How Professional Carpet Cleaners Remove Urine Stains
If you live in a home with urine stains on the carpet, you may have considered enlisting the services of a professional carpet cleaning company. Urine spots are notoriously difficult for homeowners to clean as when they are improperly treated, strong odours can return, stains can be locked in, and permanent damage to the sub-flooring can occur.
Most carpet cleaning companies will offer different levels of service to treat urine spots. The process chosen depends on the severity of the stains, the assessment given by your cleaning technician, and your budget. Below are the three most common treatment types, which are all offered by BritePro Cleaning.
- Standard Carpet Cleaning
As the name suggests, a standard carpet cleaning consists of having your carpets cleaned using the process that is used when no urine has been detected. Although it is recommended that you choose a service that includes a urine treatment, you are still likely to notice an improvement in the cleanliness of your carpets with a standard cleaning.
It is important to ensure that you do not get your carpets cleaned with the hot water extraction method (otherwise known as steam cleaning) when urine is present. Because this method involves using multiple gallons of water per room cleaned, the high level of moisture left in the carpet reactivates the salts in the leftover urine deposits. When this occurs, odours return and yellow spots wick back up to the surface of the carpet.
BritePro Cleaning uses a special low-moisture method of carpet cleaning called encapsulation. Because of the fast drying times of this method, there is no need to be concerned about returning stains.
2. Topical Urine Treatments
With a topical urine treatment, an enzyme-based spray is applied evenly to the carpet before it is cleaned as normal. The enzymes within this spray chemically convert the urine bacteria into carbon dioxide and water. While this process does not treat the padding of the carpet, it sanitizes and thoroughly cleans the carpet surface.
Topical treatments are recommended for lighter stains or for rooms where urine has contaminated most of the floor. This type of treatment is a fairly cost-effective method of dealing with urine damage.
3. Sub-Surface Urine Extraction
Sub-surface extraction is the preferred method for dealing with heavily concentrated urine stains. It involves saturating each spot with a mixture of enzyme solution and water, and then extracting the liquid with a water claw tool. This technique removes urine from the padding of the carpet along with the surface.
The main benefit to sub-surface extraction is that it physically removes urine from the carpet. Although it is more expensive than topical treatments, it is significantly cheaper than replacing carpet.
If you live in the Niagara Region of Ontario, BritePro Cleaning is experienced in dealing with all types of urine damage on carpet. Call (905) 371-5225 to schedule an appointment.
