Accidents happen.
Even the most well-trained pet can
have an accident in the home due to any number
of different causes.
If you own area rugs and pets, it's
important to understand the four ways the urine can damage drugs
as well as what you can do to protect your rugs from damage.
Urine can cause permanent fiber damage,
and this damage isn't always visible from the top.
Urine salts attract moisture to the cotton foundation of a rug,
and this moist environment can cause the cotton foundation
to rot and mildew.
Bugs also use this environment as a food source.
And if left alone, this will result in a hole in the rug.
The ammonia in urine can damage dyes
and can damage the rug's ability to hold dye.
This leads to bleeding colors and color loss,
especially on silk rugs.
As the urine decomposes, it releases an odor.
But we become accustomed to smells,
and urine odor gets worse over time.
So commonly, rug owners don't even
realize that the odor is as bad as it is.
In order to eliminate the odor, all the urine salts
and bacteria must be washed out of the foundation of the rug.
Top cleaning the rug with carpet-cleaning equipment
won't work because the source of the odor
is in the base of the rug in the foundation.
Tufted rugs with a backing like these
can be cleaned with standard carpet-cleaning equipment.
These rugs are cheaper to make, but they
are made with a layer of latex to glue the fibers in place.
Urine can penetrate and bond with the latex in these rugs,
making it very difficult, if not impossible,
to completely remove the odors.
Finally, decomposing urine can stain rugs.
As urine soaks into a rug, it spreads out
in the bottom layers of the rug.
These stains are like icebergs.
They're small on top and much larger underneath and inside.
Here are five things you can do to make living
with pets and rugs easier.
Have a spot-removal plan.
You'll want to clean up pet stains and other spills
quickly.
Your rug cleaner should be a partner in this process,
and we can teach you what to do if you have a problem.
And if you come home to a pet catastrophe,
we're just a phone call away.
When possible, buy rugs that can be washed,
and this will probably mean woven rugs
with color-fast dies.
Get a busy design to hide stains and spots better, especially
if you have rescue pets.
Get pads under your rugs to protect your floor.
Apply fiber protector to suspend spills and give you
more time for cleanup.
Also, if you have pets, you should
have your rugs washed every one to three years.
Now if you have any questions about proper maintenance
of your rugs, just give us a call,
and we'll be happy to help you out.
And please let us know if you like this video.