Dog Urine

Rachel
Thank you. I started this blog as a source of information so people can better deal with the damage they were having from dog urine. Both odors and stains. I was a professional cleaner for many years and I know there are some bad products that are being sold. And I would agree with you, they are a scam. I tried a lot of them. Back then I found a manufacturer and supplier of professional chemicals and products that produced excellent results.These same suppliers also taught courses on all aspects of the odor control industry along with other aspects of the business. Among other things these courses taught how to properly use the products to get the best results. And again they were professional products developed for distributors and professionals cleaners. I dealt with these suppliers for years. I have been working with them to develop a line of products we will offer to the end consumer (you). It is not as easy as it sounds. We hope to have the first ones available within a couple weeks. I will put up links on this site so you can find them, as soon as they are available.

Rick
Thanks for asking. Concrete is porous so what you have is a situation where dog urine has been soaking into the porous surface (it sounds like continuously) for a couple years. At least some of the products you have used are working. The enzymes work by digesting the urine residue. The reason you keep them wet its two-fold. One: They have to be wet to be active. When they dry they do nothing. Two: To get them to soak into the concrete far enough to reach the urine, which would be in pretty deep. Bleach uses oxygen to break down the urine. It will work also if it can reach the urine in enough concentration and for a long enough time to work (which for oxygen is fast). Washing is good and it will remove the urine it can get to. You do need to be careful with power washing though because it can drive the urine even deeper into the concrete depending on how you do it. Neutralizer you asked about also has to come in contact with the urine to change the molecules. So your challenge is to get one of these (a good product) deep enough into the concrete. Where the urine is after a couple years of soaking in. One suggestion is to apply a product and keep it wet for several days. The longer it is wet the deeper it will penetrate. Also make sure that the urine smell is not coming from surrounding items. Is there wood close that might be contaminated or fabric or even dirt. Urine will wick up several inches into other materials when present. It is common not to be able to completely remove all the odor in a situation like yours. (concrete or even wood) So an option used by professionals is to seal the concrete. After you have removed the majority of the odor you can then seal the concrete with a good pigmented shellac, varnish or acrylic sealer. These sealers have microscopic holes left in them when they dry. These holes are larger than the odor molecules so odor can still get through the sealer. If you apply two coats of sealer this will help eliminate that issue. The end result is a completely satisfactory odor neutralized environment. Get back to me with any additional questions.

Roberta
Sorry for the delay in responding. I will address a process first. The urine crystal build up is high alkaline urine salts which form as the urine dries. Like other alkaline situations (hard water, rust etc.) you can neutralize it with an acid based product. After it is neutralized it washes away easily. It basically just dissolves and runs off or down the drain in your case. The challenge I foresee with your situation is that the acid can discolor the stainless steel. You will want an acid strong enough to neutralize the urine crystals but not strong enough to damage the stainless.

Some type of acids work faster than others at dissolving the urine crystals. Some are safer for the stainless steel drain covers. There are also different grades of stainless steel, which can effect how the drain cover will respond to the acid cleaning.

Citric acid is very safe for the stainless steel. Dissolve 1 to 1 ½ cups of Citric acid (powder) into a gallon of hot water. Apply to the area with the urine. A sprayer with a tip that produces foam will allow the acid to stay in contact with the crystals for a longer time. Hopefully this will be enough for the slower acting citric acid to dissolve the urine. Then rinse with clear water or water with just a little alkaline (most dish, laundry or hand soaps) in it to neutralize the acid.

TCU will work much faster to dissolve the urine but can also take some shine off the stainless steel. I suggest trying the citric acid first. Only go to the TCU if the citric does not work. Try the safest approach first. Especially with the TCU Neutralizer, be sure to rinse with a little alkaline in the rinse water.

