The Best Enzyme Cleaners for Cat Urine

Cat urine is one of the hardest smells to get out of a home. It soaks deep into carpet and cushions, and the smell can come back weeks later on a damp day. Worse, to your cat, a spot that still smells of urine is a spot where it’s fine to go again. Ordinary cleaners clean the surface and cover the smell for a while. An enzyme cleaner breaks down what’s left of the urine itself, which is why vets and shelters recommend them.

We compared enzyme cleaners on what they are made for, which surfaces they are safe on, how they are used, how much they cost per bottle, and what owners say after using them on old, stubborn stains. These are the ones we recommend, along with two tools that make the job easier.

• Best overall: Rocco & Roxie Stain & Odor Eliminator, the best-selling enzyme cleaner on Amazon, with more than 128,000 ratings and a seal of approval for carpets.
• Best for cat urine: Nature’s Miracle Cat Urine Destroyer Plus, an enzyme cleaner made for cat urine, for about $13 a bottle.
• Best plant-based: Biokleen Bac-Out, a plant-based enzyme cleaner with no artificial fragrance that also works in the washing machine.
• To find old stains: the Vansky UV Black Light, which makes dried urine glow so you know where to clean.
• For carpets and upholstery: the Bissell Little Green, a portable spot cleaner that rinses and sucks the mess out of the fibers.

First, Find Out Why

Before you clean, think about why it happened. A cat that starts peeing outside the litter box may be ill. Cornell’s Feline Health Center lists urinating outside the litter box among the most common signs of lower urinary tract disease, along with straining, peeing often, crying out and blood in the urine. Take your cat to the vet if it’s a new habit.

If your cat, especially a male cat, strains in the litter box and passes little or no urine, go to a vet straight away. Cornell calls a urethral blockage an absolute emergency.

If your vet rules out illness, look at the litter box. Cats often avoid a box that is too small, dirty, in a busy or noisy spot, or filled with a litter they dislike. Our guides to the best litter boxes and the best cat litter cover what most cats prefer. Cleaning matters either way: as long as a spot still smells of urine, your cat may keep going back to it.

Why an Enzyme Cleaner

Most household cleaners lift the stain you can see and leave a perfume behind, but the urine soaked into the fibers or padding stays, and so does the smell. Enzyme cleaners contain enzymes, or bacteria that make them, which break down pet waste and the odor with it.

Two common shortcuts make things worse. Humane World for Animals advises against ammonia and vinegar, because strong chemical smells may encourage your cat to mark the same spot again, and against steam cleaners, because heat can set the stain and smell permanently into synthetic fibers.

What Makes a Good Enzyme Cleaner

It is made for pet urine. Look for a cleaner that says it uses enzymes or bacterial cultures, not just a deodorizer or a fragrance.

It’s safe on your surfaces. Most enzyme cleaners are safe on carpet, upholstery and fabric, but test a hidden patch first, especially on wool, silk, leather and unsealed wood.

You can use plenty of it. Urine spreads out and sinks down as it soaks in, so you need to use at least as much cleaner as there was urine, and often more. A cheap bottle you can use generously beats an expensive one you dab on. Most come in gallon refills.

It doesn’t smell strongly. A heavy perfume can mask whether the urine smell has really gone, and some cats dislike strong scents.

Best Overall: Rocco & Roxie Stain & Odor Eliminator

Rocco & Roxie Stain & Odor Eliminator is the most popular enzyme cleaner on Amazon by a long way, with more than 128,000 ratings since 2013, and the one most owners reach for first. It is a bio-enzymatic cleaner for urine, feces, vomit and other organic messes, and it works on carpet, hard floors, furniture, bedding, clothing, carriers and litter boxes.

It is chlorine-free and color-safe, and it carries the Carpet and Rug Institute’s Seal of Approval, which means it has been tested as safe for carpet. Rocco & Roxie promises to make it right if you aren’t satisfied. It costs about $24 for a 32-ounce spray bottle, and a gallon refill brings the price per ounce down a lot, which matters because you’ll want to use it generously.

Good to know:

• It works slowly. Soak the spot, leave it to work, and let it dry before judging the result. Old stains often need a second round.
• Test it on a hidden patch first, as with any cleaner.
• It costs more per bottle than Nature’s Miracle.

Best for Cat Urine: Nature’s Miracle Cat Urine Destroyer Plus

Most enzyme cleaners are made for any pet mess. Nature’s Miracle Cat Urine Destroyer Plus is made for cat urine and the sticky yellow residue it leaves. You soak the spot, leave it for 15 minutes, then blot it up with a clean cloth, and Nature’s Miracle says the enzymes keep working as long as any of the mess is left.

