Archive for September, 2009
Dog Urine Solutions September 25, 2009
- *Dog Urine* Stain In Grout Will NOT Come Out? :How To Remove Stains
September 22, 2009
- There are several types of chemicals that are affective on urine stains. If the urine has soaked deep into the grout then the chemical has to soak in that deep also so it can get to and remove the stain.
Odor Removal Products
Posted by Dog Urine in Odor Removal on September 19th, 2009
How can I tell if the odor removal product I am using works? I recently had a neighbor (Kim) ask me this question. He was trying to help his friend (Larry) that is handicapped and happens to be in a wheelchair with a dog urine odor problem. Larry has two or three dogs. He has many urine spots from his dogs on his carpets and floors. Possibly on the furniture and baseboard and walls if one or more of the dogs is a male that is lifting its leg when urinating. Kim was attempting to eliminate the stains and odor for Larry. Especially the odor. Kim realized even if the odor removal product he was using worked he would never know because there were other spots that continued to smell and he could not tell if he was doing any good for Larry. Kim asked me how do you know if these products are any good? There is no way to know if they do anything. I recommended a test he could use to know if the odor removal products he was using were working. It is the same test you use when you want to find out if a particular spot in the carpet is urine or something else. Take a spray bottle of water and paper towels. Spray the spot with the water to dampen it. Place the paper towel on the moistened area and apply a little pressure to the paper towel. When the paper towel becomes moist put it in a plastic cup or container. A container with a lid works well. Cover the container and let it sit for a short time but not long enough for the paper towel to dry. Now uncover the container and place your nose near it and smell. You want a good strong urine smell apparent for this test. Now apply the odor removal product to the paper towel in the container according to the instructions on the product. If it totally removes or eliminates the odor then you know it is working. Some products work immediately and others take time to work so follow the directions that come with the product before you decide it is not working. You can cover the container and leave it for a while, then come back and check it again to see it the odor returns. If the paper towel is completely dry re-moisten it again to be sure the odor is gone.
Dog Urine Solutions September 18, 2009
- Musings on Nature: Basement Progress
September 15, 2009
- An example of the damage that can be caused by dog urine.
Removing Pet Urine
The quick and easy way of removing pet urine. There is a method of pet urine removal that is promoted by some company's that sell urine removal products. This method includes buying their product. It usually comes in a ready to use spray bottle. They tell you to simply spray their product on the urine spots and you are done. Yes, this is quick and easy. This method will work only if the following conditions exist. If the product is a quality product and the urine is only in the surface of whatever you are spraying. The product has to be one of the types of products that are effective for urine removal. Some of the products these company's are promoting are effective. Some are not. The second thing is, if the chemical you are spraying on the urine spots is only getting onto the surface then the urine has to be, only in or on the surface. If the urine has soaked down deep then a little spray on the surface will not solve your pet urine problem. The chemical has to come in contact with the urine residue. It also has to have the proper conditions for it to work on that urine. Those conditions will depend on the type of chemical you are using. For example an enzyme product has to stay wet or moist long enough for the enzymes to work and digest the urine residue. Certain neutralizing chemicals have to have molecule for molecule exchange to be effective. This means for every molecule of urine residue there has to be a molecule of the neutralizing chemical. It has to come in contact with the urine molecule and neutralize it or you will not get complete removal or elimination. If the urine problem you are dealing with is only in or on the surface and you use a good product and use it properly then this is a quick and easy way to deal with and remove pet urine. Pet urine stains and pet urine smells. These situations are very light dog urine damage situations. If you have moderate or severe pet urine damage you will not be happy with this method. You will have to do more than spray the chemical on the surface and leave it. This quick and easy way to remove pet urine is a great way to go when the conditions call for it or when you have light urine damage. Also see steps to remove urine for moderate damage. Or the injection method.
Dog Urine Solutions September 11, 2009
- Seven Possible Reasons Why There May Be Blood in Your *Dog's Urine*
- Symptoms of a Dog Urine Infection
September 10, 2009
- Our pug (Betty) had slight blood in her urine several times that turned out to be an infection caused by excessive skin around her vulva. The vet gave her a little face lift in that area and removed the extra skin. It was not cheap. She has done great since.
September 8, 2009
Seal The Odor Out
Posted by Dog Urine in Odor Removal on September 5th, 2009
Does sealing the odor out work? I found the following statement that I will quote and then post a response to it.
"WHY SEALING OR PAINTING WILL NOT STOP ODOR
Sealing or painting a surface to stop odor may seem like a good idea with one coating company in paticular promoting the idea. However, the idea is really bad and will not work. Once the science of odor is understood, sealing or painting a surface to stop odor is just physically impossible.
This has to do with the size of the molecule your nose detects as odor and how paints and sealers dry.
The odor molecule is a gas molecule produced by the odor causing bacteria eating urine residue deposits. It's size is in the 2-5 micron size range. A very small particle.