TCU: http://www.bridgepoint.com/products.html?item_num=CS20GL++++++++++++++&wscdet_show=320000
CITRIC ACID: http://www.bridgepoint.com/products.html?item_num=CR20A+++++++++++++++&wscdet_show=365000
Locate a distributor near you: http://www.bridgepoint.com/locator.html

Mark
As you know these odors can be challenging. You say the smell has returned indicating that it was gone for some period of time. This makes me wonder what changed to to stir the smell up again. The 3 things that come to mind are moisture, heat and air movement. If the weather (air) in your area has turned more moist recently, or the garage has been warmer, or air is being circulated through the area (or any combination of these) then that could explain the smell returning. Re-create the conditions before the smell returned and you have a good chance that the smell will become undetectable again.
The fact that the smell did come back shows that it was not eliminated in the cleaning and treating process, or sealed effectively enough to do the job for you. Unless you have a dog of your own and additional urine has been added to the area. This happens often. A dog will smell the residual odor of urine even when we can't and urinate in that same area. Sealing helps but there are microscopic holes in sealers. These microscopic holes or air bubbles are actually larger than the odor molecules. So the odor molecules can and will pass through the sealer when conditions allow. Sealers do not create an absolute seal against odors. Some say sealers are useless because of this. Most say that the sealers will seal enough of the odor to be useful. If you use an additional coat of sealer that will then block more of the odor molecules from escaping or moving through the seal.
If you decide you need to re-treat the concrete then you will need to remove the sealer you have put down to do that. Use a good urine eliminating product (http://www.removeurine.com) (or a regular oxidizing bleach can work well on concrete) and keep it on and wet long enough so it will soak down into concrete and come in contact with the urine. It needs to come in contact with the urine to neutralize, digest or encapsulate it. After treating and removing most (say 90%) of the smell with treatment then a couple coats of good sealer usually is satisfactory.
One other thing I will throw out there is to check the Sheetrock and wood framing in the garage, or any other surfaces (items)that might have been contaminated. The smell could be coming from these other items. Many times the urine will soak into these and they need to be decontaminated also.

Eve
I have not dealt with rat urine and no, I do not have the equipment or capability of identifying the kind of urine it is. I can tell you that both the urine (and as far as I know all types of urine) and the baby spit up are organic materials. There are several type chemicals that are effective on organic materials. Oxy or oxygen type chemicals and enzyme type chemicals are effective. The hydrogen peroxide in the Oxy solution is what would make it effective and the enzymes in Natures Miracle is what makes it effective. I know Natures Miracle is a good product. You have to use it according to the directions though. Enzymes take time to break down the organic urine or spit up. Any product you use needs to come in contact with the urine residue. Enzymes take time to work and digest the urine so you have to get the enzymes to the urine and keep it damp long enough for them to digest it. Oxy type products need to come in contact but they work almost immediately. If the urine is into the pad and floor the product needs to get there also and it has to have time to work. If you have urine spots all over the apartment then if becomes difficult (time consuming) to find them and treat them. The products are effective when you get a quality product and use it properly. Some times it takes several applications to completely remove the smell. There are times it is preferable to replace the carpet but most replace it because they believe the smell will not come out. Stains are a different matter. Most of them can be remove but urine can take the color out of fabrics (carpet). When the color has been removed then cleaning will not put it back. Hope this helps.

Charles
I don't have a good answer. Sorry. You could try some Clorox bleach or chlorine or bromine. Like what is used in hot tubs. In my experience when urine is left sitting in a toilet for a long time it can etch a mark (ring) in the bowl that can not be removed and then you need a new toilet. Microbe products and enzyme products both break down and digest urine. They need to be damp to work but sitting in the toilet is way past damp. I don't know how effective they would be in that situation. You want to be careful with what you put in the sewer system. Ask a chemical toilet company that supplies chemical toilets for construction sites.

Because it is laminate tile on concrete I suggest you first try mopping it with an oxygen bleach solution. (Like Clorox bleach) But clean the area first with any good floor cleaner you use. The oxygen in the bleach should break the urine molecules down into more basic elements and kill the smell. The solution will need to soak in and come in contact with the urine residue to work on it. So put it on heavy and let it soak in. And or apply it several times. The dogs have possibly been urinating on it for months or longer. Test an area first to be sure it will not damage the laminate tiles. If the result from this does not satisfy you contact me for some more commercial type applications. It sounds like because the tile is starting to come up you should think about replacing the tile and when the tile are up use the above process to eliminate the smell in the concrete.

