How to get a horrible stain out of a leather couch?

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My Husband has some medical issues and he is now on a medication that turns his urine red. Unfortunately he is also on a diaretic. I’m sure you can see where this is going….he lost control as he was sleeping and I am now trying to get the red stain out of the couch. Any ideas?????

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  1. annieR says:
    August 25, 2009 at 12:17 pm

    Please do not try all the shopping list of products suggested above as these will make the matter far worse than it is and will not remove the stain.

    Urine is very tricky to fully deal with and to a certain extent will depend on the type of leather you have. An absorbent leather (aniline style) will be more difficult to deal with then a finished/protected leather as it will have absorbed the urine rather than allowing it to sit on the surface.

    These type of stains would be better handled by a professional (make sure you find a leather cleaning specialist and not just an upholstery cleaner) particularly if you have the aniline style leather.
    If you do want to deal with it yourself you will need an enzyme cleaner that will deal with the bacteria in the urine.
    The only one that has been tested and will do the job without damaging the leather finish is Em Clean
    http://www.lttsolutions.net/product.asp?product=Em-Clean

    This is a professional product used by cleaning technicians in the leather industry.

  2. elisabeths mom says:
    August 25, 2009 at 12:17 pm

    I’m sorry about your husband’s medical situation. I’m sure that is stressful enough without having to deal with a couch stain. DO NOT USE ALCOHOL. It takes the color our of the leather and even makes the leather peel. (I read that from someone who made that mistake). I got sharpie out of my off white leather couch with alcohol free shaving cream and sun screen. It worked almost completely. It took several hours of applying it, letting it set and wiping it off, then doing it again and again. The couch looks pretty good now and the leather held up well. I hope it works for you. I also hope your husband is better soon.

  3. fizixx says:
    August 25, 2009 at 12:17 pm

    I’m sorry about your husband. Hope things get straightened up for him soon. Has to be rough for both of you!

    The cleaning method will depend on what the material actually is that is in his urine. It may not be soluble in just anything.

    I have a really weird idea…..don’t know if you care to do this, but…..go see if you can find something about the same color leather item as your couch. Have your husband ‘stain’ this and let it sit for the same number of hours as it had overnight on the couch.

    Purpose of this is….if you can find a method that *safely* cleans this article, then you know it will also work on your couch!

    I would try things like:

    toothpaste
    WD-40
    The various cleaning products: windex, 409, etc
    Murphy’s oil soap
    vinegar
    Soft Scrub
    Dawn dish detergent
    Sometimes dishwasher detergent works very well too, try that.

    Try using a wet/dry vac (they usually have very good suction)

    If the red is not a dye, and more of a contrast compound you may be able to get it out. If it is a dye, then it may diffuse into the leather, react with whatever color dye is on it now and become part of that overall dye, which you would not be able to get out.

    If I think of anything else I think can help….I’ll edit my post.

    Good luck….hope something works for you.

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