ozone to remove Urine smell from rugs?

[Papa John]

I'm thinking of making an Ozone chamber/room to insert urine soaked rugs before the cleaning process... do you think this will work.
My space is limited so the rugs would still be rolled up instead of hung or layer out.

 

[T Monahan]

Nope. Remove the source and the smell is gone.

 

[Pat Muller]

Ozone is a great airborne odor modifier but it is one dimensional as it will not penetrate into the fibers, especially rolled up rugs.

 

[Papa John]

Thanks for the input Pat.
I was hoping ozone would be an alternative to using so much water and Chems on some of the rugs we get in..

 

[Nate The Great]

I've read Lisa Wagner has had experience using the hydroxyl generator....

I'd just remove the source like Tommy said.... I understand you guys are in a drought, but you need to flush that baby....

 

[J Scott W]

Ozone works one molecule at a time. If all the contamination is still in the rug, that is a lot of molecules to oxidize.

Wool Medic to emulsify, dissolve, loosen the contamination. Wool Zone when you rinse. Easy rinsing. Will save considerable on chemical and water usage.

 

[Desk Jockey]

Its not good at penetrating or is it good at breaking down urine.

Incomplete combustion odors is where ozone gas works best. It completes the oxidation process and reverts back to oxygen.

 

[T Monahan]

 

[Harry Myers]

Honestly by washing the rug the urine should come out. I have done it over and over again. Charge more for urine contamination for your efforts.

 

[Shorty]

Ozone works one molecule at a time. If all the contamination is still in the rug, that is a lot of molecules to oxidize.

Wool Medic to emulsify, dissolve, loosen the contamination. Wool Zone when you rinse. Easy rinsing. Will save considerable on chemical and water usage.

Thanks Scott, never heard of that before.

I don't think our suppliers carry either of those products though.

 

[Shorty]

Tom, do your have an importer down under??

 

[T Monahan]

Tom, do your have an importer down under??

Waiting for someone to step up to the plate.

 

[Desk Jockey]

Honestly by washing the rug the urine should come out. I have done it over and over again. Charge more for urine contamination for your efforts.

Ironic you say "honestly" but then state to charge more for urine contamination yet you say the wash takes care of it.

 

[Nate The Great]

Ironic you say "honestly" but then state to charge more for urine contamination yet you say the wash takes care of it.

Oh the irony...........

 

[Desk Jockey]

You Rug Snobs are scary!

 

[T Monahan]

It has been my experience: As urine dries, the liquid evaporates but the urine crystals become even more concentrated and pungent. Simple cleaning will not remove this odor. In fact, these urine crystals are frequently re-activated by moisture.

 

[Desk Jockey]

High humidity reactivates any remaining uric salts.

However if a good cleaning removes the salts then I can see where little other treatment is necessary.
I was simply question the practice of charging for doing so if it took no more effort than any other rug.

 

[ruff]

If the urine is fresh, just rinsing and cleaning will take it out. If dried, in my experience, rinsing and cleaning alone won't do it without some extra (acid, enzymes or other products) treatment.

So, honestly, is Harry and the rug brotherhood, holding out with some professional secret on us?

 

[Shorty]

Living in a state of perpetual high humidity & pissy rugs, when I USED to clean rugs, I would soak them using Acetic Acid to neutralize the Urine salts, prior to thorough rinsing, dry & groom.

My Acetic Acid was 90%, but well reduced.

If those salts are not neutralized, (just like table salts absorb moisture & go all claggy), the urine salts will also absorb moisture & off-gas that oh so familiar odor once again.

I didn't have access to many of these products now available.

Many down under still don't, so you have to make do with what you can.

 

[T Monahan]

Urine is composed of water, excess proteins, hormones, inorganic salts, urea, uric acid and urochrome [a natural pigment]. The water part evaporates, leaving alkalineurine salts. These salts are hygroscopic [moisture loving] and attract atmospheric moisture, which causes odor to be released. These salts are not water-soluble. The protein that remains also attracts bacteria that feed on it. The bacteria causes odor.

 

[Clean Response]

What if it still slightly smelled after the first cleaning. If he did unroll it and tarp it; would the ozone knock it out then?

 

[Desk Jockey]

No and if it did, the uric salts would come back to bite you.

 

[Jim Pemberton]

What if it still slightly smelled after the first cleaning. If he did unroll it and tarp it; would the ozone knock it out then?

One of the "dirty tricks" that ozone can play on you is the way a whiff of it desensitizes your sense of smell for a period of time.

What that means is when you turn off the machine, even if you have just a brief exposure to the gas, you won't easily smell remaining urine (or much of anything else) for a bit, and you might think the odor is gone, but it's not.

 

[Papa John]

A lot of water and multiple washings seems to be the only answer then.
Many of the urine soaked rugs we clean are indo tufted. IMO not worth the expense of in plant cleaning-- but seems custies don't want to deal w hassle of buying new.-- So many times we have to remove the backing and wash away the glue and urine salts and re-glue the backing.
The Rug Sucker finally redeemed its self on a urine soaked knotted rug----But Good News Centrum Force/ Tom-- I still wish I had the space for a centrifuge.

 

[rmann]

Mr. Jockey makes a good point. If something like half the rugs that come into a plant have urine in them, and a careful wash will take care of nearly all of them -except the most extreme cases - then why the big push to add big extra charges on to our client's tickets? I understand the need to make money to support our businesses and families, but when cleaners brag about charging a lot extra for 'decontamination' and other services that are basic components of doing a good job it starts to sound like price gouging.

 

[T Monahan]

A lot of water and multiple washings seems to be the only answer then.
Many of the urine soaked rugs we clean are indo tufted. IMO not worth the expense of in plant cleaning-- but seems custies don't want to deal w hassle of buying new.-- So many times we have to remove the backing and wash away the glue and urine salts and re-glue the backing.
The Rug Sucker finally redeemed its self on a urine soaked knotted rug----But Good News Centrum Force/ Tom-- I still wish I had the space for a centrifuge.

Obviously, Centrum Force has tools, like The Rug Sucker and U-Turn, to sell directly off its website. Note: Centrum Force will show some new tools at Rug Summit 10 that may help deal with Tufted and other rugs.

 

[Papa John]

Ironic you say "honestly" but then state to charge more for urine contamination yet you say the wash takes care of it.

Mr. Jockey makes a good point. If something like half the rugs that come into a plant have urine in them, and a careful wash will take care of nearly all of them -except the most extreme cases - then why the big push to add big extra charges on to our client's tickets? I understand the need to make money to support our businesses and families, but when cleaners brag about charging a lot extra for 'decontamination' and other services that are basic components of doing a good job it starts to sound like price gouging.

I most cases, multiple deep cleanings will remove the odor---
But in extreme cases where the need of a more powerful And Expensive chemical such as U-Turn in used-- I would have to charge extra to make a profit.

 

[Cleanworks]

I agree whole heartedly with papa john. The more labor you expend and the more chemical you use the more it costs. It's one thing to clean a rug that the dog peed on accidently. It's completely different with the rug that the cat peed on 20-30 times to send you a message.

 

[Desk Jockey]

I'm all for valid charges no matter what the cost. We deal with adjusters daily and they take apart out billing line item by line item.

However if we can't justify it we don't bill for it. If more is needed to process the rugs then by all means charge more.

I was merely questioning the practice of billing for a process that didn't actually happen.

 

[T Monahan]

Generally the bigger cost of processing rugs is not the chemistry. It is the labor. Save time with chemistry and tools and increase your bottom line.