Dog pee & artificial grass

[AdamantEve]

Just moved into a house with artificial grass in garden. Previous owner had a dog so I want to disinfect the grass as it doesn’t smell great and I have kids who want to roll around on it 😂

Before I spend a small fortune on products that don’t work, does anyone have any tried and tested recommendations please?

IME once it smells, it smells.

Personally, I'd be tempted to have it up and seed a real lawn: the grass will use the excess nitrogen in the soil bed that the pee has caused and thus, remove any residual smell.

You'll never get the smell out of it. Every time it heats up in the sun, it will smell again. Better to just put some actual grass seed and netting down and grow real grass.

Very hard to real grass after artificial as they usually lay loads of hardcore. What's underneath ?

Would a really good soaking with a sprinkler not wash any smell away?

Artificial grass is plain awful for the environment.

www.tinyecohomelife.com/artificial-grass-bad-environment

It's the equivalent of filling up your garden with toxic plastic, which then can't be recycled and carries on damaging the environment in landfill. I know you didn't choose it, but please sow a real lawn, wild meadow, plants, flowers etc that sustain the eco system.

The dog wee smell will never go.

Jeyes Fluid. Use a separate watering can ( with rose) — not the one you’ll use for watering plants. Dilute in the watering can as per directions on the can. Water the artificial grass with the so,union. Leave overnight. Next morning soak using a hosepipe.
If you take up your Astro turf it’ll have to go to landfill so with £10 or so to clean it up.

*solution.

Jeyes is dangerous if used incorrectly so extreme caution is needed. Personally, I'd never be able to flush the garden enough to feel safe letting a small child then roll about on the surface and, depending on the garden, if there are any plants at all in it, they are likely to receive a dose of run off so care needed there.

It's also rubbish for wildlife, even outside the target garden. It finds it's way into the water system and kills aquatic wildlife and birds.

It is particularly bad for cats so any roaming in the garden - especially during the overnight period - may be poisoned.

Get rid of the fake grass - it's terrible stuff. Real grass would absorb the pee into the earth.

Fake grass is hated on here so you won't get answers
You can buy artificial grass cleaner and maybe best to look for one that is safe etc
I have artificial grass and a dog and it doesn't smell , but we hose it down regularly and use a cleaner i bought with the grass but I can't remember the name of it
Or you could lift it and replace with something else or new artificial grass

@EpicMugs how is a cat going to be poisoned walking on artificial grass ? What proof do you have of this

@EpicMugs I take it you mean the jeyes fluid ?

Fake grass is hated on here so you won't get answers

The OP has had plenty of answers, including ones that suggest the most appropriate solution is to remove the fake grass.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Pro-Kleen-Artificial-Friendly-Disinfectant-Deodoriser/dp/B07XJPV8C1/ref=ascdff_B07XJPV8C1/?tag=googshopuk-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=372163121426&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=13050084764524809470&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=1006912&hvtargid=pla-819032692043&psc=1&th=1&psc=1&tag=&ref=&adgrpid=78129678444&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvadid=372163121426&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=13050084764524809470&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=1006912&hvtargid=pla-819032692043

No need for all the hysteria, the OP didn't choose it and might not want to pull it all up right now in the summer months.

Proof that a surface covered in Jeyes fluid is dangerous to cats? It contains phenol which is toxic when swallowed and through skin exposure.

The previous owners should have removed it tbh. It shouldn't be your problem to dispose of.

I'd get rid of it and get seed / turf down ASAP.

I have a tried and tested solution. Rip out the awful stuff with a hope it can be recycled and then install turf or plant grass seed.

Grass is tried and tested by mother nature since it came in to fruition and is wonderful for wildlife the ecosystem and playing and having picnics on.

My friend uses swimming pool/hot tub chlorine tablets, dilutes in a watering can and leaves it on over night.

I don't think it is hysteria.

IME even the best deodoriser in the world is just temporary, at first. Within a couple of weeks, even without fresh pee, the sun warms up and the smell returns. It's disheartening and the OP doesn't want to spend money on solutions that don't work.

Apply it once or twice a month for long enough and it'll probably eventually do the job: or at least do it enough that any lingering smell is mild enough to live with. So perserverence will be the key.

All commercial deodorisers cause wider wildlife issues so, if that's something the OP cares about, that's a factor to consider.

However, pee is a particularly potent fertiliser so any living plant will utilise the nitrogen, produce lush foliage because of it and permantly neutralise the smell. It's an option. Depending on the quality of turf, it might also solve the problem of turf burn as some of the older/cheaper astroturf can get very hot in full summer sun. As the OP is new to the house, this might also be something to be aware/cautious of.

I agree taking it up now is not ideal, if that's OP's choice. The new seed/turf will require moisture and so is better done in autumn (ideally) or spring (second choice) so it may be a bit of a stinky summer till then.

OP it was a mistake posting on here for advice re. artificial grass! There are companies that will come and professionally clean it, maybe ask on a local Facebook page where people won't destroy you for the previous occupants landscaping choices

This was one of the reasons we got rid of ours a couple of years after moving to a house with it. Had tried specific cleaners and a few other things I'm ashamed to have used when I think of the wildlife it likely damaged. Real grass doesn't smell, after the summer consider replacing with turf?

Not sure how to best describe it really but the previous owners have laid it on a raised garden that they have built higher than ground level so I think it might be impossible to try to grow a real lawn there. It’s something we can explore in future as would prefer a real lawn but don’t have lots of money left over after buying the house to start attacking the garden yet.

I do have a suspicion some PP’s are right and the smell might linger forever so will probably have to have a longer term plan to remove it eventually but in the meantime I’ll try to disinfect it with something animal friendly. No plants it can run into for those concerned, it’s a very sparse looking garden!

I will answer your question rather than tell you what to do with your own property

Best advice I could find was here, www.perfectgrassltd.co.uk/how-to-eliminate-the-smell-of-dog-urine-from-artificial-grass/

They have tried all the suggested remedies with the results. And yes, no one on here actually has any artificial grass, if it came with the house they ripped it up.

A few of us have installed it and are very happy with it. It has been life changing for us being able to use the garden. Installed it years ago. We love it, but I don't have any pets.

To be fair, @TwoSecondsLater that link says what many here have also said:

"On the Internet there a literally hundreds of so called ‘urine cleaning products’ on the market. I have tried many but I have found that the products I have tried will get rid of the smell by covering it up and the odour will return in days."

The only really permanent solution offered by that link is to use the sand they sell and, even then, they say it will only really work if the turf has been laid as in their example.

I rented a house with artificial lawn for two years that had previously housed a dog for six months. It smelled of pee throughout my time there. I wouldn't use disinfectants like Jeyes or Zoflora because of the danger to cats but I almost doubled my water bill trying to flush the smell away and it never worked for long.
I also tried two or three deodorisers and they were less effective than a swimming pool's worth of water.

In the end, one of the reasons for moving was the garden. I'm not coming from a place of having always owned my own house and so been able to tear up lawns etc. I'm coming from a place of having tried, and ultimately failed, to live with it in someone else's house.

You can get enzyme based cleaners for pet urine which break down the remaining salts. No pets, but it's worked really well on toddler pee on the various surfaces I;ve used it on.

The brand I've used is Simple Solution, they do a variety of cleaners for different surfaces, including a decking and patio cleaner.