How to remove urine stains and odour from your home and carpets

If you need to remove urine stains and odour from your carpets,upholstery,tiles and home call Kleenright Now on 0800 633 5953 for a free consultation plus a free back light test and a no obligation Audit. Make your Home a Healthier Home. Don't be fooled into thinking cleaning alone will remove the odour. If this was the case you could remove it yourself.

Urine Detection Test.

Our Friend Urine:

To the average person, urine is not a pleasant topic. To Kleenright UK the professional fabric care specialist  in the urine and odour control industry, we view urine from a different perspective. There is a reason dogs and cats are our best friends. Unlike other odours we June 2020 be called upon to eliminate, urine is more than simply an odour control issue or even a stain and odour issue. There is also a health issue. So there are three issues to be addressed – Stain, odour and decontamination.

Time Plays A Part In Successful Urine Decontamination, Odour and Stain Removal

The Kleenright professional carpet cleaner views this as more than cleaning – it is decontamination. We find it helpful to assist our clients to have a similar viewpoint. If our client appreciates the seriousness of the problem she will be more receptive to the solutions we offer. It is more than simply spraying some magical formula on the stain. Yet, many carpet cleaners and pet owners think their problems can be solved that easily.

Lets consider how much urine June 2020 be in your carpet. A small dog or cat weighing five pounds or less will eliminate about 2 ounces of urine each time. If the animal urinates only twice a day, it amounts to well over 11 gallons per year. If the animal concentrates that into a small area or even several small areas, which many of them do, then the problem can be quite extensive.

Now think about the case where the animal is a Great Dane who considers the living room carpet to be his own special sandbox. The contamination gets worse when there are multiple animals in the home.

Often the home-owner believes that the pet urinating on the carpet is a rare event, an “accident.” We can assure them it was no accident. The animal did that on purpose. The purpose June 2020 have been more than simply relieving themselves. For example, male cats are very territorial. They will mark with spray or urine the perimeter or boundary of their territory, wherever they are allowed to roam.

When there are multiple animals present the instinct to mark their territory is even stronger. Male cats are not the only animals to mark their territory or lay claim to something by making sure their scent is present in the form of urine.

The Make-up of Urine

Urine leaves the body (either animal or human) as an acid with a pH that is typically between 5 and 6. Until urine is leaving the animal, it is sterile containing no harmful bacteria, pathogens or micro-organisms unless the animal has a urinary or bladder infection.

The principle ingredient in urine (from mammals) is uric acid. Urine also contains urochrome (yellow pigment), cholesterol (lipids), urea and other ingredients. The exact make-up of urine will vary depending on the animal’s diet, health and other factors. The urine begins to change immediately upon leaving the body. The urine comes in contact with bacteria in the end of the urethra and on the animal’s skin along with micro-organisms in the carpet and elsewhere.

Successful Urine Decontamination, Odour and Stain Removal

The warm acid conditions offer a perfect breeding ground for bacteria which begin to flourish. Uric acid begins to be broken down into ammonia and carbon dioxide. The ammonia is highly alkaline (ph 11+). A strong concentrated alkaline can damage dyes and create a permanent colour loss. Be aware that what appears to be a urine stain June 2020 actually be colour loss that can not be corrected by cleaning alone.

Some have suggested that a fresh urine spot should be treated with white vinegar to neutralize and flush the urine from the carpet. This is NOT what should be done. Vinegar is an acid. You cannot neutralize an acid with an acid. A better approach would be to blot up any urine you can without forcing the urine deeper into the carpet. Then you can use Kleenright’s Neutral Spotter.

As the acidic urine reacts with the ammonia that is being created it forms alkaline salt crystals. In all but the driest climates, these hygroscopic salts draw moisture from the air and remain slightly moist and chemically active. It will produce ammonia gas as long as it is active. When dried urine is re-moistened (such as by cleaning) it gives off even more ammonia gas.

 The odour of ammonia gas is one part of the distinctive odour that helps us to identify and locate urine. The other component of urine’s odour is off-gassing from bacteria that grow abundantly in warm, dark places with a never-ending food supply. The pet feeds the bacteria daily!

The complex composition of urine and the many chemicals formed as the urine is decomposed by bacteria present a challenging situation. With time, some of these complex organic compounds can actually become part of the fibre. Even if the bacteria are killed, the ammonia and other chemicals still produce an odour. This is the reason that more than a sanitizing agent is necessary to neutralize odours from urine.

Successful Urine Decontamination, Odour and Stain Removal

 THE BASIC PRINCIPLES OF ODOUR REMOVAL

1.Find the source of odour. If we don’t successfully locate ALL of the odour sources our result will be less than 100%.  This step is so important, we will examine it in some detail. For urine, locating the source is done by our eyes and noses with an assist from moisture detectors and ultraviolet   (UV) lights.

The Smell

A.NOSE. We June 2020 enter a home or a room and immediately recognize the presence of odours associated with urine. Determining the precise location of the source is more difficult. In part this is because air currents diffuse the odour. Closing any open windows, turning off ceiling fans, heating or air conditioning and other sources of air movement will make it easier to locate the source.  Most women are more sensitive to odours than men.