I just picked up three wool rugs from a client to be cleaned. He has a dog that has saturated these things, and they smell awfull. As for the cleaning, I'm pretty sure I can handle that with some chemicals that I have for natural fibers. Avenge makes a prespray and a detergent that's specifically for natural fibers with a pH that's practically nuetral. And, let's say that doesn't work, the IICRC says that a pH of 5-8 is safe for wool, so I can adjust if need be. My main concern is this: typically, I will deodorize a carpet or rug with an enzyme deodorizer when urine has been involved. However, I know that enzymes will damage proteins and most everything derived from an animal. Therefore, with wool being a natural protein fiber from sheep, I'm reluctant to use this product on these rugs. I have two days to render my services. Any suggestions?
definitely want to stay away from anything H2O2 based, which stinks because it works great on urine stains and smells. I think your on the right track looking for "green" products that typically have a very neutral PH. Just look on the label or MSDS sheet and make sure it doesn't say H202, Hydrogen Peroxide, ect...
Cleaning wool rugs especially with problems like urine can require a lot more information that I want to type. But I will give some highlights. Try to ID the rug, the way it is constrcuted - woven? Tufted? Flat weave? What foundation yarns? Is there a latex backing? Is the rug a bleeder? This will effect how to clean it and the results that you get. For most wool rugs, I would start with soak in a rug pit with TCU neutralizer to help remove alkaline salts and lipids. Then any cleaning process that follows will work better. Place in a rug pit for 8 to 12 hours if it is not a bleeder. Then rinse. Then clean as you planned for natural fibers. If odor control is required after cleaning, use Hydrocide. Get the rug completely dry.
A picture would help. Rob might move this to the area rug section. Is it a woven rug with no backing? You can build a pit and soak it. Urine can really get into the cotton foundation and is hard to get out - needs to be flushed out. 2 days to fix this? no way. I would want it in my shop for a week. Have you had any training on area rugs? Keep in mind these rugs are technically ruined - if you don't communicate this you will own them. If they are oriental rugs or have dyes in them the dyes can leave with the urine causing a bleed. Cleaning with products that are approved for natural fibers and removing urine are two different thinks - be careful! You might want to pass.
Good info from Scott as always (we must have hit the reply button at the same time). That 2 day thing makes me nervous - I just finished one that spent a day and 1/2 soaking!
Thanks guys. I appreciate the help. I have minimal training in rug cleaning, only carpets. We're in the process of moving to a newer shop and plan to build a rug plant. As of now, we don't have one.
Where are you located? You might want to hook up with a ceaner that does rugs wholesale for now. Thats how I started.
Ive always had really good luck on wool rugs/urine with Hydrocide scotts right on. Easiest way for me to deal with most wool rug issues is to think of it as first in first out wool has a hollow core (medula) that acts somewhat like a vessel if you soak a rug with water first the water will fill up the core and wont allow you to get the real product(Hydrocide) where the urine is hope this helps you next time try to get the client to let you have more time 2 days is not enough time to properly clean a wool rug esspecially if it has additional issues cause wool rugs are kinda like a box of chocolates you never know what your gonna get lol. You might also explain that unless the dog is kept away from the rugs it WILL happen again they cant help theirselves cause technically the dog smells another animal (sheep) and it will continue marking its territory lol
When you guys talk about soaking a rug for 1-2 days in the pit, are you letting it soak, fully submerged, and what does the soaking accomplish? Is it soaking only to deal with urine stains, or something more?
Soaking can loosen several types of soil, but is mostly done for urine or other liquid spills in volume. Washing in a pit but without the soaking is fine for most rugs without urine issues.
Fair warning...I ask a LOT of questions when I'm learning about stuff. Some people hate me for it, but when I find people who are both willing and able to answer my questions intelligently, I really appreciate that kind of thing. I've also not had the opportunity to take the rug class myself, only the owners have at this point, and so some of the finer points of procedure are unfamiliar to me. When you say in volume, I'm assuming that you mean multiple stains, or large stains all over the rug. When you soak it, what kind of solution do you use? Do you have multiple solutions, one for spot/stain treatment, and one for odor control, or do you have one solution to deal with both? We've got an Anti-Allergen/Deodorizer that we spray onto a rug and let sit for about a half hour or so, then we proceed to clean as normal in the pit. Do you let it sit submerged completely in the pit for the full day or two? Thanks, Joseph
If you don't have a rug pit, another thing you can do is clean it outside with a plastic sheet underneath it. You can run a wand on it without the vac hooked up, then push the water out of it and you will see the yellow urine coming out. Repeat this over and over until no more urine comes out and then go over it with vacuum power to remove as much moisture as possible. Then put it in a good, flat place to dry and be sure to dry the underside well. The odor and all urine contaminants will be gone. I don't find urine odor eliminators to be very effective. The most important aspect of odor removal is flushing out the source. Once you achieve this, you can add odor counteractants as a secondary means but I have never known any of them to work as a primary means to the problem, odorcide included.
When rinsing a rug all day or overnight, we extract really heavy and dry it one day/night face down with fans blowing over the back. Then we hang it for a day+.
This can be seriously frustrating for the owners. Here are some tips however, you could choose to use: - You have to give the soiled area a good cleaning. This can be done with vinegar, which also makes a wonderful deodorizer, or mild dish soap. After the stain is completely gone, rinse by blotting with a damp rag or paper towel. - Sometimes with pet urination, wicking can occur. This means the stain went deep down into the lower fibers of the carpet and has pooled at the bottom. You may feel you got the entire stain out, but in a few hours or even a day or two, the stain will magically reappear as the liquid rises up through the fibers to the top of the carpet. To eliminate wicking, take a thick towel or rag and place over the stain. Weigh it down with some books or other heavy items and leave it there for a few hours or even overnight. This should absorb all of the liquid. Clean the stain once again to make sure it’s all lifted.
You have to be SUPER careful soaking a rug for an extended period of time. Usually a soak in an acid bath for 15 minutes, with flushing in of contaminated water, and in with more acid, can be done for a limited time - HOWEVER pet urine in and of itself creates dye migration, so the longer you soak it (even in acid) you risk bleeding the rug irreversibly. So... waivers are needed to make sure the client already acknowledges the rug is damaged. You need a release that you need to soak it to get the urine out of the foundation fibers HOWEVER this boosts the risk of dye migration. So to get the odor out, you risk the dye bleed, and that the client is aware and okay with that. When the rug is NOT colorfast to begin with, I will pretreat the specific urine affected areas with acid (we use acetic acid at 3-4%) and can use a water claw to flush out as much urine before beginning the wash. As opposed to soaking the entire rug at once with acid (again, if the rug is a bleeding concern as indicated by your dye test). So... just be careful. Lisa
The best thing I have see and used numerous times is Rug Restorer by Pro's Choice. It is a cold water acid soak specially designed for urine in natural fiber rugs. I have only had bleeding problems a cpl times, but that was due to the large amount of damage from the urine and it bled from clean water as well. Make them sign a waiver......
The best type of waiver is one written in plain English. Put on the invoice - rug is pet urine contaminated and the dyes are damaged. The rug will need to be soaked to remove the odor-causing urine salts, but this will likely result in dye bleed in this rug. Though we will do our best in decontaminating this rug, we cannot be held responsible for dye damage already present from the pet urine, and the additional dye bleed that will result from the urine decontamination process. The client is aware of this risk and authorizes us to proceed with the wash and odor-removing soak to try to improve the damaged rug. Something like that - and have them sign it. And take LOTS of photos of the damage. Lisa
