Removing dog urine from carpet
3 Dog Urine Removal Case Studies
Case Study 1:
Dog urine on wool carpet
Background
Customer’s Jack Russell terrier urinated on her 12 month old wool carpet.
There were 3 large dog urine stains in each of the 3 bedrooms
Time frame: each stain was between 2-4 weeks old
The customer had tried to remove the pet stains with a laundry detergent.
Never apply a laundry detergent to any carpet stain especially on wool carpet.
Why?
Most laundry detergents are not wool safe and will permanently damage the wool carpet. They will also make it much more difficult for a professional to remove the pet stains. And in many cases it will make it next to impossible to remove the pet stain.
When you apply a laundry detergent to a pet stain you not only risk permanently setting the stain, you also leave behind a large amount of residue.
The residue will attract soil and make it much more difficult for a professional to remove the stain and pet odour.
Solution
When I arrived to clean the dog urine from the wool carpet I could see a large white ring around each urine stain. The white rings were all the residue left behind from the laundry detergent. The customer was very helpful and showed me the product she had used. It was a high alkaline detergent which is very bad for wool carpet.
If I was to extract the laundry detergent from the carpet it could strip the colour from the wool. Without getting too technical I had to apply an acidic solution (similar to vinegar) to lower the alkalinity of the laundry detergent before cleaning.
2 hours later the carpet looked fantastic and the customer was very happy however there was a twist in the tail.
3 days later the customer called.
“ All of the pet stains have reappeared”
I went back ASAP to investigate.
When I walked into her home I could see the concern on her face. Just like when I first inspected the carpet there was a large white ring still around each pet stain.
This was not the first time I have seen this happen so I knew exactly what to do. 15 years treating and removing pet stains has taught me a thing or two.
I had removed all of the laundry detergent from the carpet fibres however it must have soaked all the way into the carpet underlay. (carpet underlay is the foam underneath your carpet and is very absorbent similar to a sponge)
I flushed all the detergent residue from the carpet underlay until there was none left. I then placed down commercial fans to dry the carpet incredibly fast so I could see if the stains reappeared. No stains reappeared. Success!
Conclusion
Never use a laundry detergent on your carpet. The reason the customer applied laundry detergent to the stains was because an online forum recommended it.
Would you take medical advice from an accountant or a doctor?
The longer you leave a urine stain the more damage it does.
Don't be afraid to call back your carpet cleaner. Things don't always go to plan and most of us are more than happy to go back and fix any concerns.
Case Study 2:
Severe dog and cat urine odour on carpet
Background
The customer's dog had been urinating in the master bedroom and their cat had been urinating in the living room.
Severe cat urine odour in living room
Timeframe: each stain was between 5-7 days old
Solution
When I inspected the carpet in the living room there were many cat urine stains in all corners of the living room.
From my experience most cat urine stains are in the corners of rooms and inside wardrobes. Cat urine can also spray up the skirting boards and walls.
When removing the cat urine odour from carpet we need to apply three times the amount of urine treatment when compared to treating dog urine stains.
Why?
Cat urine is much more concentrated than dog urine making it much more difficult to remove.
Cats have a more concentrated urine than dogs. Their urine is very concentrated as they originated from the desert. Cats absorb a large amount of water from the urine to maintain hydration. Cats have a very long loop of henle - A cat’s loop of henle is extremely efficient at squeezing every last drop of absorbable water that this concentration makes the urine smell foul.
Dogs have a much more diluted urine which means the odour isn’t as strong and less yellow in colour than cats.'
Conclusion
I called the customer 5 days later to check if the odour had improved. She said the dog odour was gone but the cat odour in the living room was still lingering.
With severe cat odour removal sometimes a second visit will help.
I can never guarantee to completely remove the cat urine odour as it can soak all the way into the subfloor. The subfloor is what is underneath your carpet and underlay. It’s usually concrete or floorboards.
If you dog or cat has been urinating on the same area many times this is what it might look like underneath the carpet.
Here we are extracting the pet urine from the carpet backing and carpet underlay. This is only required for severe pet urine cases.
If you are after 100% odour removal the only way to guarantee it is to:
Replace the carpet
Replace the carpet underlay
Clean and seal the subfloor
Clean and paint skirting boards and walls
This process can be very expensive.
Happy Ending
After treating and cleaning the cat odour a second time the customer texted 1 week later and said the cat odour had completely gone!
To treat the subfloor and replace the carpet would have cost the customer well over $3000. Our pet odour treatment total cost for the living room was $300 so we saved the customer almost $3000.
To improve the cat urine odour in your carpet sometimes it needs to be professionally cleaned twice for the best possible results.
It’s much more cost effective to have your carpet cleaned by a professional pet odour specialist than to have it replaced.
If the cat urine is so severe I would not treat the cat urine odour and recommend you replace your carpet.
Some of my most loyal customers were from jobs where I had to go back to fix a problem. We genuinely care and want to do the right thing.
Case Study 3:
Puppy urine on carpet
Background
6 month year old puppy had been urinating in all 5 carpeted rooms in customer home
Over 50 puppy pet stains
Customer had tried to remove pet stains with a pet urine product but could still smell the urine
Solution
Thankfully the customer had been using a stain remover specifically designed for treating pet urine. In this case it did not damage the carpet. However they did apply several litres of water to the pet stains which made it spread underneath the carpet.
80% of the pet urine odour I remove is either from puppy’s or dogs that are getting very old and struggle to control their bladder.
The one big benefit with puppies is their bladder is small which means less urine in the carpet.
Because there were over 50 puppy stains on the carpet, I spent the first 30 minutes finding and treating the pet stains with a premium commercial grade urine treatment we import from America. I have tried over 50 urine treatments in the last 15 years and find this product by far the most effective and most importantly pet and children safe.
After leaving the urine treatment dwell for 30 minutes, I steam cleaned all the carpet paying particular attention to each urine stain. 3 hours later the carpet smelled clean and fresh.
The customer was over the moon.
Conclusion
If you have a puppy and carpet in your home please buy some urine treatment. Here is a link of a urine treatment product you can purchase. Unfortunately the commercial grade urine treatment we use is only available to professionals.
If you don't have any urine treatment you can use a 50/50 water and distilled vinegar solution. Here is a great article on how to remove pet urine with vinegar