However, when a coating such as a sealer or paint is applied, the solvent in the coating (water or oil based) needs to evaporate for the coating to dry. The evaporation process leaves very small holes in the coating usually in the 25-45 micron size range. This also is a very small hole (cannot be seen by the naked eye), but compared to the 2-5 size micron odor molecule, it is indeed, very large.
Consequently, when the odor causing bacteria (eating the urine residue under the coating) release the odor molecule, it finds its way through the holes in the coating to your nose. And thereby telling you, you just wasted your time and money coating the floor or wall."
RESPONSE
I agree in part with the statement. There are indeed some openings in any sealer that will allow gas to pass through. This gas can include odor molecules. I would never suggest sealing as a total or stand alone treatment for odor. However, there are coating designed to greatly control emissions of odor. These are best used following cleaning or some other process to remove the source of odor.
If the cleaning removes 90 or 95% of the odor and the coating allows only 10% of what remains to escape, you have reduced potential odors by 99% or more. Usually to a degree that cannot be perceived by most people. If you had only applied the coating, it would still be 10% of the original odor.
Urine Odor and Concrete
Posted by Dog Urine in Urine Odor on September 4th, 2009
Getting urine odor out of concrete. Concrete is porous and urine will seep deeply into the pores and be difficult to remove. The specific steps for removing urine odor from concrete, as with most surface's, depend on the circumstances. The main questions to be answered are how sever is the contamination? And how porous is the finish of the concrete. Slick finish or a finish made to seal the concrete, or hardened concrete allows very little urine to penetrate it. These finishes are usually found when concrete is the final surface or the finished surface intended to be seen. Concrete that is going to be covered by carpet or some other floor covering is usually more porous. This allows urine to penetrate deeper into the pores of the concrete. It becomes more difficult to reach and the process takes longer.
For heavy concentrations of urine start by washing the concrete with a good acid side pretreatment. This will break down lipids (animal fats) and alkaline salts present from the urine residue. This will remove a large part of the urine quickly. This pretreatment can be presprayed on then give it time to work and rinse off. Or it can be mopped on and rinsed off with clear water. Following this acid side pretreatment wash, then follow up with heavy application of a good urine enzyme product. Allow this 2 or even 3 days to penetrate deep into the concrete and then come back and rinse or mop with clear water. The enzyme product needs to be kept wet for the entire time so the enzymes can digest the urine odor residue and neutralize it. It needs to come in contact with the urine and stay wet or damp long enough to work. In the case of concrete it needs time to penetrate and then work. You can repeat the enzyme treatment if needed. You can also finish this process with a good sealer (shellac, varnish or acrylic sealer) to seal in any remaining urine odor.
If you are working with a smaller area or you do not have the time to wait for an enzyme product (2-3 days) I suggest you use a good urine oxidizing chemical. These are also effective if you don't have the 2-3 days.
Use plenty of ventilation with any method. Gasses are being created that should be diluted with fresh air and ventilated to the outside.
photo credit: shaire productions
Dog Urine Solutions September 4, 2009
- Gary Bogue: Dogs: Please don't let them urinate on your neighbor's *...*
September 2, 2009
- Gary explains that you can wait for the neighbors dog to urinate on your lawn and then dilute it with water to counteract the nitrogen so it does not harm your lawn. When a neighbors dog is urinating on your lawn you can find out what the local leash laws are and advise the neighbor of them. One more possible solution is to spray your lawn with a product that treats the soil with microbes and neutralizes the effects of the urine on the lawn.
Dog Urine From Carpet
Trying to get dog urine from carpet? In this post I will explain the injection method of getting dog urine from carpet. I assume you know where the urine is in the carpet. If you do not know and need to locate it read locate the urine article. After locating the urine you will want to get an idea of how extensive the damage is. Or how large an area you are going to be treating. This can be difficult without taking the carpet up and looking at the backing, floor and pad. If you use the injection method of treating the urine you will not be taking the carpet up. You will be injecting the chemicals with a syringe and needle (or similar tool) into the carpet, carpet backing, pad and possibly onto the subfloor. If the urine has reached that far them the chemicals must reach there also or you will not be effective at getting the dog urine from the carpet. If you have a moisture sensor this will help immensely in determining how large of an area has been affected by the urine. It is suggested that you clean the area first to remove as much dog urine as you can from the carpet. In this injection process you will be chemically altering the urine. You can read about the types of chemicals that are effective on dog urine here. After you have removed as much urine as you can with cleaning you then take the chemical and inject it into the area. Injection can successfully treat odors (but not stains) especially when the contamination is confined to small areas. The injection can be made with a 50 cc syringe and a 19 gauge needle. The needle can pierce the backing of the carpet to apply your chosen urine counteracting chemical to the pad and floor. A syringe of solution will spread 2 or 3 inches in each direction from the point it is injected. Make one injection every 4 – 6”. Be sure to treat not only the area visible from the surface but the expanded unseen contamination underneath. As a margin of safety, extend the treatment zone several more inches in each direction. The chemical will then work on the urine and eliminate it. You will need adjust how you use the chemical depending on the directions for the specific one you choose. For example enzyme products must be kept damp for the recommended length of time to work and digest the urine residue.
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