Cat Feces Stain Inside Bathtub - Stain Removal Help

by Jo
(Texarkana, Texas)

Jo has asked for some stain removal help with a cat feces stain inside a bathtub. She says:

On some rental property many cats were kept in the house and over a period of time were allowed to use the bathtub. The stains have been there for weeks and I have tried Comet and Purex plus a lot of scrubbing without results. I am desperate.
Can you recommend something???

Thanks,
Jo from Texas

Taylor says:

Oh Jo, I am so sorry you have to deal with this from a tenant that didn't seem to take good care of the property.

It sounds to me like the stain from the feces has penetrated into cracks and crevices, or perhaps into the protective layering that covers the bathtub.

I am not sure what material your bathtub is made from, but this method I am going to suggest is worth a try.

When a hard seemingly nonpourous surface becomes stained it is often because there are little pores or cracks in the surface where the stain has penetrated.

Unfortunately, this is one of the most difficult types of stains to remove because it is difficult to get in those little pores to remove the stain.

In situations such as this a cleaning poultice sometimes work.

The idea behind a poultice is that it keeps a cleaning agent moist and in contact with the stained surface for a long period of time.

This allows the cleaner to penetrate deep into the surface and hopefully help lighten or remove the stain in the process.

Here is an example of use of a poultice on a counter top, which includes a video, which can give you some ideas of how a poultice works, and how to create one.

Of course, the ingredients in the poultice will vary depending on the surface you are trying to get cleaned, and the type of stain.

In this situation I would first suggest trying a poultice of baking soda and water.

I doubt this will work though, but my next suggestion is to bring out the big guns, so it is best to try something mild first, since this big gun idea also has more potential to harm your bathtub.

If the baking soda poultice does not work try a poultice of hydrogen peroxide, which naturally can bleach the stain.

What you do is lay a paper towel or white cotton cloth over the stained area that has been soaked in hydrogen peroxide (the kind from the brown bottle, used for first aid), and cover it with plastic wrap to keep it moist.

Be sure to check it after about 10 minutes to make sure it is not harming the bathtub.

Ideally you would leave this on overnight (checking every hour or so for the first few hours to make sure they hydrogen peroxide is not harming your tub), and hopefully it will have bleached out the stains.

Of course, I make no guarantees, and I cannot, because some stains just won't come out. It is an unfortunate fact of life.

However, I do think the poultice is worth a try.

Does anyone else have anymore suggestions for Jo? If so, I would love to hear from you in the comments, and I bet Jo would too.

In addition, if you have a problem you want help solving, you can ask for stain removal help here, and I will at least take a stab at offering an opinion and ideas, and hopefully others will join in with ideas for you too.

You can also ask for house cleaning help here.

By the way, when I was looking for a picture in the Flickr Creative Commons for this article I thought, "I hope I can find a picture of a cat in a bathtub."

I thought it would be a long shot, but to my complete surprise there were almost 50 pictures!

Apparently many cats enjoy getting in the bathtub. Of course, they should be trained not to use it as their litter box though!

Photo by muffet

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