best way to get cat pee out of natural fiber yarn?

[kiwikitti]

I have a terrible realization. I keep my yarn in a room with a cat. Most of it is in big plastic bins and the rest of it is off the ground. Yarn including a wonderful find from E-Bay from a German brand from an estate sale that has been sitting aside for a later date when I found the JUST PERFECT project for it. Generally cat-proof right? Well, it is... unless someone knocked over one of the boxes filled with a yarn find from ebay. Now I have discovered an evil truth. The cat peed on it.

 

I have read that you can put them in a sock and throw it in the wash, and that vinegar gets the smell of cat pee out. But I am worried about this yarn, and especially one of them.

 

Here are the yarn details. It's Schachenmayer Nomotta. One of the kinds is called Femia, which is 80% acrylic and 20% viscose. Not quite sure what that is. This is the machine washable kind so I am not as worried about that but slightly curious what viscose is... The real problem comes with the second yarn called Habanera which is 70% new wool and 30% cotton. This is the handwashable kind. The kind I am most worried about cleaning.

 

What is the best way to go about this? I am totally content washing the whole lot by hand, which probably needs to be done. All 20+ little skeins of the thing. However, I don't want to hurt the Habanera yarn either. What to do?

[minwifeof4boys]

Hmm... maybe a product like Dryel would help ( the over the counter dryclean stuff).... it comes with the garmet bag to put the stuff in and the drycleaning sheets... I think it cost somewhere around 10 bucks for the stuff to do several projects... I just tried it for the first time on a jacket that had under arm reek...it got that out...

 

Good luck!

[Crafty_Lady]

I really don't know anything about habanera, but I hope you find a solution!

[Raina2816]

I have a solution:cheer... you have to go to WalMart(I know, I know...) in the cleaner aisle look for a white and yellow bottle of KIDS & PETS. This stuff is amazing!!! I have used it on clothing in the washing machine(my cat peed on me as I was taking him to the vet this weekend:( ), linolem, carpet, you name it I've has to put it on it...takes the smell completely away. I tell everyone I know with pets to buy boxes of it! I hope you can find it at WalMart, that's where it is here.

 

Oh, you do need to check a piece first to make sure the color won't come out...but then again I haven't had a problem with that either

Edited May 27, 2008 by Raina2816
needed to add more

[Granny Square]

Don't put it in the washer or dryer, agitation (not heat) is what shrinks wool! And viscose is an 'ingredient' in rayon, which shrinks when agitated also.

[crochetrenee]

Yes, agitation will not only shrink the wool yarn, but will felt it all together into one unusable mass! So....soak it, but don't agitate it. I handspin my own yarn, and when I have quite alot to wash, I fill the washer with hot water and a special wool wash, (not woolite!) and soak for twenty to thirty minutes. Then drain and spin only. Remove the yarn and refill the tub, put the yarn back in and let it soak; keep repeating this process until the water is clear, then it would be best to put the yarn in skeins and hang it outside on a sunny breezy day to let them dry. I like to use Eucalan and it works well for soaking lanolin and dirt out of wool. Hope that helps!

Don't put it in the washer or dryer, agitation (not heat) is what shrinks wool! And viscose is an 'ingredient' in rayon, which shrinks when agitated also.

[Elle]

Whatever you do, do NOT wash the stuff that is mostly wool. I tried this with some balls of an 80% wool/20% cotton blend and I ended up with six pink tennis balls because it felted and fused in the washer! The cats were tickled pink because I tossed them on the floor and said "here you go, guys, new kitty toys!" but I lost some very pretty yarn. Sorry I don't have any suggestions for what you CAN do, but I can at least tell you what NOT to do. Kitties. Gotta love 'em. I wish I could figure out WHY they do some of the things they do.

[losingmymind2]

Go to a pet supply store like Petsmart, they have a product called Natures Miracle and a formula Just for Cats. If you hand wash with it you should be fine, or better yet, spray it on the yarn, saturating it, then let it sit a while, rinse in cold water, and blot, no rubbing, between two clean white towels. Then let air dry away from light and heat.

[ami gu rumi]

oh dear, that sounds terrible! i don't know if you want to actually wash the stuff, but i for sure use vinegar in EVERY load of laundry that i do. i use it instead of bleach and fill the bleach receptacle with it. it will remove any odours that are in the fabrics and get everything smelling like fabric instead of detergent. so perhaps just a good soak in vinegary water and rinse a few times and blot like someone said? it'll get rid of bugs on lettuce/spinach too if you soak the leaves in water/vinegar.

[Schmetterling]

Ditto to Nature's Miracle. We never are without it here.

[Moonstruck]

Actually if you have a Petco nearby they carry a product called "Stink Free". I always used Natures Miracle & have found this product far superior. Good luck!

[shortylam]

I think you should try baking powder: put all your yarn in a brown paper bag, sprinkle baking powder all over them generously, shake shake shake, then take them out of the bag. Repeat if they still stink.

 

I know it's the trick shop keepers use with teddy bears and it really cleans. You should try it because the ingredients in baking powder are natural and biodegradable. You don't want to spray something funky on your yarn that you may wear, do you?

[Duda112]

I know this post is a few years old and already has lots of suggestions, but just in case anyone still needs another solution, I felt compelled to post. I used to rescue cats and ended up with quite a few sprayers. Out of desperation, I accidentally found something that worked called "Stop Cat Spraying".

Everyone I have recommended this to since I discovered this trick has been amazed at how well it works. You should definitely check it out, we don't even buy Odorban and the likes any longer

Cats don't just pee on floors and beds because they're in pain - could be a multitude of other reasons! Most common is that male cats feel the need to mark their territory.

What a relief to finally have gotten rid of the horrible cat pee smell, and for a decent price as well.

One of my 2 cats (both neutered males) had taken to painting all of my walls, furniture, and anything else he could reach. I was horrified when I got a UV light. He never did that in all of the 9 years I've had him and didn't when I got him a buddy (they love each other and did so right away) but when a strange black cat started showing up outside both of my cats went nuts and the older one (9) started his wall painting, as well as the curtains out in the kitty room. I couldn't keep up with it.
My cats are indoor cats so it's not like the stray is actually going to get in here but they both hate him (and he is weird...my neighbor's cats hate him too). I've tried cleaning with a pet urine enzyme and then spraying some "No More Spraying" but that hasn't worked.

He's a sneaky little bugger too; he waits until he thinks I'm not looking and then does it. He's learned that the minute I see him backing his butt up to something he gets yelled at. It wasn't until I found "Stop Cat Spraying" that I was able to finally get rid of this tiresome behavior. Now my house doesn't smell like a litter box anymore

To be honest, I don't know too much more about it so I did a quick Google search and here's a description of it with a long review as well.

No I have not been paid for this post nor do I make any commissions off of it. I really just want to help you guys out. I hope you don't mind.

I'm based in Sweden, by the way, so you should be able to get it too.

Good luck with the odor! It really lowers your quality of life, doesn't it?

[USpolishgirl]

Some of them are peeing everywhere just because they are crazy!

Krys