Thread: ???? Identifying Stains????

Say you are at a location where the occupants are not home or it is a vacant property or maybe the customer just has no idea what caused a stain. How do you identify it?

I recently took a spotting class with Craig Jasper and he explained a way to identify stains. It was several months back and I did not write it down but I'm going to take a stab at remembering what he said.

1. Fill a small shot glass with water.
2. Pour the water on the stain
3. Turn the shot glass upside down and rub it over the stain.
4. Let the glass sit there for 1 minute.
5. Slide a business card under the glass and lift it to your nose.
6. Sniff

He said you would be able to smell the stain and guess what caused it. I have not tried this out because I keep forgetting to put a shot glass on the truck but it sounds interesting to me.

So how do you identify stains?

you'll know if its urine soon enough by smelling the glass lol

Originally Posted by tony123

you'll know if its urine soon enough by smelling the glass lol

No glass needed!

Originally Posted by Blind Dr

Jason, in your other posts I have appreciated the information you have shared. I have always enjoyed your videos even the ones without music. I am having some trouble with this post. Please tell me you ARE serious about this scratch and sniff method.

Not scratch and sniff he meant to say taste... Duh LOL

Never heard of this method, let us know if it works...

I would have to see this in action on a variety of stains before I would consider it worthwhile. I certainly would not use a shot glass either especially in front of a customer. They might think you've gone off your rocker or that you've been using that glass for other things before you got there. If a shot glass would work so would any similar container such as a small plastic,glass, or metal measuring cup. There is no mysterious property to a shot glass. I could see it helping in some instances so I'm not going to write this one off just yet. I may even try it when the situation arises. If I were having trouble identifying a urine spot because it was not smelling at the moment it could help to identify that I guess. Most often I just stoop down and take a whiff if I need to and that does the trick. I really can't think of any other instances where this would help. If you can please chime in. For example, you see a blue stain on the carpet, would you pour water on it? What if it turned out to be ink of some kind and you just spread it. I take my best educated guess if the customer can't help, which is most of the time.

I sometimes put a large glass upside down on a urine spot and have the customer smell it, especially if they say there dog is a perfect little angel.

Originally Posted by Sunwest

I sometimes put a large glass upside down on a urine spot and have the customer smell it, especially if they say there dog is a perfect little angel.

LOL Nick!, I'm gonna have to start using that one.

As I said before I have NEVER tried it. I do the same as most and just take a guess.... But it does sound interesting to me. Don't knock it till you try it!

Originally Posted by Sunwest

I sometimes put a large glass upside down on a urine spot and have the customer smell it, especially if they say there dog is a perfect little angel.

Any updates on this methodology Jason?

LOL... I haven't tried it yet. Keep forgetting to put a shot glass on the truck!