PET URINE

"Are You Frustrated Coming Home to

Smelly Pet Urine Odours and

Embarrassing Pet Stains?"

If your carpet is

prone to receiving spots from pets,

We have many

types of specialty

cleaning products

for your home.

Click here for our Products for sale.

About “P.U.” (Pet Urine)

Pets... Oh, how we love them. Cat and dogs provide a variety of benefits within households, they can also create challenges. A pet accident on carpet can leave much more than just a stain and lasting unpleasant smell.

Pet urine can be a very destructive stain, and can permanently damage or alter the dyes in carpet and fabrics in a very short period of time. Damage to the carpet backing and latex may also occur, delamination being the most common.

URINE VOLUME CHART

Small dog

(Miniature Schnauzer)

50 to 100 ml

per deposit (approx)

Medium

(Border Collie)

150 to 200 ml

per deposit (approx)

Large

(Rottweiler)

200 to 250 ml

per deposit (approx)

Based upon (approx) urine volumes, a small dog marking its' territory can deposit 75 ml of urine twice a day for an average of over 50 liter of urine over a 12 month period. If you suspect that such a problem exists in your home, the best solution to this size of contamination is professional services.

Facts About P.U.

in Your Carpeting

Speed is critical. The longer the urine sits on your carpeting, the more difficult it will be to remove the stain and the odour.

The sex, breed of the animal, it’s health and it’s diet, all play factors in whether or not a urine spot will become a permanent stain. The urine of a female dog is often more acidic than a male dogs, and thus more inclined to leave a permanent stain.

Most carpeting installed in homes today is nylon. When nylon carpeting is manufactured, a hot, acid based dye solution is applied to the carpet fibers to give them the desired color. Nylon carpet fibers are designed to accept these acid dyes. When a pet urinates on the carpeting, it deposits a warm, acid based liquid to the carpet, putting the carpet through a process similar to the original dye process. Most new carpet stain warranties exclude pet urine stains, because urine is often strong enough to penetrate the stain resistant treatment and permanently stain the carpeting.

As urine dries the liquid evaporates, leaving urine crystals or salts which consist of bacteria, urochrome, uric acid, urea, proteins and hormones. As the urine dries the crystals become more concentrated and the odour more pungent. Simple cleaning will not remove this odour.

Urine is of course water based and contains salt crystals . Once the urine dries, the crystals which are left behind are activated by excessive humidity (or rainy days) and the smell comes back.

It is also important to know that a small stain on the surface may be 3 or 4 times larger under the carpet surface.

Often, without your knowing, pets will urinate continually in the same general location. The average cat will deposit 2-3 ounces each time it tinkles, the average dog, 3-4 ounces. Multiplied by several times a day, you can have a major problem on your hands in a very short time.

Urine deposited on carpet does not stay there, If allowed to sit on the carpet long enough it sink deep into the fibers and contaminates the backing of the carpet, as well as the carpet pad and the flooring material, and become very difficult to remove.

Have you ever noticed how you can clean a urine spot one day - seemingly removing it - only to have it reappear a couple of days later? Urine crystals are usually to blame. When you clean up a urine spot that has dried, you can often remove all traces of the urine on the surface fibers. But, the urine crystals, deep in the carpet fibers and backing, will slowly wick back up to the surface, causing the spot to once again show up. You can clean the spot until your arm falls off, but still not permanently remove it.

Once urine saturates the carpet backing, it may no longer be a matter of simple spotting, but a major restoration, sometimes requiring the carpet to be pulled up, both sides extracted and treated, the pad replaced, the sub-floor sealed, the tack-strip replaced and the walls and baseboards scrubbed and re-painted!

For more information about pet urine odor and stain removal, please call SPRUCE-IT-UP Carpet Care Plus . We have many specialized products and services designed to tackle even the toughest urine problem. We provides complete urine removal and decontamination services.

Decontaminate Means

"Remove Contamination"

This is a service that separates the professional from the untrained or scam cleaners. First of all, urine is a contamination and cannot be removed with CLEANING. It must be treated properly first to successfully remove the urine and odour.

Once the urine makes it's way to the pad and subfloor there are 3 "sources" that hold the odor. Area's here and there can be treated without removing the carpet. A "regular" corner area of a room may involve removing and replacing the pad in that area, treating the floor and salvaging the carpet. Major contamination involves pulling up the carpet and pad for disposal (in some cases the carpet can be salvaged), and if the proper treatment is not performed to the sub-floor, the odor will not go away.

The odour can only be removed by neutralizing the urine contamination, (sources). Carpet cleaners that advertise "decontaminate at $10 per room" and just spray something that smells good after a cleaning will not remove the urine contamination, and the odor will come back after a couple days. Decontaminate means "remove contamination". Do you have children that play on the carpet? Then you need a professional, not a scam salesman.

