Pet Odor Removal

Seattle Residents Rely on NW Green Clean To Safely Remove Pet Stains & Odors.

Pets are wonderful, no question about that!

They have even been called ‘man’s best friend.’ But you know how it goes… The minute you turn your back, your pet decides that your new carpet is the perfect place to relieve themselves. You clean and clean, but you can’t get rid of that horrible smell and that ugly stain.

Don’t worry, when your best friend has a little accident…. Call NW Green Clean at 206-353-4155 to clean it up! There are many misconceptions surrounding the removal of pet urine stains and odor. We built this page to help you understand important technical aspects, educate you on your options and offer solutions to help keep your home clean, healthy, comfortable and happy.

Pets Leave Their Mark!

FUR! Hair shedding and animal dander are allergens that contribute to asthmatic symptoms for many people.  Pet hair can be embedded in carpet, rugs, and furniture.

OILS! Pets secrete oil from their fur and hair that leave a residue on your floors and upholstery which can lead to the accumulation of smelly, hard to clean soil deposits.

SMELLY ODORS! Have you ever gone into someone’s home that smells like ‘dog’ or ‘cat.’  Many pet owners do not realize their home has an odor problem because overtime they have acclimated to the malodors.  Guests can tell immediately if you have a pet unless you are very diligent with cleaning.  But that’s where we can help. NW Green Clean can handle almost any pet odor or pet stain issue.

DIRT AND STAINS! Perhaps your pet decided to ‘readjust’ your landscape or yard and dug a hole or two, or they just rolled in, what truthfully you are not quite sure.  Maybe they could not find their bone, so they decided to chew on your ink pen!

URINE STAINS & ODOR! Pet Urine can cause permanent damage to your floors and fabrics. It can also create an unhealthy indoor environment. Urine contamination often requires many steps than just ordinary, topside cleaning. Installed carpeting and upholstery have many surfaces that can be affected. Not only is the top of the carpet or upholstery contaminated, but often times the backing, padding, and sub-surfaces, must be decontaminated or replaced before urine decontamination is successful. Another concern with urine is that the acid in urine may permanently change the dye structure of the carpeting or upholstery. We can treat these with neutralizers, but please be aware that occasionally the dye structure will be permanently stained from urine. If the urine contained medicine, occasionally this will produce a stronger acid that could damage the dye structure as well.

Important Details Of Urine Contamination.

The problem can range from a one-time accident of an animal, over-spray around the toilet (if you have children of the male persuasion, you understand) or a St. Benard who believes the living room carpet is his own special sandbox. A dog or cat that weighs less than 5 pounds will produce more than 10 gallons of urine a year. If the animal concentrates most of that into an area of less than 100 square feet, which many of them do, the problem can be quite extensive. Urine leaves the body (man or animal) in an acid state, with a pH of about 5 to 6. It is rather pure and generally contains no harmful bacteria, pathogens or microorganisms. However, it becomes the perfect breeding ground for those things as soon as it leaves the body. The main ingredient in urine is uric acid. It also contains yellow pigment, urea, cholesterol, enzymes, and small amounts of other chemicals. The uric acid begins to change immediately upon leaving the body. The warm acid state of the urine offers a friendly environment for bacteria, which begin to flourish almost immediately. In this original acid state, the urine begins to oxidize and react with the carpet to create a color change, which may become permanent if the urine is not removed from the carpet. As urine begins to dry, it changes its hydrogen content and forms crystalline salts, which take on an alkaline pH. Then the smell begins!

When dried urine is remoistened, it gives off an ammonia gas. This is one way to identify a problem area, by the odor. Odors associated with urine come from two sources. The first source is bacteria that grow abundantly in dark warm places with a never-ending food source (the dog feeds the bacteria daily!). This bacteria growth and breakdown of the urine creates amino acids. These complex organic compounds work deep into carpet fivers until they’re nearly part of the fiber. This can present a challenging situation. The waste materials and gases from the decomposing urine create an unpleasant odor. The second source of odor is chemical odor that remains even when the bacteria have been killed. This explains the reason more than disinfecting is necessary to neutralize odors from urine. Urine also presents additional odor problems when the relative humidity is high. The salts and crystals that are formed are hydrophilic and draw water to them. As the salts are reactivated by moisture, they give off a greater proportion of odorous gases.

