How to Treat “Fresh” versus “Old” Urine Stains…

Understanding the difference between fresh pet urine deposits and older pet stains can help you set carpet cleaning expectations properly for customers, as with time stains will become more difficult to remove. 

  • Fresh Urine: Fresh urine includes a yellowish pigment called urochrome. When it is deposited on fibres, it stains the fibres yellow. No surprises there. 
  • Urine Odour: In just a few days after urine is deposited, microbial activity begins to decompose the urine. This process releases ammonia gas. It’s chiefly the ammonia that creates that distinct pungent odour we smell when we encounter urine contamination. 
  • Ammonia Effects: Ammonia has a pH of around 12.5. A pH this high has the ability to break down or degrade the dye base of nylon carpet fibres. Although today’s new polyester fibres are not prone to colour loss, concentrated ammonia can bleach out the colour dyes used in nylon carpet fibres. In sufficient quantities, ammonia can break down all the dyes in a carpet, leaving only a yellowish-white colour. 
  • Effect on Dye: Urine can affect the dyes used in carpet, success is dependent upon the content of the urine, type of fibre, dyes, any treatments applied to the carpet during manufacturing and of course the time elapsed after the deposit. 
  • Permanent Damage: Some urine spots may be immediately noticeable, while others may take weeks or months for a reaction so the dyes and carpet fibres may be permanently damaged. In beige carpets, blue dyes are attacked, leaving behind the red and yellow dyes with a resulting stain appearing red, yellow, or orange. 
  • Colour Loss or Pigment Stain: It’s easy to confuse this loss of colour with the yellow urochrome pigment stain originally deposited with the urine and this is why the most important question you can ask the customer is, “How long has this stain been there?” A urine stain that has been present for more than a year may no longer be a stain; it may be a loss of colour, and this requires repair, not just cleaning. 

Communicating this critical difference between new and old urine deposits to your customer will help to build customer trust in your cleaning expertise and ability, you’ll create realistic expectations about what can be cleaned with Un-Duz-It Unleashed, Urine Neutraliser or Urine Rescue and what carpet may need repair or replacement due to permanent staining or colour loss.

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