It is also the cheapest of our picks, at about $13 for a 32-ounce bottle or about $32 for a gallon, and it has more than 7,700 ratings on Amazon. A foam version sinks into carpet fibers and stays where you spray it.

Good to know:

• It has a fresh scent made with essential oils. If you’d rather have no fragrance, choose Biokleen Bac-Out.
• Nature’s Miracle sells several similar cleaners with similar names. This is the cat urine formula.
• Test it on a hidden patch first, and follow the label for delicate fabrics and wood.

Best Plant-Based: Biokleen Bac-Out

Biokleen Bac-Out has been sold since 2003 and is a favorite of people who want a gentler cleaner. It uses live enzyme cultures with plant-based surfactants and botanicals, and has no artificial fragrance, colors or preservatives. Its only scent is a light lime from plant extracts, so it won’t hide whether the urine smell has really gone.

It is ready to use straight from the bottle, and Biokleen lists laundry among its uses, which makes it handy for pre-treating bedding, blankets and clothes, often the first things a cat pees on. It costs about $15 for 32 ounces, with a gallon refill available, and has more than 3,000 ratings on Amazon.

Good to know:

• Like all enzyme cleaners, it needs time. Leave it to work rather than wiping it straight off.
• In the washing machine, use cool or warm water, not hot, so the heat doesn’t set the smell.
• Test it on a hidden patch of carpet or fabric first.

To Find Old Stains: Vansky UV Black Light

If you can smell urine but can’t see where it is, you need a black light. Dried urine glows under ultraviolet light, so in a dark room the Vansky UV Black Light shows you every spot, including the ones on walls, skirting boards and the backs of furniture. Humane World suggests outlining each spot lightly with chalk so you can find it again with the lights on. With 51 LEDs it lights a wide patch of floor at once. It costs about $12, has more than 74,000 ratings, and needs three AA batteries, which aren’t included.

Other things glow too, including some detergents and cleaning products, so check a spot by smell before you soak it. Check again after cleaning to see what you missed.

For Carpets and Upholstery: Bissell Little Green

Blotting only gets so much out of a thick carpet or a sofa cushion. The Bissell Little Green is a small, portable spot cleaner that sprays water into the fibers, scrubs, and sucks the dirty water back out into a separate tank. It has more than 94,000 ratings on Amazon and costs about $130, and you’ll use it for spilled coffee and muddy paw prints as well.

For urine, fill it with cool water rather than hot, so you don’t set the smell, and rinse the spot thoroughly. Then soak the spot with your enzyme cleaner and leave it to work. If you add Bissell’s shampoo or another cleaner to the tank, rinse the spot with plain water afterwards so the enzyme cleaner reaches the urine.

How to Clean Up Cat Urine

1. Soak up as much as you can. For a fresh spot, Humane World suggests a thick layer of paper towels covered with newspaper. Stand on it for a minute and repeat until the spot is barely damp. Don’t rub, which spreads the urine.
2. Rinse with cool water if you’ve used other cleaners. Rinse and blot again, so the enzyme cleaner reaches the urine rather than leftover soap.
3. Soak the spot. Use enough enzyme cleaner to reach as deep and as wide as the urine went, usually a bigger patch than the stain you can see.
4. Give it time. Leave it for as long as the label says, then blot. Let the spot dry slowly and completely.
5. Keep your cat off it until it’s dry. The ASPCA notes that most enzyme cleaners can cause mild stomach upset if licked, so let them dry before your cat goes near.
6. Check and repeat. Sniff the spot, and check it with a black light. Old stains often need two or three rounds.

If urine has soaked through the carpet into the padding underneath, cleaning from the top may never get it all out, and you may need to replace that part of the carpet and padding. On wood, urine can react with the varnish or paint, which then needs to be sanded off and redone.

Stop It Happening Again

Once the spot is clean, make it less appealing. Put a food bowl, a bed or a scratcher there, or cover it with foil or a plastic mat for a few weeks. Make the litter box more appealing at the same time: scoop it every day, add a second box, and try a bigger box with an unscented, clumping litter.

How to Choose

For most homes, get Rocco & Roxie. It’s the most proven enzyme cleaner, safe on carpet, and works on every kind of pet mess. If you only need it for cat urine, or want the cheapest bottle you can soak a spot with, get Nature’s Miracle Cat Urine Destroyer Plus. If you’d rather have a plant-based cleaner with no artificial fragrance, or need something for the washing machine, get Biokleen Bac-Out. Add a Vansky black light to find the spots you can’t see, and if you have a lot of carpet or upholstery, a Bissell Little Green to rinse the urine out of the fibers before you treat them.

And whichever you choose, if your cat has started peeing outside the box, see your vet first. Cleaning up the smell only solves half the problem.