Urine Gone: Review of the as Seen on TV Stain and Odor Eliminator
According to the packaging, Urine Gone is a stain and odor eliminator with enzyme action. Urine Gone claims it “effectively removes new or old urine stains and odors from washable surfaces and fabrics. Fast-acting Enzyme Action attacks urine and other organic matter (such as feces, blood, saliva and more) and essentially eats up their stains and odors.” The packaging also says Urine Gone is non-toxic and safe for carpet, litter boxes, wood and tile, bathrooms and sofas and beds.
I purchased Urine Gone at Linens n Things for $19.99. The box included a 24-ounce spray bottle of Urine Gone and a battery-operated black light. Refill bottles are also available.
My first opportunity to use Urine Gone occurred when my cat urinated on my daughter’s diaper changing pad. I was able to wash the changing pad cloth cover, but the pad underneath had a very strong urine smell. Even after wiping the pad down with antibacterial wipes, the smell was horrendous. I sprayed the pad with Urine Gone and let it dry. When I came back in a few hours, the urine smell was completely gone.
My next opportunity came when my other cat started showing signs of having a urinary problem. She was going around my office squatting. I made an appointment to see our veterinarian, but in the meantime I had to follow her around with my Urine Gone spray bottle. As far as my nose can tell, there is no lingering urine smell in my office.
I was convinced that Urine Gone works on new stains and odors, but would it work on old ones? To find out, I grabbed the handy hand-held black light that came with the package and headed for my walk-in closet. This is the hiding spot of one of my cats, so there would surely be some accidents in there that I wasn’t even aware of.
I turned off the lights and moved the black light around my closet like a CSI agent looking for clues. I was stunned by the number of glowing spots on the carpet. A glowing spot means there had been some type of pet accident. I completely saturated each of the stains with Urine Gone.
The next day I went back and found that about fifty percent of the old stains were no longer visible with the black light. Since there were no odors initially, I wasn’t able to determine if it had removed old odors. The packaging recommends repeating the process until all evidence of stains are gone, so I will continue the process until the stains are gone.
Next I wanted to test if Urine Gone works on human urine. I turned off my bathroom lights and turned on the black light next to my toilet. I was shocked when my toilet glowed like a Christmas tree. I thought I had done a good job cleaning the toilet, but apparently it is true what experts say about particles spraying into the air each time you flush. Yuck. After spraying down every inch of the toilet, the toilet finally stopped glowing.
I was concerned that Urine Gone would simply cover up odors with a heavy fragrance. But Urine Gone has a very light fragrance, nothing strong enough to cover up urine smells. Therefore I believe the enzymes in Urine Gone are actually breaking down and removing the odors.
On some of my lighter carpets I did notice a slight change in the color of my carpet where I sprayed. The packaging warns to test the product for colorfastness on a small area before wide use.
I love the black light that came with Urine Gone. Since it is battery-operated, you can take it anywhere to find the source of bad odors. The only negative is that it needs to be dark in order to see the glowing spots. I feel silly turning off my lights in order to clean. But it definitely is worth the trouble to find and treat the trouble spots instead of having to shampoo the entire carpet.
I figure I have three choices: I can get rid of my cats (no way!), live with pet stains and odors (no way!), or keep a supply of Urine Gone on hand. I will definitely be going the Urine Gone route from now on!
