UV light before and after??

[Rick J]

Did a job the other day. Now I usually do not use a UV light. ( I know, I know, )
But , for an office person in a PM company I do a lot of work for.
I know going in that there is a pet issue. No cover up by them attempted. Doggines missing the training pads in a couple of places. They pointed out the areas, and yes , without the light , obvious , due to resoiling, as well as some odor. But they had been attempting to remedy, so lots of their stuff down in.,
Took in my new , never used Amazon blacklight which showed up well.
Any way , cleaned . Have always been under the impression , that even after proper methods, that the uv flourescens from the urine will remain.
But it was gone when I checked after my service. ???
Carpet is the brown tweedy, frieze, poly that had lately here become terribly popular.

 

[Todd the Cleaner]

Did a job the other day. Now I usually do not use a UV light. ( I know, I know, )
But , for an office person in a PM company I do a lot of work for.
I know going in that there is a pet issue. No cover up by them attempted. Doggines missing the training pads in a couple of places. They pointed out the areas, and yes , without the light , obvious , due to resoiling, as well as some odor. But they had been attempting to remedy, so lots of their stuff down in.,
Took in my new , never used Amazon blacklight which showed up well.
Any way , cleaned . Have always been under the impression , that even after proper methods, that the uv flourescens from the urine will remain.
But it was gone when I checked after my service. ???
Carpet is the brown tweedy, frieze, poly that had lately here become terribly popular.

Check again after the carpet is dry.

 

[NickNZ]

I kinda might have got a cat put down due to the uv light a good while back when I had no idea the urine will still glow after cleaning .. went in, found and treated a few areas and a couple of weeks later went back as the client said they could smell urine again.. shined the light and sure enough it lit up like a Christmas tree .. I am certain it was fresh and the cat had gone to multiple places before my attendance but that was the final straw for the homeowner and they made the call to end it.

 

[Rick J]

More pet issues, on PET,, and not shouwing up after the clean.

This one a vacant. Obvious heavy pet in one room. Also needed to do a repair on a hole.
Could not contact anyone in the PM office while I was there to get approval for extra stuff.
Three Brs. cleaned as normal.
Bedroom where all the damage was I held off a short while to see if I got a call back.
I did not so I went ahead with cleaning that one room. But , for myself to see if I could improve it any, without too much effort , chems.

I pulled up the carpet. Hosed it down , on the back with a O2 type urine deodorizer,. One of the ones we are getting bombarded with.
Did nothing to the pad.
layed it back down, cleaned it using my normal stuff for those trashed polys.

Got hold of the PM , told them about the hole which they approved. Told em I would have to return, as I had already gotten it wet, and could not do the patch.
And I did want to return and evaluate.

Returned a few day later. Still wet , as expected. (Remember, I had really hosed it down with the deod. de jour. !! )
When I went back to do the patch it still had a slight smell, but much better. Wicking was horrndous however. Hit it lightly topically. with another deodorizer de jour.
Went back again, and smell was pretty much gone. Went over it using VLM(175 and loopy bonnet) thinking about the previous wicking issue.
I know , this is all STOOPID!!!!!! But it is close , and I was sort of using it as a lab.

But all this, to get around to the UV light question. NO glow at all on this poly, again.
I never did get an answer before.Is the urine flourescence NOT pemenant on these fibers. ?

 

[rob allen]

The answer is yes and no. Poly is so impervious to most moisture, including urine slides right down to backing. So what’s left on top is minimal unless the pet repeatedly goes in same spot. Time, DIY agents, pet health, diet and meds play a part also.

 

[Scott W]

Rob got this one. The residue of urine is what glows, Polyester, triexta and olefin don't absorb much moisture. So there will be some urienb on the surface but a lot of the urien rolls down the fiber to the base of the carpet.

Cleaning removes most of what is on the surface. If the pet has been there repeatedly or if the urine has been there a long time, the glow might still be visible. But, you may remove most of what is on the surface. You probably could see a glow if you spread back the fibers and looked at the base.

If the fibers are nylon, wool, acrylic or other more absorbent fibers, you will almost always see the glow even after cleaning.

 

[hurricanecc]

When you inspect a carpet with a uv light, why do some carpets appear yellow on the tips of the fibers throughout the entire room of carpet?

 

[Mama Fen]

When you inspect a carpet with a uv light, why do some carpets appear yellow on the tips of the fibers throughout the entire room of carpet?

Many things besides urine glow under blacklight. It is possible that a chemical residue from a previous cleaning is causing the tips to glow, an optical brightener, or perhaps even a protectant.