Even a well-trained dog can have an accident. It can happen and it can be costly.
All carpet cleaning companies charge additional for urine treatment, since 1. It’s not an easy task, and 2. Other solutions are applied in addition to the usual cleaning.
There is only one way to avoid getting ripped off by a carpet cleaner. Keep reading to find out.
Pet urine on carpet never truly dries
First, you should known that pet urine is a composition of ammonia, uric acid, hormones, and bacteria that quickly crystallizes on the surface.
Sometimes, urine has an alkaline state that can oxide the fibers and cause irreparable physical damage to carpet like permanent discoloration.
One fact is that no matter how long has been there, urine never dries completely because urine produces bacteria that grows in damp conditions.
Fibers and fabrics are the perfect place to retain humidity, so urine bacteria can live there forever.
This is also the reason the odor never goes away, and it can become worse when indoor humidity is higher, usually in warmer days.
Urine odor can permeate deeper into carpet, sub flooring, even walls in the worst-case scenario.
Pet urine is a very serious cleanliness issue and needs to be treated as soon as possible.
How carpet cleaners detect urine on carpet
There are two kinds of tools carpet cleaners use to detect pet urine on carpet and rugs: UV or black light and moisture sensor.
Black light is not the appropriate tool to successfully identify urine spots on carpet.
Reason number one, urine is not the only liquid that fluoresces.
Black lights produce ultraviolet light which makes everything glow that contains phosphor such as most laundry detergents, tonic water, teeth, fingernails, etc.
And reason number two, black lights only work on dark rooms; the room must be in complete darkness otherwise you can miss some spots.
Pet owners, do not trust in a carpet cleaners that use black lights as a method to detect urine because you may pay extra cost for urine treatment when there is no actual urine to treat.
Moisture sensor works better than black light to detect urine on carpet
A moisture sensor, however, is sensitive to moisture so it will be effective detecting urine on carpet or padding; like I said, urine dries so this tool makes it easy for carpet cleaners to determine the area affected.
A portable moisture sensor is a steel construction pole with sensitive nickel-plated on one side that can detects moisture content above 17% by touching the carpet with a probe end.
A red light will flash if moisture is detected, and it will flash faster with higher presence of moisture.
So, the carpet cleaner and you, as a customer, can get see the urine detection hands-on so to speak.
How to know urine has been successfully remove from carpet
Removing the visible stain is not enough, if you can still smell the urine, it is a clear indicator that something is still present.
On the other hand, if you can still see the stain but you don’t smell the odor, it may be because the urine was old and it has already burn the fibers, the bacteria can be gone but the damage is done.
Trustworthy carpet cleaning technicians with experience use moisture sensor as a key tool for identifying urine. Keep it in mind whenever you hire a carpet cleaner.
oh interesting. I never thought this type of stuff was ever used in this way.