other’s smells (which results in removing them both) and make a very effective scrubbing agent for your floors!
Just sprinkle some on the stained area, wait ten minutes for it to settle in, then use either a toothbrush or sponge mop with vinegar to scrub the spot clean. If any tough spots are left after this treatment, pour some more on and let it sit for another ten minutes before trying again. Repeat this process until the stain is completely gone, and make sure you don’t leave it on the floor for too long because, over time, the chemicals inside either of them can cause damage to your flooring. Either way, your laminate floors should be just fine for having a dog in your home with any of these cleaning options!
Step 5: Steam Mop Your Floors
If you don’t want to deal with any of the tedious types of cleaning mentioned above, some quality steam mops can do all the work for you. How they work is simple: fill them up with water, attach a cloth or pad, then start mopping your floor just like normal. Now, since these things use only steam and no chemicals or hot water, all that’s getting into your floors are plain moisture that will help keep the flooring pliable and not harm it.
Many new models on the market even have microfiber pads attached, so you’ll get double the scrubbing power without doing anything but push forward! Just remember to clean each area once you finish it to keep any of the moisture from sitting on the floor and doing damage like that.
Step 6: Protect Laminate Flooring From Dog Urine
If you just brought home a new dog and they’re still getting the hang of where to go, you’ll want to protect your floor, especially if it’s your pet’s first time in that area. You do this by putting down several layers of newspaper or even towels; anything that can soak up moisture will work well for this! How it works is that when your dog does their business, the drier the surrounding area is, the less likely their urine will get onto your flooring because if it gets absorbed by something else, then there’s no way for any of it to make contact with the laminate.
There are also some other options available, like pee pads or potty training systems, but since these things require supervision, they are very impractical for both you and your dog. These steps will help in how to protect laminate floors from dog urine.
Tips and Warnings:
You should not use bleach, wax, or other harsh chemicals on your laminate floor. The reason is that these chemicals may cause damage to the floor and make it less durable. In addition, it may remove the protective coat of your laminate floor.
– Whenever you are cleaning tough stains on your laminate floors, vacuum the area first.
– To keep your laminate floors clean between regular cleanings, invest in a good quality vacuum cleaner. A vacuum cleaner is an excellent tool for removing dust and dirt from your floors without hurting them. It can be used on most floor types except carpeted ones because utilizing a vacuum cleaner on carpeting can cause damage to its surface over time.
– What differentiates laminate from genuine wooden flooring is that laminate is made of layers of paper or plastic pressed together under very high pressure and heat with the use of resin. This process makes laminate more flexible than natural wooden floors that are more rigid in structure.
– Place indoor and outdoor rugs at various places in your house to prevent damage to small areas of your laminate flooring. In addition, this will also provide an extra layer of protection and comfort under your pets’ paws. Rug pads are highly recommended if you intend to use them to prevent scratches on the surface of the floors.
Conclusion:
If you have a dog and are experiencing problems with your laminate floors, we hope this article has been helpful. We’ve outlined six steps for how to protect laminate floors from dog urine and provided some tips on how to clean up any messes. Keep in mind that the best way to avoid these problems is by training your pet early on and providing them with plenty of access to water. Thanks for reading!
