Nature's Miracle Advanced Formula Stain And Odour Remover

OK - here's a complete review of my experience with this product for the benefit of people who got a CAT-pee-smell problem somewhere they want to get rid of permanently. My problem .... turns out my cat had been peeing in the same spot for some time. Why we never realised before I'll never know. Maybe we'd got used to the smell.

The location was in a corner under a table in our lounge where it's dark.

We eventually realised our problem was one morning there was a new addition we did smell. It was only then we realised it's a problem we've had for some time.

To our horror, we discovered about 60 cm x 30 cm. of carpet was destroyed.

How we hadn't seen it / smelled it before is a complete mystery. You wouldn't think it was possible. Maybe we simply got used to the smell over time.

chat GPT reckons this is common with cat pee.

For the benefit of the remainder of this screed, my solution was a no-brainer.

No way of saving the carpet here so a complete removal of the carpet area along with underlay back to the floorboards and those strips with spiky bits in them where the pee had gone underneath. Everything was long-soaked in cat pee and stunk of cat - big time.

(As an aside, ... our house is on the market ... dah! ... so I decided I wasn't going to simply get a bottle of something, spray it on and hope for the best.)

I needed a no-compromise permanent result.

The carpet area was to be completely removed and a patch inserted.

I'm not sure how I'd have fared if it was a on a carpet in an open area.

I tried that once and it was almost a useless exercise - no matter how much I washed/sprayed the area nothing seemed to work. I guess the spray just wouldn't reach all of the mess underneath.

Fortunately the smell went away over time after my efforts which was mostly ineffective.

(In that event again, on a carpet, I'd probably get it cut out and a repair patch installed - cleaners have a big problem getting to all the pee soaked in to carpet, underlay and floorboards and if it doesn't it's going to be a useless and maybe costly exercise).

If this happens and you give it a go I'm pretty sure the reliable process would be similar for a decent result.

How I approached this ...

Fortunately, I had time.

House inspections stopped over Christmas period and weather was to my advantage. (Weather? It's January in Melbourne and warm - so easy to dry stuff).

I went to chatGPT and had a long discussion about how to get rid of cat-pee, what I should use and how I should do it.

chatGPT was really useful - told me to use enzyme cleaners not cleaning stuff - stay clear of Ammonia and Bleach which would make the problem worse.

Sought out possible Australian solutions for me and even did a review of this product to check it's (apparent) suitability for my needs.

Told me, regardless of product I chose to cover area, leave it overnight, keep repeating as necessary and how important letting it dry is.

Told me ... literally step-by-step technique.

1. Completely clear the carpet.

Remove underlay.

Back to floorboards.

Clean the area - maybe even use enzyme cleaner for liquid as cleaner.

I didn't, I simply used neat water - with nothing in it - and I used a carpet/furniture spray suction gizmo to suck it up. (There's a review on this website for that - I like it - it's been really useful).

And I did that several times until drained water cleared

While it didn't get rid of the smell as that had soaked into floorboard and gone down joints it did do a good job of cleaning most of the dirt-mess and gave me a clean area to work with.

2. Then I let the area dry overnight.

3. Next day, as per instructions on spray bottle, spray enzyme cleaner liberally over all of area - and then covered with plastic film and leave overnight to give cleaner time to work.

4. Next day I cleaned the area with water again with the suction gizmo and cleaned up everything again including cleaner residue. (Product suggests not removing excess and just let it dry). The water in the cleaner was still a bit cloudy so I was sucking up something.

5. Let it mostly dry then liberally sprayed the area again - covered it with plastic and left it overnight.

6. Next day, checked the area using the nose test.

Even at that point I think I'd done the job, but there's was plenty of cleaner left over so decided to keep doing (5) as many times as needed until I was confident the smell had gone.

If you don't, smell will come back to haunt you after you put carpet back.

7. I think I only really only needed 2 goes but I did one more. Gave it to my lady to check out - she's happy.

8. Uncover area and leave to fully dry - both chatGPT and product instructions say this is where the enzyme cleaner works best - in the drying process.

9. Once dry - do the nose test.

10. Even a slight whiff - keep doing (5)+(6) until it's gone - and it will eventually go completely.

Might take several days but what's the point of not doing the job properly.

You'll eventually regret it if it comes back

Once I was satisfied the smell had gone, I liberally sprayed the area again but this time left it uncovered so the excess cleaner dried on it.

Left it for 2 days before I put a carpet patch back.

Area must be completely dried - and surrounding carpet edge was damp from cleaner.

OK - the product ... this is the one in the Red squirter bottle 'Nature's Miracle - Advanced - severe mess enzymatic formula'.

Add to that - the bottle carries a "Guaranteed to work or your money back' statement.

Image attached.

All I can say is I did a lot of online research prior to purchase and this product eventually seemed the best option - and I wasn't going to buy anything that compromised my chance of success.

Cost-wise it's in the ball-park of others and the bottle 970ml is a useful size.

It took me a while to find some to buy - plenty of this for dogs but not for cats. Even Petbarn I had to check 5 stores for supply. (Petbarn was really helpful).

If you choose to use this - make sure you check store has stock before you go - and make sure you say for cat or dog as required. Products are different. (Dog stuff seems to cost less)

My result.

OK - I get the manufactured perfume smell people complain about can be an issue - it's quite strong but smells better than cat-pee. Besides, it will diminish over time.

I can almost say 1 liberal dousing of the area might have done - as per the instructions - but you still gotta cover it and let it do it's job.

For my part - I reckon cleaner left in a bottle isn't much value - so why not use as much as you have to to make sure you get the job done.

Enzyme cleaners (apparently) take time to clear away smells.

Instructions on bottle confirm this.

I left it covered overnight and addressed where I was every day until I was 100% satisfied I got rid of the smell 100%.

So I gave it 3 goes - gave it a last spray, without cleaning it away and let it dry completely.

Then I cut a patch of carpet out of a cupboard that never sees the light of day. Thanks to YouTube videos on how to do that. (My repair job was OK for this location, but if the area was in more visible place on carpet, I suggest get a professional to repair carpet).

My result ... mission accomplished.

And, to me, that's the important bit - not speed I'll regret later.

Cat-pee is a horror and the danger is, it seems, you can get used to it but any visitors to your house will pick it up straight away when they enter your home.

That's what I think happened to us.

I give the product 5* - because it seems to do what it promises.

It's only got 1 job and it got the job done.

BTW - there's a recommendation that a layer of shellac resin is used to cover floorboards and lock any smell left in. I didn't find the need to do this.

Maybe that will change at some time.