I have a potential Client that wants a couple of Rugs cleaned. One Rug has a Dog Urine Spot already set, and a cat box mishap(urine spot) on the other rug. I understand that urine may have permanently discolored. What specific process would you use to try to loosen and remove the stain, odor etc? They told me they tried urine b gone products, that did nothing much. What type of results have you been getting with urine?

hiyas Rich

well i won't claim this is THE answer, cause it is not. i do CC'ing parttime and have only recently started OP'ing with the Challenger.

i have done 3-4 jobs recently with urine contamination (U.C.). i have treated them "topically", not the best way to treat U.C. from what i've been taught, but it's the only way i'll do it...for now.

anyways, these few jobs i have done lately i would say were not what i would call severe U.C. jobs. what i did that thus far all clients have been happy with is :

just do my normal OP cleaning and the urine odors and stains have been removed with the very low moisture (VLM) process of OP. i say this only because i have kept in contact with these clients with a call back, AND a postcard they send me a few days after the service, where they rate the entire experience. i have had none of these clients mention the U.C. problems came back or were never removed.

i won't guarantee that these are 100% gone forever, but so far it's all good.

i know a solid flushing (HWE), as with a Water Claw, is the best way to deal with these...and even better to pull the carpet back and treat the subfloor and pad. but as i said, i do not get involved in those processes at this point...i don't advertise myself as being specialized in U.C. removal, obviously.

oh and on 1 job, i sprayed Bi-O-Kleen's BacOut on the U.C. and padded afterwards and it was gone. that is prolly the best way to topically treat U.C. from the research i've done.

but hey, i'm a noob

well that's how i've been doing it, who else wants to share there technique?

thanx --- Derek.

If there is still an actual dried deposit of urine
residue, this will usually just scrub away with the oscillating action of the Challenger, the pre-spray, and the cotton pad. Often, though, all that is left by the time you - the cleaner - arrive on the scene is the telltale yellow or brown spot where the urine acids did their job on the carpet's color. Unless you are a carpet dying specialist, you can't change this. Like Derek, I don't get involved in peeling back nailed-down carpet to look at the underside and the pad. I use a product formerly called Odor-Gone, recently re-named Oban. A black light will help you to determine where the urine deposits are. You can purchase these at various prices thru janitorial supply outlets (try www.jondon.com) or at pet supply stores, such as Petco or PetSmart. To learn more about Oban, or to order some, e-mail Colleen Seiler in Hebron CT at odorgone@aol.com.

So much for my credibility here, but on another board a knowledgeable fellow, Jeff Kessler, uses Pine Sol to clean with. I've had poor results with many pet odor products, so on a cat urine odor job, I mixed a pumpup with about 1/4 Pine Sol to water and added a couple ounces of 91% isopropyl alcohol to boost the germ killing and it worked perfectly. I sprayed heavily, then bonneted with Argo pads and left it. I'm talking absolute fix on this job. Also check Rick Gellinas's board about tea tree oil.

Steve
Thanks very much for reporting on this creative technique for dealing with pet odor problems. Keep
up the good work.

yea interesting idea Steve
what ya mean about your credibility???

i know those lurkers who pride themself on their U.C. removal do not like my post. but remember, i don't claim to know much about U.C. and don't recommend MY process. it has worked thus far for me and i don't claim it to be a final fix, just expressing my noob experiences

thanx --- Derek.

To add to my post, this job was a mobile home office which I regularly clean the sold homes. The owner had no choice but to leave 3 male (I think) cats locked up in her office for a month (a 16' wide home itself). The cats had a hayday spraying on everything. Really stunk! I was concerned over some of the recent reports of the dangers of bacterial cultures and enzyme products, so she agreed to let me use Pine Sol. I sprayed not only the carpets but also all the tile and the walls 4' up. I sprayed very heavily then bonneted with the Argo pads all the floors. Six months later it smells fresh as a daisy, and even a carpet resoiling problem hasn't occured. Pine Sol seems to have a lubricity to it similiar to the 1st Enviro products. Good for padding I think. Incidentally, I used more alcohol than 2 oz. per gallon but it was the glug method used so I don't know.

What is "lubricity"?

Well heck, Mark. Lubricity is that greasy feeling with some cleaning products, well, like Pine Sol for instance, you know, that feeling that kind of says "rinse me out".

About lubricity, Mark or anyone, I've noticed that some chems have a slickness to them that others do not have. You can feel this by just rubbing some between your fingers. Although I clean with various chems, I've always thought these slicker chems would provide an added measure of lubrication, a good thing because of the heat and friction of op cleaning. I like using these on plushes to help prevent the dreaded tip bloom. Am I off in left field again? I do think there's something to this.

not off in left field at all Steve. i'm not an OP guru either, but common sense tells ya that what you say is true. ever pull a pad off the driver and it's good and warm? magine how warm it gets on the tuft bundles while i like that agressiveness, it is good to be careful on carpets like Frieze i feel.

better safe than broke

take care --- Derek.