What Was I Thinking? Urine Contains Ammonia. Ammonia and Bleach Can be Toxic.
By
Staten Island, NY Posted: 10/19/2014 10:52:24 PM
I'm a science geek, but sometimes I ignore some of the basics.
On the surface, the facts seem so simple.
1. Pets pee.
2. Everyone hates the smell of urine.
3. Bleach kills germs and makes things clean.
Based on that, it's obvious why so many people grab the bleach when we clean up after our pets. The trouble with that it leaves out two very important scientific facts.
1. Urine contains ammonia.
2. You should never mix bleach and ammonia, because it produces toxic fumes.
Most people know you can't mix ammonia with bleach, and most people know urine contains ammonia, but even with those facts, I've been guilty of cleaning cat boxes and pet accidents with bleach. Sometimes the fumes from the reaction were enough to make me wheeze and cough like crazy as my eyes watered up. This happened to me so often I'm ashamed to admit it.... but I still ignored the connection.
The other day it finally hit me. I had my trusty bleach bottle and I sprayed it directly into a semi-dried out urine puddle. The fumes were off the charts, then I had one of those moments when a lightbulb went off. I had flashbacks to my high school chemistry class.
I looked at my bleach bottle and said "What the heck am I doing... am I trying to knock myself out?"
I learned my lesson. I won't do that again.
If you shouldn't use bleach... what can you use to kill the germs?
Believe it or not, urine is sterile. It stinks, but it's sterile. All you need to worry about is getting rid of the smell.
The easiest (and cheapest) thing is a mixture of White Vinegar and water. That's it.
If you've never cleaned with White Vinegar, you're in for a treat. It's not only cheap, but it's good for cleaning just about anything. The acid in vinegar is strong enough to power through just about anything. In spite of the pungent smell while it's still wet, it actually removes odors from almost anything. When you buy it by the gallon (or even bigger in Costco / BJs or Sam's Club), it's a dirt cheap way to clean.
If you've got a particularly bad smell to get rid of, you can also use baking soda... just be aware that if you mix baking soda with vinegar (or just about any acid), it releases tons of harmless carbon dioxide bubbles... like soda, so you may want to use the baking soda mixed with water at first, then spritz some vinegar on top and let the bubbles do their magic.
Other than that, there are tons of cleaners you can use that will do a fine job of cleaning up urine. Just avoid anything that contains bleach. Dog owners should also avoid cleaning urine stains with ammonia... because the ammonia smell will actually attract your dog to pee in the same spot. Adding an ammonia smell to that spot is just like helping them mark their territory. The trick is removing that smell so they don't re-use that spot.
Joe Crescenzi, Founder
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