HOW WE CAN HELP

Pet odors can be a real problem. Most carpet cleaners do not know how to effectively remove pet odors. The first step in removing urine from your carpet is a urine inspection.

Urine Inspection

We start the inspection with the help of a ultra violet inspection light. Pet urine will fluoresce a dull yellow.

Then we use a moisture meter to detect residual moisture trapped in urine salts of stains, gives a true idea of the size of the deposit.

Keep in mind what you see is only the center of the contaminated area underneath the carpet, the size of the spot is 2 to 3 times larger than what shows on the surface. Example: on the surface the deposit may appear as only 3 inches in diameter but in reality the total deposit under the carpet is 12 inches.

After the inspection we can pick the best treatmet for your urine problem. We have three levels of odor treatment to choose from:

1. Minor Odour Treatment

If the urine is only on the top of the carpet and has not worked its way into the under pad and subfloor this may be all that you need. We use the best deodorizers, which are designed to be safe for people and safe your family. The enzyme is sprayed on each urine spot before cleaning to eat up the urine bacteria. This procedure will help reduce odor but is not intended on removing severe odor as this is merely treating the surface of the carpet. If you can smell the odor when you walk in the room, this is not minor odor. This will help reduce or control the problem, not eliminate it. Minor odor can only be smelled if you are on your hands and knees or on a humid day. The amount of enzymes needed depends on the severity of the problem.

2. Moderate Odour Treatment

If the urine has made its way down to the under pad but not the subfloor this may save the day. We use sub surface extraction. With this process, we saturate the spot with a special oxidizing deodorizer so the cleaning agent reaches into the padding. We then use the “water claw” sub surface extractor to pull the urine out. This process will reduce the odor significantly, but may or may not completely cure severe problems.

3. Major Odour Treatment

If the urine is deep and has worked its way ito the under pad and subfloor. This is a full-blown odor treatment designed to completely eliminate the odor. This treatment is guaranteed IF we are allowed to reach all of the affected areas. The carpet is pulled up and pad discarded. If the carpet is salvageable and the backing has not delaminated the carpet is thoroughly cleaned on both sides with a special product that neutralizes the urine. The sub floor is also neutralized. The next step is to apply a special odor barrier to the sub floor and if necessary, the baseboards as well. The front and back of the carpet is then sprayed heavily with an odor treatment product and allowed to dry. After the carpet has completely dried, it will be reinstalled over new pad.

Q&A About Pet Urine

Q - I've had my carpets cleaned professionally, but I still have odors. Why didn't cleaning work?

A - Fresh urine deposits, when cleaned up immediately, normally respond to conventional detergent cleaning for two reasons. First, the urine doesn't have time to penetrate through the carpet backing where you cannot reach it. Secondly, the urine is still acidic and will be neutralized by an alkaline solution such as ammonia. Over time however urine changes into an alkaline crystal (salts) which will no longer respond to conventional methods, (even if you use an acidic cleaning solution you may not reach the deeper regions of the carpet backing or between the carpet and the under pad). This change is caused by the proteins present in urine and the bacteria that form during the decomposition phase. The presence of odor is a by product of the bacteria feeding upon the urine.

Q - I no longer have a pet, but the odors keep coming back. Why?

A - The urine salts, can go dormant after the bacteria dies off, or the moisture content becomes very low. However the urine salts never really dry up completely, and are actively seeking moisture in order to reactivate. Liquid spills or high humidity, especially in Spring, provide enough moisture to allow for new bacterial growth, thus the return of the odor. As mentioned above, conventional cleaning is not effective at removing urine odors.

Q - My pet has occasional accidents, but I do not have a real problem...do I ?

A - Perhaps not, but consider this...spayed or neutered animals usually have the occasional accident, and are normally found near the entrance door as they are in anticipation of being let outside, but eventually their bladder must be emptied. Un-neutered animals on the other hand are still very much driven by instinct and will mark and maintain their marked territories, over and over in the same spots.

Q - Do males and females mark the same areas?

A - No, generally males will urinate in the corners of rooms or on upright objects, such as drapes furniture or floor lamps even the walls are not safe. Females on the other hand usually mark the open areas of a room and sometimes on the front portion of a furniture piece. Both sexes will mark the entrance to certain rooms.

Q - My pet would never urinate on the carpet he's house-broken, it's just not possible right?

A - Wrong, unfortunately I hear this alot, while I'm standing in a room with urine odor and the moisture meter is going off the chart. Many times what can happen is the pets' feelings are hurt. Perhaps a new pet or baby is introduced into the family and the old pet doesn't get the same attention as before, perhaps you scolded the animal more harshly than ever before, it is very hard to determine exactly what might cause an accident.

PS. If your carpet is prone to receiving spots from pets, we recommend that you purchase a small machine that can clean and extract the spot. We also have Many types of specialty cleaning products for your home. Click here for our Products page.