[justin brown]

hi, i have been asked to quote for a job that has already been 'professionally' cleaned but the odour still remains. its not wee or anything like that, apparently its just a really strong dog odour that is causing an allregy in the family. I am not sure what the fibre of carpet is as i have only been told of this over the phone but i want as much info from you guys before i quote please!! i was thinkimg multipro, crystal grren and maybe a spray of f & f if its a wool carpet?

[Doctor Carpet (Ret'd)]

Don't forget that at the moment it is the other cleaner's problem-and that of the owner. Odours are difficult to deal with as you can't "see" them. And of course as soon as you start to clean/treat them the odour will be masked and you success (or not) won't be known until it dries out. So don't forget to explain all this BEFORE  you commit yourself.

Also lift the carpet in various places and look what's going on underneath. Also try sniffing the carpet yourself so see if the problem is in a specific area or just an all over issue.

Could also be a completely differnt type of odour to that suggested by the client. Parhaps latex degredation or perhaps the carpet had dried slowly after its initial clean and therefore it's a bacteria issue which will simply involve a another clean and rapid drying.

Just a few points for you to think about when inspecting. Hope they help.

Rog

[justin brown]

thanks roger, really good advice.

[Jim_77]

...and also could be a wool carpet smelling woolly after cleaning!  Wouldn't be the first time a "perceived" problem has been complained about.

Justin, you need to understand the problem before you can solve it!  If it is a doggy smell it is caused by bacteria digesting the oil from the dog's coat.  So you need to treat it with something to kill bacteria, as well as something to immediately alleviate the odour.

Why would you use crystal green??  Is the carpet very dirty?  There are better extraction powders if you need a bit of extra zing but to be honest that's not the issue you're dealing with.

My own approach to these problems is a good strong dose of m-power and odour neutraliser, plenty applied, brushed in well and long dwell time.  Then a hot rinse (high temps kill bacteria), modest re-application of pre-spray, brush it in and then blast it off with fans to speed drying.  The extra product added afterwards will carry on working until dry.

I've fixed loads of doggy odour problems like this, as well as other nasty smells like mildew, vomit, urine and diarrhoea

Quite often the nice smell from the odour neutraliser is enough to stop people imagining they are still smelling the problem, I think it's called psychosomatic :

[Jim_77]

by the way what's "dander" ??!!!