I get this woven wool rug from a customer who swears his dog urinated on it. Problem is, I don't see any reaction to a blackilght- I mean absolutely none. Anybody run into this or have an explanation?
Wool has some repellency to moisture, especially rugs that are newer or get little traffic. So, the dog may have urinated but the liquid ran off the surface and is down in the knots. It won't show with a black light here. Not common, but possible.
Never heard of anything like that but Scott has a point. Did you Black light the back as well. I suppose you could use a pH spot meter. I would let her know if I did not find anything and leave it up to her if the rug is to be washed. best wishes, Barry O'Connell http://www.SpongoBongo.com
I did Blacklight both sides, no reaction anywhere. No detectable odor, nothing! I think Scott has the best guess, the rug is in awesome shape.
If she says the dog peed on it then the dog peed on it! Clean it - treat it for lite urine - charge for it! Is it a small dog! maybe the dog just "piddled" on it a little. i once had a Lab that always had a UTI - always peed little dime to quarter sized drops all over the place till she outgrew it.
Why worry your way out of the job? Black light it after you "treat" it and show how awesome of a job you did!
Very practical approach. I was looking from an academic viewpoint. I am becoming more and more fascinated by the application of the blacklight in our craft. For instance, a carpet inspector can check for seam sealer application with a blackight.
When you get it wet and reactivate the urine salts, you will know where it is at. Wool has lots of layers of cuticles and it's possible the warm acid puddle pentrated inside the fibers and you simply can't get a surface read. It's not as easy as putting UV on synthetic. Lisa
Thank you so much for your guidance. I have pit washed it, dried in about 12 Hours in controlled environment with dehu and fans, and will run blacklight again on Monday. I used colorfastness test and fiber ID tests from your blogs and remain thankful for your free education. I will never just use my truckmount again, you have officially helped me upgrade my service.
That's great! I'm happy you are using the blog to do better work, and make more money - you made my day! If you ever decide to get super serious in the craft, you can apply for my six month training program to become a Textile Pro... otherwise you can find me on my free blog making my dent in the world trying to keep cleaners out of trouble. =) Happy Rug Cleaning! Lisa
I think that you should soak that in water for some time and then clean that part with detergent.....
