Before talking about the tools and methods for urine detection,
let's first review a few of the other aspects concerning urine
contamination in our customers homes.
If you think of urine as
your enemy you must make a change in your thinking. The
removal of urine and related odors drives a multi-million dollar
industry year after year. With the proper understanding of your
smelly little yellow friend, you, the professional fabric care
specialist, can share in the millions spent to correct the bad
effects of urine while helping your customers in a very
necessary way.
The problems that your customer may experience can range from
a one-time accident of an animal, over-spray around the toilet
(if you have children of the male persuasion, you understand) or
a Great Dane who believes the living room carpet is his own
special sandbox. A dog or cat that weighs less than 5 pounds
will product more than 10 gallons of urine a year. If the
animal concentrates most of that into an area of less than 100
sq ft., which many of them do, then the problem can be quite
extensive.
Urine leaves the body (human or animal) in an acid state,
with a pH of about 5 to 6. It is rather pure and generally
contains no harmful bacteria, pathogens, or micro-organisms.
However, it becomes the perfect breeding ground for such as soon
as it leaves the body.
The main ingredient in urine is uric acid. It also contains
yellow pigment, urea, cholesterol, enzymes, and small amounts of
other chemicals. The uric acid begins to change immediately upon
leaving the body. The warm acid state of the urine offers a
perfect breeding ground for bacteria which also begin to
flourish almost immediately. In this original acid state, the
urine begins to oxidize and react with the carpet to create a
color change which may become permanent if the urine is not
properly removed from the carpet.
As urine begins to dry it forms crystalline salts, which take
on an alkaline pH. When dried urine is remoistened it gives off
an ammonia gas. One way to identify a problem area is by the
odor. If smelled once, it is seldom forgotten. The source of
odors associated with urine comes from two sources. The first
comes from bacteria that grow abundantly in dark warm places
with a never ending food source. The dog feeds the bacteria
daily! This bacteria growth and breakdown of the urine creates
amino acids. These complex organic compounds will often work
deep into the fibers to a point of nearly becoming part of the
fiber. This can present a challenging situation. The waste
materials and gases from the decomposing urine create an
unpleasant odor.
The second source of odor is a chemical odor that is present
even when the bacteria has been killed. This explains the reason
that more than disinfecting is necessary to neutralize odors
from urine. Urine also presents additional odor problems when
the relative humidity is high. The salts and crystals that are
formed are hydrophilic and draw water to them. As the salts are
reactivated by moisture they give off a greater proportion of
odorous gases.
THE FIRST THING TO DO IS TO FIND THE SOURCE OF THE ODOR.
If we don't successfully locate ALL of the odor
sources, our result will be less than 100%. Because this step
is so important, let's examine it in some detail.
Locating the urine source is done by our eyes and noses with
an assist from moisture detectors and ultraviolet (UV) lights.
Older technology, which has been around for years consist of
ultraviolet lights in several intensities to help you locate
urine deposits. However, 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. Higher powered lights
can quickly be used to check a carpet from several feet
away. However, these powerful lights are often heavy. They
require time to warm-up and cool off. They also need to be
plugged into the wall.
ULTRAVIOLET LED FLASHLIGHT + MOISTURE DETECTOR (Best)- New technology, consists of UV or
black light which may be produced by incandescent bulbs,
specially treated florescent bulbs, or by LED's. Newer
LED flashlights can focus illumination in a narrow band
of wave lengths making them more effective. They deliver
illumination equal to the most powerful lights currently
used in our industry. These flashlights are lighter weight,
more compact and not tied to an electric cord. LED UV
flashlights also eliminate the warm-up time of standard UV
lamps. For all these reasons, UV flashlights have now
become the tool of choice for the modern technician seeking
to locate and correct pet deposits.
The LED Maglite works in full light!
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 for the technician to drape a sheet or
dark blanket over himself while he is making the inspection.
Amber goggles are available that help intensify the glow
from fluorescent areas. These are strongly recommended both for
effectiveness and to protect the eyes.
* SPECIAL NOTE: Urine is not the only
thing that will glow under a black light. UV may
illuminate dust from printer paper, tonic water, vitamin
B-12, detergents with optical brighteners and so
forth. You will recognize urine by the shape of the spot
and by its characteristic yellow (from dogs) or greenish
(from cats) glow. A bluish glow may indicate urine
stains where cleaning has been attempted with a product
that contained an optical brightener.
* ADDITIONAL SPECIAL NOTE:
Even after a thorough cleaning of urine contaminated
carpet, some glow from UV light is likely to remain. The
florescence will diminish in intensity, but it will
remain. Certain chemicals bind tightly to the carpet
fiber, especially with time. Just as you never expect to
remove 100% of all the water you used in cleaning, you
will not remove 100% of all the salts and other
components of the urine dissolved in the water. A very
small amount of urine salts can still produce a glow.
Use all your available tools - eyes, nose, moisture detector and
UV light - to be sure you have located all urine deposits. Be
sure to mark the location of all odor sources. You may use white
chalk, pennies or some other markers. A diagram on graph paper
will help you locate the problem areas if the treatment is being
done at a later time. A diagram is also helpful to use when
explaining to your customer what services are needed.
Without
the proper tools for detection your treatment of urine
contamination may very well be incomplete. Your customer
appreciates the best professional care you can give. Using the
proper tools when detecting the problem areas will impress them
and go a long way toward verifying that you are indeed a
professional and they are glad they called you.
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