Right now we let all of our clients know we can not guarantee the urine stain coming out of the rug. Over the past year we have upgraded our rug cleaning all around with equipment, process, procedures, chemicals everything has been overhauled and the clients are raving. Along with that overhaul we have been making our spotting process better, that being said, other than pit washing which sometimes removes the the urine stain, are there any spotters or concoctions that you guys use to remove the urine stain after it has been thoroughly pit washed and all the urine removed? Or is that as good as it is going to get? I humbly await your replies of knowledge, especially you Lisa
I have had success with Stain Magic for Wool. So take it for what it is worth because I'm not Lisa It is a pain in the ass and time consuming but it does work - sometimes it doesn't but it has a fairly high success rate. http://proschoice.com/html/stain_magic_wool.html
With MOST new wool rugs being chemically washed before being sold to consumers - this makes them VERY reactive to stains, fading, and disasters using any aggressive spotters. I've seen Stain Magic for Wool and Coffee-Mate RUIN Chinese rugs. (These tend to be the more heavily chemically washed pieces.) I usually mess around with Perky Spotter if I need some help - it's a good overall spotter, and (knock on wood), I have yet to have that bite me on the butt with a rug. As for pet urine specifically - I always state up front the discoloration is permanent, and see if they still want it washed. Often I don't know how long it's been there, and what else they've put on it (you know they have...) - plus pet urine goes on the fibers hot and acidic, so it penetrates the fiber and essentially "re-dyes" them with urea. As it sits there though, and goes from acidic to alkaline over time, it will lead to a loss of the original dyes (which many are acid dyes on wool) - and so you have damage that is not a "stain" per se but loss of color also. By the way - this is why a rug that tests colorfast can actually bleed during cleaning - because the dye was released in these urine affected areas. Unless you understand the reactive nature of chemically-washed wool rugs - I would say the less you use spotters and stain removers, the better. Because once the pet stain looks WORSE - then it goes from THEIR stain to YOURS. Train your clients to JUMP on pet puddles immediately with their wool rugs. Here's a post to share with them ==> Holiday Spill Tips Sorry I didn't have a magic solution for you! =) Lisa