Urine from man or animal is organic. There is a product that contains naturally occurring microbes along with other ingredients called "Grass Revitalize" from http://www.removeurine.com
The microbes in the product absorb and break down organic matter such as urine (horse urine in your case) which results in eliminating the odor. The product is designed and marketed for use on grass for protecting it against and restoring it from the damage caused from dog urine. I understand you are not trying to protect or restore grass but the microbes will still absorb and break down the organic matter in the horse urine and eliminate the odor. You do not want to use it in freezing weather because freezing can damage the microbes. It needs to be reapplied every few months during the warmer weather. The microbes take time so the smell will not be gone overnight but they will do the job. Thanks for the question.

Warren
I will offer a couple of ideas or thoughts. First enzymes take time to digest and break down the urine. The area would need to be treated with the enzyme product and kept damp for a sufficient period of time for the enzymes to work on the urine residue. From your description it sounds like it was not given time to work. Some enzyme products work faster than others. It can take 2-3 days under good conditions for it to break down the urine. You also need to make sure the enzyme product comes in contact with the urine residue. For example if the urine is deep into the concrete then the enzymes need to get in deep also. If the urine has run under the base board and soaked into the base board or is in the sheetrock then the enzymes need to get into those as well. There are products that will eliminate the smell immediately on contact but many people prefer the enzyme type products. Not all the products that are available are of good quality either but even a good one needs the proper conditions to be effective. As you say the odor can get into the clothes and also into the new carpet and pad if it was not neutralized well. The contamination in these should be minimal and easily removed though. The products will neutralize the urine if they are used properly. First you have to locate the contaminated areas. A black light can help with this and of course our noses are useful. Once all areas are isolated then cleaning to remove as much residue as possible and then the treatment with a good product and use it as directed. In some cases on concrete and wood we can not completely eliminate all the odor because of the porousness of these materials and so sealing them can complete the job. In your case it could be they were not thorough enough or they didn't give the product time to work or it was not a good product or they haven't treated all the affected area's.
Hope this helps.

First locate all the contaminated area's. Then clean as much urine residue up and out as you can. Preferably with an extraction machine like a wet dry vac. This will actually suck the urine up an out of what you are cleaning. Add a water base solution to the area a little at a time and vacuum it back out to create a rinsing action. Next treat the remaining urine residue use one of the following 3 types of products.
1. Bio-enzyme products. The enzymes digest or break down complex
molecules in the dog urine into simpler ones.
2. Oxidation products. This process releases a large volume of oxygen causing the urine to break down to basic components such as oxygen, nitrogen, carbon dioxide and other components that either leave as gases or are easily extracted.
3. Odourcide. Odourcide is an amazing new odor counteractant. Odourcide is new technology. It does not fit into the traditional categories of odor control agents. Its special designed molecular structure has an expanse of surface area that absorbs, binds to and counteracts odors from many sources. It is very effective on urine. These are availale at removeurine.com

Actually yes. Some of the dog urine products I recommend could be harmful to plants. We recommend certain acidic products for particular applications and oxidation products for other applications. These I would not recommend for around plants. The number one product I recommend "Severe Urine Neutralizer (SUN)" should be safe on plants. It is a polymer base and has no harmful ingredients but I have not tried it around plants and you would need to test it first. The product I do recommend for around plants is "Grass Revitalize". It is slower to neutralize urine odor than SUN but it actually adds microbes to the soil. These microbes help the plants including grass in several ways including breaking down the waste products (urine) into nutrients the plants use to thrive on. These microbes also prepare the soil to hold moisture much better. It takes less water, yet the plants have a more consistent supply of moisture because it is more available to the roots of the plants.

Yes They can be used on drywall. My first suggestion is to use "SUN" but I need more details of your specific situation. You want the SUN solution to come in contact with the urine residue without over-wetting the drywall. If you get the drywall to wet it will swell up and begin to fall apart. If you just need to spray the solution on the surface of the drywall you will be fine. Even if it needs to just penetrate the surface paper and into the drywall slightly you will be fine. If it needs to be saturated and let stand like that you will have damage to the drywall.

