General Home Cleaning Tips · Hard Wood Floor Cleaning · The Gross Stuff ·Mar 02, 2023

How to Remove Dog Poop Stains from Hardwood Floors

Dogs are known as man’s best friend, but things can quickly turn ugly if they decide to leave their fecal matter on your hardwood floors.

Sometimes, sick dogs can’t help it and leave a mess for you to clean up. Other times, these accidents may be responses to stress or changes in routine or environment.

And the stains and smells can be hard to clean up.

The good news is that you can quickly learn how to remove dog poop stains from hardwood floors. In this article, we will show you the ropes.

We will also explain how to get rid of the smell.

Because if you’ve ever had to get old dog urine out of wood furniture, you will know that pet accidents have smells that can linger for a while.

What this article covers:

How to Clean Dog Poop from Hardwood Floors
How to Get Poop Smell out of Hardwood Floors
How to Clean Dog Diarrhea off a Hardwood Floor

How to Clean Dog Poop from Hardwood Floors

how to get dog poop stain out of wood floor

Step 1: Scoop Up The Poop

When cleaning up any pet accident, whether it's feces or cleaning cat urine from hardwood floors, you want to start by clearing the area.

Of course, this requires you to move any furniture and rugs out of the way.

But it also involves removing as much of the feces as you can, which can be a bit tricky.

Here you need to scoop up as much of the poop as you can. For this purpose, you can put on disposable gloves and place the poop in a disposable bag, sealing the bag tightly afterwards.

Or take a small disposable bag wrapped around your hand to pick up the feces.

Grab the poop with the bag and turn it inside out to lock it inside. Then seal the bag.

There are also specialized spades you can use to pick up the poop.

Step 2: Clear The Remaining Residue

Next, you must remove any remaining feces from the floorboard using paper towels. This involves cleaning the pesky residue that didn’t budge with the initial scoop-up procedures.

This step follows the same process as cleaning mouse urine out of wood.

You want to use paper towels to get any of the remaining wet feces out of the nooks and crannies of your hardwood floor.

If this step is not conducted correctly, you will struggle to get the urine smell out of the subfloor, which accompanies the feces smell after your dog has had an accident.

If some poop has hardened, you must scrape it off the floor. It may be helpful to use a blunt object (like a butter knife or a spoon) and gently scrape off the feces without damaging the floor.

You don’t want to use your everyday utensils for this purpose, but you can also get a specialized tool such as a gum getter as your go-to poop scraper.

Step 3: Clean

After making your floor poop-free, you are ready to give it a good sanitizing clean. There are many professional floor and carpet cleaning chemicals (such as Unchained Sweet Breeze) that specifically work to neutralize pet odors.

There are even expert courses on pet odor removal that can make your job easier.

These expert products, which usually take the form of enzymatic cleaners, are your best bet at getting your hardwood floors back to their original state.

Just be sure to test any product on an inconspicuous part of the floor before applying it to ensure it is safe for use on your wooden floors.

Another option is wiping the floor with Hydrogen Peroxide, a powerful cleaning agent that will double as a sanitizer to keep the integrity and cleanliness of your floor intact.

After cleaning the area, dry it thoroughly with a clean, soft cloth. This will ensure that there is no moisture build-up.

Step 4: Check and Re-Check The Area

You also need to check the area after a while to ensure that no permanent stains have been formed.

Whether getting cat urine smell out of wood or dealing with dog poop, these pet accidents often leave an unsightly black mark, even after cleaning.

In this case, you should use bleach or sanding to remove it.

You also need to check whether your pet returns to the same location for pooping or urinating in the future.

how to clean cat poop off hardwood floors

The reason why it is important to get the pee smell out of hardwood floors and remove the smell of cat urine from wooden furniture is to prevent your pet from returning to the same area.

So, if your pet returns, you will need to conduct a cleaning procedure specifically to get rid of the poop smell.

How to Get Poop Smell Out of Hardwood Floors

Step 1: Mix Cleaning Solution

The best approach to getting rid of pet odors is using an enzymatic cleaner. But there are also some helpful home remedies.

Most of these include vinegar, which is at the forefront of home remedies dealing with pet stains, especially because they are good at getting rid of unwanted smells from hardwood floors.

For example, you can mix 1/3 cup of distilled vinegar, a cup of baking soda, and ¼ cup of dish detergent.

Alternatively, mix a cup of white vinegar with a bucket of warm water and add a few drops of natural oil (grapefruit oil works well).

You can also mix equal parts of vinegar and warm water for a stronger solution (this one works well for dried or older stains).

Step 2: Apply The Solution

The next step is to take the cleaning solution of your choice and put it into a spray bottle. Then, apply it liberally to the stained area and allow it to seep into the stain.

You can leave it for 15 minutes to half an hour.

Follow this by wiping the area with a clean damp cloth. Repeat as often as necessary to remove the pet smells from your hardwood floors.

How to Clean Dog Diarrhea off a Hardwood Floor

Step 1: Remove Excess Poop

Let’s face it, when your dog has diarrhea, it will be harder to clean up the mess than with dried poop. Especially if it seeps into the tiny crevices of your floor.

how to clean poop off hardwood floors

The first step is to grab your gloves and a set of white paper towels.

Try to round up the wet poop into a single pile and scoop as much of it up as you can. Repeat for any residual and obvious poop that remains on the floor. Deposit your paper towels into a trash bag.

Step 2: Scrub

The next step is to grab s soft-bristled brush and scrub the area.

You can dip your brush into warm water and soap and gently scrub over the stained area.

This step will ensure that any poop that may have seeped into the crevices of your floor rises to the surface.

If necessary, grab some more paper towels and clean up residual feces. If the area is entirely clean, you can wipe the area with a clean, damp cloth.

Step 3: Sanitize

This step is necessary for ensuring that the area is sanitized correctly and that no residual poop smells remain.

This is important for hygienic purposes and prevents your dog from returning to the same area.

Since they are territorial creatures, it is common for them to deposit their feces in the same area over and over again.

This is even more likely when they have a runny tummy. So do not skip this step, even if you are in a hurry.

To sanitize the area, you can use an enzymatic cleaner that is safe on hardwood floors. Alternatively, you can spray some Hydrogen Peroxide directly onto the stained area.

If you have some vinegar on hand, you can mix equal parts of vinegar and warm water and apply it to the stain.

Whatever option you choose, give it a few minutes to penetrate the stain. Then, after some time has elapsed, wipe the area with a clean damp cloth.

If your dog still returns to this area after conducting this step, you might need to repeat it at a later stage.