Does It Work? Urine Gone

SEATTLE - As much as you might love having a pet -- it's no fun when they use your carpets and furniture for a toilet.

But what if you could eliminate the stains and odor with a simple spray?

It's called "Urine Gone", and a 24-ounce bottle sells for $20.

It promises to get rid of the stains that make your house smell like a kennel, by digesting the urine in carpet or upholstery.

Great claim, but does it work?

Our volunteer this time has two dogs and a familiar face to many of you. Local Interior Designer Tami Michaels has given us stain removal tips on our midday newscast at 11 a.m. She was especially curious about Urine Gone because of her bulldog Malcolm.

"He has a favorite spot upstairs that if you're not watching him or you haven't paid enough attention to him, he'll urinate on it," she said.

His favorite spot is a beautiful, plush cream-colored carpet outside the family room. Malcolm had just made a new "spot" just before we showed up.

Tami's carpet is covered with Malcolm's marks. His problem is so bad, she gets the rug professionally cleaned every 4 to 6 weeks.

"I'm actually just wanting to replace the carpet at this point," Tami said.

According to the label, the secret ingredient in Urine Gone is natural enzymes that essentially eat away the organic matter in animal and human waste.

First, you blot the stain to remove excess, then spray on the Urine Gone.

You can't use any other product, because the chemicals in other product make the enzymes ineffective. The stain area must be saturated, including the carpet pad if the pad is soiled.

Even though other products had been used on the old carpet stains, Tami gave them a shot of Urine Gone just to see what happens.

We gave it a day for the carpet to dry.

And the next day, our photographer could not find the newest urine stain with her video camera.

"It's hard to see," said Tami. "I think there's nothing there any more. It's gone. I can't believe it!"

Malcolm's new stain had gone from a wet doggie no-no, to like the doggie was never there.

As expected, the old stains showed virtually no improvement because they were previously cleaned with other products.

But with the new stain gone, Tami's a believer. It worked.

"Not only that. But it got rid of the smell. You know that was pretty impressive," Tami exclaimed.

Before you get excited, you should know Urine Gone is one of several enzyme products on the market for pet stains and odors. A quick check online produced adds for versions called "Force Out", and "Odor Destroyer". Bissell has a product out and you can find other brands at local veterinary clinics.

I did some additional research and discovered one complaint with the enzyme cleaners is the stains and odor "appear" to go away -- only to return a few weeks later.

In light of that information, Tami is keeping Malcolm away from his favorite carpet, and I'll check back in a couple of weeks and let you know what happens.