I am checking into setting up the shopping cart so it will accept orders from the UK. Give me a couple days to get it done. Thanks

All urine including rat urine is organic. The spit up or vomit is also organic. Bacteria create enzymes. The enzymes digest and break down the organic materials. If the active enzymes come in contact with the urine and spit up residue (molecules) they will begin to break down those molecules into more basic elements . By breaking the molecules down it eliminates some stains (not always all the stains) and the odors. You need a good enzyme product (Natures Miracle is one and Max Enzyme from removeurine.com is another) it needs to come in contact with the urine and spit up and the enzymes need to be kept active (kept damp) long enough to break down those elements. If urine is in the pad and concrete the enzymes need to get there also and be kept active so they can work. If its just in the carpet fibers then just adding the product to a carpet cleaning process should take care of it.
I am not familiar with the Oxy product you mention. It is working on a totally different principle. Cleansers are there to remove the stains. The peroxide also removes certain type stains (the yellow pigment in the urine) and could have some effect on odors (not the best for odors). The fragrance is used to make the cleaning process more pleasant and cover the foul odors.
There are new products like "Severe Urine Neutralizer (SUN)" from removeurine.com (also work on the molecules) that are just as effective at removing all organic odors as enzymes and the advantage to it is it works immediately on contact. So they have to come in contact with the organic molecules (like the other products) but they kill the smell in minutes. It doesn't have to be kept damp for hours to days. They are effective on many stains also.
Depending on the stain you may need another product or process (which is the case with any product you use). Urine can create several stains including 1. a yellow spot from the pigment in it. Or 2.alkaline salt residue. Or 3. the high PH in the alkaline can even remove color from the carpet. or 4. A lipid buildup from the urine. Lipids are removed with solvents. If the color has been removed you can not replace this with cleaning. Alkaline salts are removed with an acid base cleaner. The yellow pigment is usually removed with basic cleaners but can sometimes need a peroxide or oxidizing product to remove. Hope this helps and doesn't just complicate it for you.

There is no UK supplier. Sorry. We sell only from our site and Amazon at this time. You could try purchasing on Amazon. The shipping might be less. They might also just not allow you to purchase from the UK through Amazon. I am not sure exactly how they handle it with their system. Thanks for your endorsement and feedback for our " Severe Urine neutralizer (SUN)" product.

I am not familiar with any spray that helps illuminate urine. The alkaline salts in urine illuminate under a black light without spraying a chemical on it. Alkaline salts are created through a chemical process urine goes through as it dries. There are goggles available that enhance and increase the visibility of the glow from fluorescent areas.
The most effective UV for locating urine deposits is the long wave UV around 385 nanometers.
Ultraviolet lights in several intensities are available to help you locate urine deposits. Low powered UV lights must be held very close to the carpet in a dark room. Medium intensity lights can work from a few feet away. High powered lights can quickly be used to check a carpet from several feet away.
All UV lights work best in a dark room but this is not as critical when using a more powerful light. When necessary, black plastic sheeting can be used to cover windows. Another option is to drape a sheet or dark blanket over yourself while making the inspection.

Ken
Two products that I will recommend. Use one or the other. You don't need both. The first is "Severe Urine Neutralizer SUN" from http://www.removeurine.com. This is an amazing pet odor neutralizer that will kill the odor of any urine (and a lot of other organic odors)it comes in contact with. You just mix it up and spray or pour it on and the odor is neutralized.
The other is "Grass Revitalize" from http://www.removeurine.com. The advantage to Grass Revitalize is it is designed for outdoor use. You spray it on and water it in. It puts natural microbes into the soil that are beneficial in many ways to plants including grass. It is used to counteract the damage dog urine does to grass. Also the microbes break down and speed up the decomposition of the urine and even feces in the grass. Once thee waste products are broken down the odor is eliminated. This also results in the grass being able to use these waste byproducts as fertilizer to strengthen the plants instead of it damaging them.
The advantage to Severe Urine Neutralizer is it works on the molecular level immediately neutralizing on contact. This means as soon as you apply it to the urine causing the odor it eliminates that odor. The microbes take time to break down the urine molecules. This means the odor lingers until the microbes finish their job.

Hope this helps. If you have other questions don't hesitate to ask.