How to Clean Pet Urine from Luggage

Co-authored by Guy Peters

Last Updated: November 14, 2024 References

When your pet urinates on or in your luggage, it can be quite difficult to remove the stubborn smells and stains. Although it takes a bit of time, you can clean pet urine from your luggage by saturating it with vinegar, sprinkling the stain with baking soda, and, if the smell is still lingers, applying a hydrogen peroxide solution. You can also try to clean the urine from your luggage in the washing machine, with an enzymatic pet cleaner, or with an odor-eliminating pouch.

Method 1

Method 1 of 2:

Using Vinegar, Baking Soda, and Hydrogen Peroxide

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1
Dab the suitcase with paper towels to soak up the urine. If the pet urine is fresh and still wet, press a few paper towels down onto the wet spot and hold it there for a few seconds to soak up as much of the urine as possible. Then, with fresh paper towels, continue dabbing the wet spot until the paper towels come up dry.^{[1]
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- You can also use an old rag instead of paper towels.
- Make sure that you dab the urine spot instead of rubbing, which can cause the urine smell to spread across the fabric.^{[2]
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Fill an empty spray bottle with distilled white vinegar. Make sure that the spray bottle is clean. Then, replace the sprayer cap onto the bottle. This will allow you to apply to the vinegar to the urine stain without having to saturate a larger area of the suitcase.
- If the smell of straight vinegar is too strong for you, you can dilute it with water by adding 3 parts water to every 1 part of distilled white vinegar in the spray bottle.^{[3]
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Spray the urine stained spot with the vinegar. With the vinegar-filled spray bottle, spray the urine spot until it’s completely saturated. Then, if the pet urine is on soft luggage, turn the luggage over and spray the opposite side of the fabric where the urine spot is located as well. This will help you remove any urine stains and odors that may have seeped into the luggage fabric.^{[4]
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- If the pet urine spot is on hard luggage, you can just spray the spot on one side.
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Set the luggage outside to dry completely. Once the urine spot is completely saturated with white vinegar, leave it to dry completely for several hours or overnight. If possible, place the luggage outside so that the fresh air will help remove the urine odor even more.^{[5]
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- If you want to speed up the drying time, you can blot up some of the vinegar with a paper towel after it’s soaked through the fabric.
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Sprinkle baking soda over the dried urine spot.^{[6]
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Melanie Garcia
Professional House Cleaner

Expert Interview} Once your luggage is completely dry, pour a light layer of baking soda over the entire urine spot area. This will help neutralize any remaining odors even more.^{[7]
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- If the urine spot was small or didn’t have a strong smell, you can skip the next steps and leave the baking soda alone to absorb any lingering odors overnight.^{[8]
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  Melanie Garcia
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  Expert Interview} If the odor is strong, however, you’ll likely need to add the hydrogen peroxide and dish soap solution on top of the baking soda.
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Add hydrogen peroxide and dish detergent if the odor is strong. In a small bowl, mix ³⁄₄ cup (180 mL) of hydrogen peroxide with 1 teaspoon (4.9 mL) of dishwashing detergent. Then, slowly pour the solution over the baking soda-covered urine stain. Use a scrub brush or old toothbrush to mix the baking soda with the solution and work it into the luggage fabric.^{[9]
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- While using baking soda alone can neutralize some pet urine odors from luggage, adding the hydrogen peroxide and dish soap solution will help neutralize the urine smell if it was still strong after soaking in white vinegar.
- The solution will likely start to bubble as you pour it over the baking soda.
^{[10]
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Expert Source

Melanie Garcia
Professional House Cleaner

Expert Interview} Once you’ve worked the solution into the fabric, leave it to dry completely overnight or for several hours. This will give the baking soda, hydrogen peroxide, and dish soap time to neutralize the urine odors, kill any germs, and remove the urine stains from the fabric.^{[11]
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Vacuum up the dried mixture before using the luggage. Using your vacuum hand-held attachment, vacuum up the remaining baking soda and dried hydrogen peroxide and dish detergent mixture from the luggage fabric. In most cases, the urine stain will be gone and your luggage will be ready to use.^{[12]
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- If there’s still a lingering urine odor or stain, you can repeat this whole process again.

Method 2

Method 2 of 2:

Using Other Cleaning Methods

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1
Put your luggage in the washing machine if it’s machine washable. If your pet urinated on a small piece of luggage, such as a backpack or soft fabric suitcase, you may be able to deodorize and sanitize it by washing it in the washing machine. Before placing it the washing machine, however, make sure that you check the instructions on the care tag so you’ll know how to wash it correctly.^{[13]
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- If the urine smell is strong, you can add baking soda to the washing machine to help remove the odor even more.
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Try an enzymatic pet cleaner and deodorizer. There are several enzymatic pet cleaners on the market that can remove urine stains and eliminate lingering odors. Most enzymatic pet cleaners come in either a powder, similar to baking soda, or in a liquid sprayer.^{[14]
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- If you purchase a powder enzymatic pet cleaner, in most cases, you sprinkle it over the urine stain as you would baking soda, and leave it to soak up the stain and odors for several hours before vacuuming it up.
- When using a liquid spray enzymatic pet cleaners, you’ll generally spray the liquid on the urine spot as you would white vinegar, and leave it to air dry completely.
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Make an odor-eliminating pouch to absorb lingering odors. If you’ve cleaned your luggage thoroughly but there’s still a lingering odor, you can try to get rid of it by making an odor-eliminating pouch and leaving it in your luggage when you’re not using it. For example, try making your own pet urine odor-eliminating pouch by placing a scoop of new kitty litter and a dryer sheet in a small sachet. Tie the sachet up so nothing spills out, then leave it in your suitcase to deodorize over time.
- You can also pour about 3 drops of your favorite essential oils onto a few cotton balls and place them inside the luggage.^{[15]
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  Research source} You can leave the scented cotton balls loose or put them in a sachet to keep them together.
- You can also purchase pre-filled odor-eliminating pouches.