Pet Stains | Dynamic Stain Removal
I’m a child of the 80’s and as such I grew up watching 80’s TV. One of my favorite game shows was the Family Feud. I still to this day will fight you if you say there was ever or will ever be a better host than the late Richard Dawson. While his days Newkirk on Hogan’s Heroes are to me his crowning achievement they were only slightly better than his role as the venerable host of the Family Feud.
So with that in mind it’s time to play the Feud (key the music)… 100 people surveyed top 7 answers on the board, here’s the question… Name a stain people ask their carpet cleaner if he can remove? Now the
goal of course was to name “the most popular answer” from that elusive group of 100 people who sat in a room being asked random questions all day long. Well if you guessed Pet Urine you’re probably going to do very well playing the Feud and I’m guessing at least 35 people would answer that as well.
So what is it about Pet Urine that proves so hard to remove from carpet and has a tendency to leave behind that discoloration on your pristine fresh carpet? We get asked this question A LOT and so we have devoted much of our training and stain removal skills to address this very issue. By the way did you know that according to the latest survey 68% of US households had at least one pet. I would have guessed 85% or greater based on our customer base but we may have some bias going on in our customer pool.
Let’s first address the root cause of the stain and why that makes it so stubborn to remove and then later on in the series we will give you some tips as to how to avoid the inevitable Pet Accident from becoming a permanent fixture on your carpet. Urine – About 94% of urine consists of water. Urine also contains an assortment of inorganic salts and organic compounds, including proteins, hormones, and a wide range of metabolites. For now we will focus the discussion on the Urine Salts and their effect on your carpet. So what are Urine Salts? From urine there are two salts basically, volatile ammonium carbonate, and the fixed salt or ammonium chloride.
To simplify the discussion I will address what these salts do to your carpet fibers. Most salt forms that we are familiar with dissolve easily in water and are hardly problematic to remove. Unless of course it’s the kind that gets in the nooks and crannies of your car or truck and cause rust to form. Well I digress let’s stick to carpet………. When left untreated the urine that comes from either pets or humans will form salt crystals when allowed to dry and it is these crystals which attach themselves to the fibers of the carpet. Unlike table salt these salt crystals are very difficult to dissolve and often result in the discoloration you see as a homeowner. So not wanting your carpet to appear stained many rush for the most powerful cleaning tool they can obtain which often results in greater damage being done. It’s somewhat akin to defusing a domestic disturbance with a nuclear weapon….. might do the trick but the after effects are simply not acceptable. The reality folks is that many of the so-called carpet cleaning products you purchase at the big box store are more powerful in some ways than what the professionals use and can often result in permanent damage done to your carpet. I loudly say avoid them like a bad habit and instead use a good measure of diplomacy in your do-it- yourself efforts.
Next time we will talk about how we as professional carpet cleaners go about removing these stubborn salt crystals safely and effectively. And if you are looking for help, call Dynamic Carpet Care today.
