There are two actions I am going to discuss briefly, involved in dog urine cleaning. One is the action of actually extracting (removing) the urine. The other action is a chemical action or reaction that happens when the correct chemicals come in contact with the urine or urine residue. The process of removing the urine can be done with extraction (vacuuming it up or out) or absorption (absorbing it into a cloth or paper towel etc.). If you add a little water to this step as you do it you will get a rinsing action that helps clean more of the dog urine out. It is always more effective when you include this process of removing as much dog urine residue as possible first. Then apply the chemicals that will create a molecular change and go to work on the remainder of the residue still left in the your carpet or mattress for example. These chemicals, and there are several type that work, need to contact the urine residue to work on it and change it. Molecule for molecule exchange it is called by some. Or other chemicals that digest the residue. If you are cleaning tile, hardwood, vinyl etc. it is much easier and quicker to extract or absorb and be able to remove almost all of the dog urine. But if you are cleaning carpet, upholstery, a mattress or another absorbent surface you will want to consider including the extraction step. Not all chemical dealers include this step in their instructions or recommendation. Some will say just apply the chemical and let it do the job. This will work but it is much more successful on light urine contamination. To summerize you can remove urine with only a chemical reaction. Depending on your situation you may need to use a combination of both actions for your dog urine cleaning. If you use only chemicals on a heavy urine spot you will have to soak the spot thoroughly and it is then a good idea to remove the chemicals. So you are back to extracting or absorbing to remove the excess chemical residue. On a light contamination situation you do not need to soak the area as heavy and the chemicals will evaporate. This way you can accomplish the results without extraction. Although with some products you will find a sticky chemical residue left behind.
photo credit: Invisible Hour
we have a raised fireplaced made of grouted red brick that our male (large) dog keeps lifting his leg to. how can we get the urine smell out without ruining the grout or discoloring the red brick
Depending on the sealer used on your brick and grout (if any sealer was used) both the brick and grout are absorbent and the urine will have soaked into those surfaces. I am going to guess that the main part of your odor problem is coming from the lowest point where the urine runs to and sits as apposed to the vertical surfaces that the urine runs down. The urine obviously will be able to soak deeper into the surface it sits on than the surface it runs down. This also depends on the type of surface it is sitting on of course. You will want to apply a good urine odor neutralizer to the surfaces and spray it on and let it sit a little so it can soak in to where the urine residue is. One suggestion is to mix up the neutralizer in a trigger sprayer or a pump up sprayer and spray it on the surfaces contaminated by the urine. Let it sit or stay on a few minutes and spray again. Do this two or three times. If you get to much puddling on the low point (floor, fireplace hearth or wherever it runs to) wipe it up but you want it to run and soak to where the urine residue is so it can work on it (without over wetting anything). Two excellent urine odor neutralizers are “Severe Urine Neutralizer SUN” and “Max Enzyme” from http://www.removeurine.com. They also remove many urine stains.
I think either one would work for you. The advantage to SUN is it works immediately on contact with the urine. This means you apply it and as soon as it comes in contact with the urine residue the odor is gone. Max Enzyme uses enzymes to digest the urine molecules and this takes time. The recommended time for the enzymes to work is from 4-24 hours. This means you have to keep it damp for that period of time or the enzymes will stop working before the urine molecules are broken down. The advantage to Max Enzyme is would be less likely to discolor the brick and grout because it is clear while SUN has a very slight color to it. Anything you use you should check it in a small inconspicuous area first to see how it affects the color. Any moisture you put on the brick and grout has a chance of changing the color but you want thee color to return to original when it dries. You also do not want it leaving a line or mark at the edge of where it got wet. So test it to see how it affects your particular situation. Another method i have used is to moisten an area larger than the urine contaminated spot but where there is a natural break in the flow of the brick so if the color remains slightly different it is not noticeable because it is at a corner or edge. Hope that helps.
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