Dealing With Urine Stains On Your Carpet
While we adore them, pets can at times put you in tough and undesirable situations – and urine stains rank up amongst the most exasperating. These messes on the carpet are a pain to deal with, as pet owners will no doubt attest to. Why do the cats or dogs make the messes? Well, there is a myriad of reasons. Take behavioural issues for instance. A pet with separation anxiety is likely to pee on the carpet moments after the owner walks out and shuts the door, leaving them locked in the house. It may be been a situation where you already have a dog, and bring another one into the home. This new face will get the other dog agitated, giving it the urge to mark its territory, which unfortunately includes sections of the carpet. Then there are those cases where your furry friend has yet to grasp the potty training, especially for the young ones. Here, there will be messes all over before adequate control is got over the situation. Do you have an old dog? Incontinence affects them too. They simply have less control over their bladder. Health issues factor in as well, such as UTI problems. If this is suspected, a visit to the vet is necessary. As you attended to the health concerns of your pet, the carpet that has been left with the unsightly stains also needs to be cared for. Its beauty and structural integrity are on the line, and so is the comfort and peace of mind of the occupants of the home.
Why Urine Damage Is A Problem
It’s a frustrating situation. Not only does the pet urine damage your carpeting and underlying flooring, but it also results in an unhealthy indoor space. It all comes down to the chemical nature of the stain. Here is a Chemistry 101 of what goes on after Fluffy makes a mess on your carpet or area rug:
When the urine first gets to the surface- the fibres in this case, its pH ranges between 5 and 6. At this point, it is still quite easy to remove- which is why it is recommended that you attend to the spot immediately, while it is still fresh. During this warm and acid stage, the urine is a breeding ground for germs, which will have already began flourishing.
As it gradually dries, it becomes alkaline, with its pH getting to highs of 10 and 12. Here, it will be much more difficult to remove. As the spot oxidises, it reacts with the carpet material, causing colour change. When left neglected for too long, this change will become permanent. For instance, part of the colour change that is witnessed is because of the strong ammonia that is formed as the urine stain goes through the chemical and bacterial changes. After a couple of days, or weeks based on the particular type of carpet material, it causes changes in the dye structure, leading to permanent staining. Sure, a deep carpet cleaning will remove the soluble deposits. However, the damage to the carpet’s dye structure may have already occurred, in which case this will not be reversible.
Ruined indoor air quality
This will be hard to miss. The characteristic pungent smell that comes with urine stain reeks up the interior space. The odours come from two main sources. First, it’s the result of bacterial action, with the microbes flowing in the dark warm sections of the carpet, plus the constant nourishment from the organic grime in the carpet. As the bacteria colonies grow and break down the urine, ammonia acids are created. These, in turn, work their way deeper into the carpet- actually becoming part of the fibre itself. The decomposition of the waste material and the gases generated from the urine breaking down that unpleasant odour – it gets worse over time. Then, when that dried urine spot gets remoistened, like blotting it with water, ammonia gas is generated – and that will be a stench that you will not be forgetting any time soon.
The second cause is the chemical odour that remains even when the germs get killed. This means that you cannot just rely on sanitising to get rid of the smell. In areas of high humidity, the salt crystals that are formed as the urine dries draw more moisture into them, as they are hydrophilic. This moisture will still evaporate with the changing environmental conditions, which causes more ammonia gas to be produced. This is why a thorough deep carpet cleaning is required, which gets rid of the urine salts that are within the lush pile, and under the carpet. This chemical action, with the salt crystals absorbing moisture, which evaporates and yields the ammonia gas, is also why you will notice a brief increase in the odours when the cleaning is being done.
Troubled By Pesky Urine Stains? Call In The Professionals To Get Rid Of Them
This is a cleaning task that gets more difficult the longer it is postponed. However, one usually doesn’t have time to attend to the spot immediately. Some may not be around when it happens, only coming to realise it later. You may have been at work all day, and Fluffy at home made a mess on your carpet. Walking home and being hit by that pungent stench the moment you walk through the front doors can put you on edge. That’s just the tip of the iceberg. Depending on how much early the stain may have been made, it will have seeped into the carpet’s fibres and dried, making it harder to remove. You don’t have to spend hours scrubbing at the spot. Simply call in the experts to freshen up your carpet, getting rid of the stain and orders that have been formed. The thorough cleaning gets rid of the urine components, and the enzyme treatments that are incorporated into the process chemically act on the spot to ensure that the stain is firmly dealt with. The carpet cleaning process incorporates odour neutralising agents as well, to render those foul stenches inert at a molecular level, and you can choose to have fragranced agents being employed, which will bring a fresh scent to the space.
