Important aspects of urine contamination.

The problem can range from a one-time accident of an animal, over-spray around the toilet (if you have children of the male persuasion, you understand) or a Great Dame who believes the living room carpet is his own special sandbox. A dog or cat that weighs less than 5 pounds will produce more than 10 gallons of urine a year. If the animal concentrates most of that into an area of less than 100 square feet, which many of them do, the problem can be quite extensive. Urine leaves the body (man or animal) in an acid state, with a pH of about 5 to 6. It is rather pure and generally contains no harmful bacteria, pathogens or microorganisms. However, it becomes the perfect bredding ground for those things as soon as it leaves the body. The main ingredient in urine is uric acid. It also contains yellow pigment, urea, cholesterol, enzymes, and small amounts of other chemicals. The uric acid begins to change immediately upon leaving the body. The warm acid state of the urine offers a friendly environment for bacteria, which begin to flourish almost immediately. In this original acid state, the urine begins to oxidize and react with the carpet to create a color change, which may become permanent if the urine is not removed from the carpet. As urine begins to dry, it changes its hydrogen content and forms crystalline salts, which take on an alkaline pH. When dried urine is remoistened, it gives off an ammonia gas. This is one way to identify a problem area, by the odor. Odors associated with urine come from two sources. The first source is bacteria that grow abundantly in dark warm places with a never ending food source (the dog feeds the bacteria daily!). This bacteria growth and breakdown of the urine creates amino acids. These complex organic compounds work deep into carpet fivers until they're nearly part of the fiber. This can present a challenging situation. The waste materials and gases from the decomposing urine create an unpleasant odor. The second source of odor is chemical odor that remains even when the bacteria have been killed. This explains the reason more than disinfecting is necessary to neutralize odors from urine. Urine also presents additional odor problems when the relative humidity is high. The salts and crystals that are formed are hydrophilic and draw water to them. As the salts are reactivated by moisture, they give off a greater proportion of odorous gases. Before urine can be treated, it must be found. The main tools for detecting urine are: Nose, Moisture Detector, Ultraviolet Lights ( Black Light), Stains on the backing of the carpet.
Article by Gordon Hanks.

Facts About Urine

Issues: Urine contamination often requires many steps than just ordinary, topside cleaning. Installed carpeting and upholstery have many surfaces that can be affected. Not only is the top of the carpet or upholstery contaminated, but often times the backing, padding, and sub-surfaces, must be decontaminated or replaced before urine decontamination is successful. Another concern with urine is that the acid in urine may permanetly change the dye structure of the carpeting or upholstery. We can treat these with neutralizers, but please be aware that occasionally the dye structure will be permanently stained from urin. If the urine contained medicine, occasionally this will produce a stronger acid that could damage the dye structure as well.

Why: Urine contains a substance called "uric acid" which goes into the carpet sterile; yet, within minutes bacterium starts to attack the urine. The longer a urine contamination sits untreated, the worse it usually gets. The reason why is because of bacterial activity. the ammonia smell, or 'off gassing' as we call it, is actually caused by bacterial emissions and not the urine itself. Once the bacteria starts attacking uine, the bateria multiply which causes the smell to worsen until the source of contamination is neutralized and removed.

How: Urine usually enters the carpet or upholstery from the topside. As the urine is emitted, it tends to spread downward and outward to a larger size in the padding and subsurface. Many times a small urine spot that is detected from the topside is double or triple in size by the time it reaches the padding and subsurface. Since eash layer of contaimination needs to be treated, a area larger than the visible spot on the surface will usually have to be deconatiminated or replaced.

Testing: We use 3 tools for urine identification- a visual inspection, a long-wave black light, and a moisture detector. The black light is used to identify contamination from the top of the carpet or upholstery when the source of the contamination is unknown. The black light will fluoresce in the areas where contamination has occurred. When bacteria attacks uric acid, the bacterium leave behind a crystalline waste which is 'hygroscopic; meaning that it constantly draws moisture from the enviroment. Although the contamination may appear to dry to the touch, the moisture detector will 'ping' when it comes inton contact with urine because of the minute traces of water molecules found in the bacteria waste crystals. Once the urine contamination has been totally decontaminated, these areas will no continue to 'ping' with the moisutre detector, although a black light may continue to reveal some degree of fluorescence.

Decontamination process: After each layer has been inspected and areas of contamination have been identfied, each layer must be decontaminated with a series of treatmens if total decontamination is expected. Not all pet treatments can be guaranteed to completely remove odors, make sure the technician has explained all options and given a reasonable expectation of what should be expected.

Please note that when cleaning urine spots, there is a difference between cleaning the urine soiling and treating for odor. Cleaning existing urine spots MAY NOT remove any associated odor. In fact, could INCREASE the odor in the air space for a temporary period of time . If you are experiencing an odor problem, there are 2 Urine Odor Treatments available. See below for an explanation of both odor treatments below.

Referral Offers 2 Pet Odor Treatments…

1. Minor Odor Treatment- In this treatment and odor eating enzyme will be applied directly to odor causing spots. Although this treatment is a valiant attempt, it is NOT guaranteed .

2. Major Odor Treatment- In this treatment, we pull the affected carpet up and completely saturate the carpet, backing, and cushion (pad). This is a very extensive treatment that ensures we get to the source. *There may be cases when the walls and baseboards are contaminated preventing us from guaranteeing the removal. We will advise you in advance.

Pet urine can cause permanent damage to your floors and fabrics. It can also create an unhealthy indoor environment. When urine is first deposited onto a floor or fabric, it is in an almost "neutral" state which means it is easier to remove when it is fresh. Once it dries, it turns "alkaline" and becomes more difficult to remove. If left for days or weeks, depending on the fabric or floor type, it will permanently change the dye structure, therefore causing permanent staining. Even if the soluble deposits are removed, the damage to the dye structure may already be done.

**This means that no one can guarantee complete removal of all urine spots. Please consult with your technician if you have questionable urine spots on your carpet.

To prevent permanent staining in the future, clean urine spots immediately by blotting with a white terry cloth towel or plain white paper towels until no moisture is transferred. To clean the spot, mix 1 part white vinegar to 2 parts water and massage (don't rub) into the spot with a white terry cloth. Once you have "flushed" as much of the urine out as possible, blot with dry cloths until dry to the touch. *If you have a small extraction machine, flush with fresh water until spot is removed. *DO NOT USE OVER THE COUNTER, GENERAL SPOTTERS OR EXTRACTION DETERGENT. IF YOU DO NOT USE THIS FORMULA, ASK US ABOUT SPECIAL PET SPOTTERS.

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Urine Contamination may be much more severe than you realize.

This illustrates how using the water claw tool below we can remove pet accidents.

 Performing a visual inspection with a black light. The urine spots are illuminated.

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