Hampshire Carpet and Upholstery Care

Blog Post

Why cat and dog urine is bad for your carpet

Richard Lee-Costello • 24 May 2019

How a professional carpet cleaning company can prevent permanent damage

carpet cleaning southampton

Why Pet Urine Is Dangerous to your Carpet

Your carpets add luxury to your home by adding warmth and comfort, this is the main reason people choose carpets, however, their aesthetically pleasing nature can be marred by a permanent stain. If the stain was caused by animal urine and other bodily fluids, it becomes a health hazard. If your pet has an accident on your carpet it is important to act fast and for effective and safe extraction using a professional carpet cleaning company is a must as you can see from our cleaning method later.

How pet urine damages the carpet

Acid and bacteria.

When urine first hits your carpet, it is acidic with a pH level of 5 or 6. This encourages the growth and spread of disease-causing bacteria. The urine also begins to oxidize and react with the carpet, which causes the carpet stained to discolour.

Urgent attention needed.

Spills can become permanent stains if left untreated, when the acid in the stain turns to alkaline, with a pH level of 10-12. That is why it’s best to deal with fresh spills right away. Fresh spills that haven’t had a lot of time to dry are also easier to remove.

Permanent damage.

Stains that have been left on the carpet too long may cause irreversible damage. Even when you remove visible deposits, the dye on the carpet may already have faded or darkened. Additionally, the problem can be compounded by the urine soaking through to the flooring.

ODOURS

Lingering Odour.

Once bacteria start breeding on your carpet, amino acids are created which are absorbed by the carpet fibres and therefore meld with the carpet. Drying or exposing the stained carpet to sunlight will not help because the dried urine also produces hydrophilic salt crystals which attract moisture. Every time the salts are remoistened, they give off ammonia, a nasty-smelling gas.On more humid days particularly, this becomes a constant problem.

How we help you solve your carpet problem

As a professional cleaning service, we do a thorough treatment of your carpet to remove both stains and odours. Our goal is to preserve the colour, style and feel of your carpet, as we deodorize, sanitize and take away unsightly stains. We follow a process, covering all steps for the worst cases, and possibly omitting some steps for those with minor damage. The result will leave you with a clean, comfortable and fresh-smelling carpet and flooring.

Hampshire Carpet and Upholstery Stain Treatment

1.We clear the area to be cleaned of furniture and other visible dirt.

2.We neutralize the urine salt crystals with our urine surface treatment. We also use a Sub-Surface Spot Lifter which works on the same principle as flood tools but can perform Sub-Surface spot removal of urine and other spills.

3.Hot Water Extraction. After a short period of dwell time to let the treatment take effect, we apply Hot Water Extraction (Steam Cleaning Southampton), which is the most effective method.

4.Detergent. We pre-condition the carpet by dousing it with high quality but non-toxic, biodegradable detergent. Another special detergent may be needed for heavy stains.

5.Agitation. We then agitate and scrub the carpet to displace soil and other soluble crystals.

6.Rinse. We inject hot pressurised water into the carpet to rinse the dirt and solution and make them rise to the surface.

7.Vacuum. We use a powerful vacuum to extract and remove the dirt, solution and almost all of the moisture for the surface and sub-surface.

8.Dry. Lastly, the carpet should be allowed to dry in 2-8 hours depending on the intensity of the treatment. Opening the windows and doors can speed up the drying process.

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