Urine Contamination May Be Much More Severe Than You Realize.

Urine usually enters the carpet or upholstery from the topside. As the urine is emitted, it tends to spread downward and outward to a larger size in the padding and subsurface. Many times a small urine spot that is detected from the topside is double or triple in size by the time it reaches the padding and subsurface. If total decontamination is expected each layer of contamination needs to be treated, a area larger than the visible spot on the surface will usually have to be deconatiminated or replaced.

Your 4 Options For Pet Stain And Odor Removal Depends On The Severity.

Urine decontamination often requires more than just a top cleaning of the carpet.  There are many surfaces and layers that can be affected.  Please note that when cleaning urine spots, there is a difference between cleaning the urine stain and treating for urine odor. Cleaning existing urine spots MAY NOT remove the associated odor. In fact, it could INCREASE the odor in the air space for a temporary period of time. Here are some options depending on the severity.  Not all treatments can be guaranteed to completely remove the odor. Let us explain your choices for removal and your expectations of what the results will be.

1-Light Contamination-50% Successful

The pet has had an occasional accident and the carpet backing and padding has not been saturated and may be acceptably surface cleaned.

1. First, the affected spots must be identified as explained above.
2. Next, an appropriate pretreatment is sprayed on the top of the carpet. It’s probably a good idea to treat the spots as well as the whole room since pets track their mess onto other areas of the carpet.
3. Finally, we thoroughly rinse and extract the urine and soil with our powerful truck mounted cleaning equipment.

2-Moderate Contamination- Sub Surface Extraction 75%-90% Successful

The pet has repeatedly contaminated the same spot. The carpet and pad are contaminated with urine. Although this treatment is a valiant attempt, it is NOT guaranteed to eliminate the odor, but it is often successful therefore avoiding the inconvenience of pulling the carpet up.

1. First, the affected spots must be identified as explained above.
2. Next, from the topside of the carpet we saturate a special cleaning solution on the urine stains penetrating the carpet and padding to reach the source of the odor.
3. Then, we use a special deep extraction tool called the water claw to remove the cleaning solution and urine deposits from the carpet and padding.
4. Finally, we thoroughly clean, rinse and extract the urine and soil with our powerful truckmounted cleaning equipment.

3-Heavy Contamination- Almost Guaranteed Odor Removal.  99.9% Successful

1. First, the affected spots must be identified as explained above.
2. The carpet is pulled back from the contaminated area.
3. The affected carpet cushion / pad is removed.
4. The sub floor is swept and cleaned to remove contamination.
5. Apply an odor barrier/sealer to the sub floor, tackless strip and wall if needed.
6. Saturate the contaminated carpet with a special cleaning solution.
7. Extract the cleaning solution from the carpet with our powerful truckmounted cleaning equipment.
8. Install new carpet cushion / pad.
9. Reinstall the carpet.
10. Finally, allow the carpet to dry before replacing furniture.

4-Replacement-  Guaranteed 100% Successful
Depending on the age & condition of the carpet and the severity of the urine contamination it may be wise to consider replacement of carpet and pad. The sub floor and any affected walls or baseboards must still be properly cleaned and sealed and then new pad and carpet can be installed.

A Helpful Product To Prevent Damage From Pet Urine In The Future.

If you are concerned about spills or pet accidents, you may want to install Stainmasters Carpet Cushion with odor barrier when you replace your carpet. The STAINMASTER® carpet cushion breathable moisture barrier minimizes objectionable odors by preventing liquids from soaking into the cushion. Spills such as milk and pet accidents, if absorbed into your carpet cushion, will linger and cause odors for years. This won’t happen with properly installed STAINMASTER® carpet cushion because the moisture barrier prevents liquids from soaking into the cushion. These spills remain on top of the cushion where they can be treated and removed during cleaning. To learn more click here.