Urine and your carpets
When urine penetrates the carpet and reaches the underlay it spreads. Urine breaks down the natural surface tension of the carpet fibres so that each time your pet returns to the same spot, the urine penetrates further and further, affecting a larger and larger area and making the carpet cleaning process a lot more difficult.
Urine contains uric salts. The uric salts attracts moisture, the bacteria thrives in this moist environment and produces an off-gas, which is the smell. Once the weather warms up again, the bacteria become even more active and the smell gets stronger – hence the unpleasant urine odour that is left on your stained carpet.
The urine odour won’t go away until the bacteria in the underlay are killed and the uric salts are dissolved. Hard work, but in all but heavy cases of urine contamination, the problem can usually be effectively treated without replacing carpet or underlay, if you get the carpet cleaning professionals in.
So what about fresh urine stains?
In the case of fresh stains or recent stains they may be easy enough to treat. Simply re-hydrate the area with a mixture of water and vinegar, and then using a thick towel, stand on it to soak up all the moisture. Finally, treat it with a pet odour eliminator that can kill the bacteria that causes the odour and stops the pet from returning to the same location. Drytron have a product called Wee Buster that works very effectively and is available from your local Drytron technician. Once you’ve cleaned up the stain try using an air conditioner or dehumidifier to help soak up any remaining moisture. It will deprive any remaining bacteria of its food source.
How do you treat old, persistent urine odours?
If there are old urine stains returning to haunt you there really is no other option but to call in the carpet cleaning experts. Your local Drytron carpet cleaning technician will treat the problem with a more scientific method that includes:
Identifying key areas of the carpet and underlay that are affected using a sensor. Remember that the area affected under the carpet is always larger than the visible stain. They will inject the underlay with an exclusive sanitising solution that will kill the bacteria and neutralise the uric salts.
They will clean the carpet to remove any urine contamination from the carpet fibres.
This process is effective if the size of the area is no bigger than a dinner plate. If the affected area is larger than that, it may be necessary to actually replace the carpet underlay and to treat both sides of the carpet. In extreme cases it may also be necessary to seal the sub-floor – urine can penetrate into wood and concrete.
Urine odours and visible urine stains are two different things. Drytron can treat both, although old visible urine stains are often impossible to remove. You must act fast.
If you find a strange odour hanging around your carpet and suspect that it may be urine – don’t delay, call Drytron on 13 12 50 and get the problem sorted.
