How to Remove the Smell of Cat Urine from Running Shoes

Co-authored by Raina Ragin

Last Updated: December 30, 2024

Kitty got it really wrong when he decided to pee on your favourite running shoes... Never fear, here is how to banish that stench for good!

Steps

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Find a plastic bag large enough to fit the shoes. It will also need to have enough space to tie up once the shoes are inside.
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Place the offending shoes into the plastic bag.
Shake vigorously to get the baking soda all over the shoes.^{[2]
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Bruna Coutinho
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Longer than this is fine too.
Remove the shoes outside or somewhere that you can shake them, like the bathroom. Shake the baking soda off the shoes completely.^{[3]
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Bruna Coutinho
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Research source} The sunshine is important, so if it's too cold or raining, place them in a windowsill for the day or more.

Join the Discussion...

How to get rid of cat pee smell effectively?

Kadi Dulude
House Cleaning Professional

If the urine smell is in the air, try leaving bowls of vinegar around the room, and wash all surfaces with pure white vinegar. It will smell strongly like vinegar while you’re cleaning, but once that smell fades, it also tends to take all bad smells with it.

Laura Smith
House Cleaning Specialist

If there’s a lingering cat pee smell on a mattress, carpet, or another kind of flooring, try using an enzyme cleaner. Enzyme products are made to break down biological matter like urine, so they’re great at getting rid of pee smells. The one I really like is called Bac-Out.

Another thing that you might not think of is cleaning the walls around the area. If you've had a pet spraying somewhere, washing the surrounding walls can go a long way towards removing the odor.

If the above methods aren’t working, my next suggestion would be an ozone machine. It’s basically the big guns for any odor, and it isn’t terribly expensive—you can buy one for about $100 on Amazon. To use it, you plug it into the wall and let it run anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour, depending on the size of the space. Afterward, you air the area out really well, and that process should kill all odor. Just make sure there are no people or pets in the space while the machine is on because it can be an irritant to the lungs.

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Question

Can I use bleach to remove urine smell and stains from my shoes?

Bruna Coutinho
Cleaning Expert
Bruna Coutinho is a Cleaning Expert and owner of Bruna’s Cleaning Services based in Wilmington, Delaware. With over 10 years of experience and over 200 recurring customers, Bruna's Cleaning Services provides a variety of cleaning solutions to the DE, NJ, and PA areas. While boasting eco-friendly cleaning practices, some of Bruna’s specialties include Deep Cleaning, Commercial Cleaning, Post Construction Cleaning, and Airbnb Cleaning. In 2023, Bruna's Cleaning Services was voted a Neighborhood Fave on Nextdoor.

Bruna Coutinho

Cleaning Expert

Expert Answer

No, it’s not a good idea to use bleach on your shoes. Bleach can damage the fabric or material and could make things worse. Instead, stick to mild soap and water or a mixture of baking soda and vinegar for cleaning and removing stains or odors.

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This did not work for me, why is that? I followed all of the steps and it did not work, did this work for anybody else?

Emma Richardson

Community Answer

You could instead use a dawn dish soap and Oxi clean mixture. Put it in a dawn dish soap bottle. Then put the shoes in the washer. Squirt with dawn and Oxi mix and then start the washer.

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Tips

If the runners can be spot washed, try to do so using a suitable urine remover. But only put dry runners in the bag unless it sits in direct sunlight, in which case, you risk fading of the runners.

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If your cat has the temperament to do this once, he might get around to doing it again, so reconsider where you keep those shoes!

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