Thread: Urea changing into Ammonia and how to alter it.

So, this is a thread about "how to get rid of the ammonia smell in urine in stains". You find thousands of these online, but none of them explain what reaction, if any, they are talking about or how effective it can be. They are mostly old wives' tales.

Urea breaks down into ammonia, and apart form bacteria, this is the smell that most irritates us. These sites all talk about vinegar, hydrogen peroxide, and baking soda. The best they claim is "hydrogen peroxide will just oxidise the hell out of it and get rid of it". But I am not satisfied with that.

What chemical can we use to alter ammonia in such a way as to get rid of the "ammonia smell", and what are the exact chemical reactions?

any acid

So... no one knows?

any acid will react with ammonia to forom a salt-generally oderless- simple enough?

Does the continuing smell of ammonia indicate a continuing break down of urea? If it does then the cleaning agent needs to react with the urea not just the free ammonia.