Clean It Up
UK Floor Cleaning Forum => Carpet Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: DREAM CLEAN on September 06, 2008, 07:13:07 am
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Morning all,
I have a problem with an empty house ( 3 bed terrace) , when lived in there were also 3 german shepard dogs ,
Now it stunk so bad when it was empty, before we cleaned the windows were opened and we then started , we then carpet cleaned using HWE and the correct chemicals suggested by prochem.
We left the windows open for 2 days and the inspection took place, house passed no problems.
House was all closed up and left for 15days and the housing officer opened the door to go in and nearly passed out with the smell.
He has been on the phone asking what can be done to resolve this as the new tennants will notice the smell too.
Does the fogging work? new carpets?
I think the smell is in the wood work, walls doors
Anybody come accross this problem
Many thanks
Nick
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It sounds like you need to treat the floors with a urine removal product, possibly the walls too, if the urine chrystals (sp) are in the wood/concrete then these areas will need a thorough clean too, and then sealing with a shellac type product, eg paint/varnish, probably carpets will be scrap.
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What did prochem advise you to do and use?
Is the smell defianately urine contamination?
Mark
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Isnt the most obvious answer the carpets were left damp or are they possibly wool.
Cleaning carpets and closing up for over two weeks is asking for trouble.
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Gary,
the windows were open for 2 days and were dry by the time the inspection came,
How long to carpets take to dry , not very big pile carpets
Nick
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last house i Bought was the same .
so I cut out all the floorig replaced it .SMELL GONE! ;D
Neil
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Nick,
Do you mean how long to dry?
If so it depends how much water is put down on the clean, If they have been saturated and they are wool then it could be far more than 2 days.
The smell could be from the breakdown of bacteria from the oils in the dogs coats.
Mark
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Nick,
What equipment and solutions were used to carry out the clean?
Mark
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I deal with this problem all the time and have developed a system that works in most cases.
I use a South African based enzym deodorisor product (so you won't find it in the UK, but I'm sure Prochem have something similar). We prespray the carpet the day before and leave over night. On the next day we do normal HWE.
If the smell hasn't gone within the next few days, then we lift the carpet, replace the underfelt and start the process again - having also sprayed the cement or wood subfloor. The reason for this is that dogs have 2 smells. Urine which in most cases gets in to the underfelt and secondly the body oils which mostly remain on the surface.
The trick is also to makesure that you clean everything, and I mean everything below hip height
Also remember that the smell is not limited to the carpet. We treat the tiles. skirting boards, walls (hip height) etc.
This process must be explained to the client so that they understand the costs.
Regards
Jeremy
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As Mark says above, "doggy" smells are cause by bacteria breaking down the oils which have transferred from the dogs' coats. In my experiences German Shepherds are the worst breed of dog for this! And this house has had three of them on the carpet :o
HWE with chemicals which only "clean" won't cure the problem completely, as you've already found out. A thorough rinse through with water will physically remove a certain proportion but you need to kill those little critters to stop the smell.
Bacteria thrive in moist conditions, so adding water is like chucking a match into a petrol can. Even if HWE removed 90% of the living bacteria, in the following hours after cleaning, even with ventilation to speed the drying, they may multiply back up to the same number or even more, depending on certain variables.
Different people obviously attack this in different ways, probably no two cleaners will give you identical advice. Jeremy's post above is a good example.
How I personally deal with this is pretty simple. I go through the HWE process as normal, using a solution to kill bacteria (This used to be a fairly potent sanitiser up until recent times when I switched to using M-Power).
I spray up generously, as much as is safe for the carpet, agitate in very thoroughly and leave an extended dwell time, again as much is safe for the carpet.
Then after rinsing out, I try to dry the carpet off as much as possible. Then I'll re-apply the solution and bonnet over the carpet again. I include an odour neutraliser in the solution too, for immediate masking effect.
Drying time shouldn't be too much of a concern as long as it's not left sodden. The product is only active as long as there's moisture present, so accelerating the drying may actually be counter-productive.
I've achieved some outstanding results like this, but I'm sure there are plenty of other ways to get the same result ;)
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One other thought, do you know if the carpets had been cleaned before? One of my customers attacked her carpets with a vax machine to try and deal with this, which I think amplified the problem and also helped the bacteria into the backing rather than just being in the pile as they normally are. That job needed two treatments and I was treading the borderline into overwetting to get the result.
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Jim, im sure there are other ways, but keep pushing the M Power mate. ;)
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Nick
You would be better to install a Ozone Generator, that will remove
the smell, and a lot less work :D
If you have never used one get some gidance as they are dangerous.
Ask the hire company for gidance.
Daryl
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Hi Guys
Maybe I should merge the Vomit smell and this topic as I would give the same answer, had one recently used hot Cleansan Soultion with my Texatherm , then hot HWE Clensan and Acid rinse, worked well.
Got another on Tuesday.
Cheers
Doug
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Thanks Paul but I'm not "pushing" anything, simply sharing my experiences ;) ;) ;)
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Im glad Jim and Doug said what they used.
It avoids all doubts
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How about trying Ctaftex Pre-enzyme?. Have used it in similar circumstances to kill dog odour. Would obviously need to treat urine seperately
Gary
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Hi Guys
Gary,
Enzymes are my last resort solution, I don't like using them because of possible Asthma sensitisation issues but they are very effective at breaking down the oils etc which the bacteria causing the smell live on.
Sometimes I will prespray with them.
Cheers
Doug
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Just been looking at World of Clean
Bio Clean looks a good product
But I am sure there are others.
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Doug,
Would agree with you, it comes down to the isue of the odour, pre-spray area, allow to dwell, then rinse. Have used an ozone generator/ioniser to neutralise room afterwards. If the customer doesn't want the smell it comes down to dealing with it effectively (only ever use this kind of product in extreme circumstances)
Gary