Cat piss

[GeneMiller]

two sofas pissed all over by one cat. Not sure how one cat can put that much piss out. One cushion was Dacron filled but the other two were down. Urine reached all the way through into the feathers. I always using an immersion method for urine on the outside cases. Stripped off the outside and dunked them. Left each 5 minutes and then let sit in a lump. After finishing up the body's dunked again in a rinse then vacuumed dry and left in the sun. Treat and cleaned the inside three times to get rid of all the smell. It was harder this time than the last two times. Third time for these sofas. Took pictures but it won't upload for some reason

Gene

 

[GeneMiller]

 

[GeneMiller]

View attachment 1723

It let me upload one

 

[Mikey P]

They've hired you three times to clean that mess?

And it really comes out good enough to sit on?

 

[Travis Sonderegger]

Yeah, that is insane that they would have you do it 3 different times. Sooner or later you would think they might put the cat down or something. What did you charge to clean that couch each time? You say you dunk them also, do you have a big dunk tank and you mix your chemicals up then dunk the whole thing or what? I'm new so asking lots of questions

 

[dgardner]

Hope you charge enough to make it worthwhile.

 

[Jim Pemberton]

The value people put on pets today exceeds anything we've ever seen in our society. Even within our "family" here on MB, we've shared grief at our loss of pets, especially dogs. But remember, "cat people" love those independent vengeful little monsters as much as others do dogs (said with love...my kids have cats that I think are pretty cool...they just aren't dogs in my view)

Back to the subject at hand:

I've heard it said that about 30% of the people who have a child with cat allergies will put the kids on a painful routine of shots rather than get rid of the cat. If that many people are willing to do that, paying for restorative odor control on a sofa is mild compared to that type of decision.

The bottom line is that this attitude is good for business as long as you are always sure to speak about that pet as respectfully as you would a special needs child that would create similar damage.

May all cleaning customers have such pets, and have such attitudes.

(On a personal level, I'll just add the qualifier that I feel badly for children that suffer through this attitude and skewed value system, despite its profitability to those of you who clean for them.)

 

[GeneMiller]

The cats actually have collars to keep them off the sofas but one of them the battery had died. Yes this the third time over a year. As far as cost I always charge for time and difficulty. This particular family has 2 cats and 3 dogs but no kids at home. Travis, I only submersion wash the fabric. I wouldn't try that with the down. I have done it with the Dacron filling on other jobs. Works really well. I use a 6 gallon bucket to soak them. It's always in the truck. 5 minutes seems to be enough time and then I let them sit. We do this outside because of the mess. Then I go back and rinse them out in a neutral or slightly acidic solution. It's much faster for such a bad problem. Been doing it this way a long time now. Just cleaning never seems to work on cat piss and submersion guarantees you get it all. Getting it out of the down took 3 times to pass the smell test and never is easy. I've had to cut the bag and remove some before but always get permission. Still won't let me upload

Gene

 

[Jim Pemberton]

I respect the effort you are putting into this to give these people a good solution to their problem.

Keep an eye out for color related problems with the ticking used on down cushions. Water soluble flame retardants are causing discoloration to fabrics after exposure to moisture that either bleaches out the color, or causes it to turn red.

 

[Chet]

Just a thought for the inside foam. If the customer doesn't want to purchase new foam ( 100 -300 per cushion for multi density quality cushion + waiting for an upholsterer to do the work and the pet will pee again). We charge about 75 -100 per cushion to deodorize. We will quickly rinse the outside of the foam to remove excess urine. We then saturate the foam with OSR, including the down ticking. Place in a plastic bag and extract to get the OSR to penetrate all the way through the foam. We repeat this several times until we are sure the OSR is in contact with all the urine. 1/2 to 1 gallon per cushion. Let dwell for several hours or overnight inside the plastic. You can extract them in the bag and then start rinsing in the bag, (use garden hose, and extract several times until you think most of the urine is gone and neutralized. You can then re-apply OSR and extract into the foam a final time (leaving the OSR without rinsing will help for any remaining urine). Extract thoroughly several more times in the plastic. Use airmovers for 2-4+ days, (drying outside in sun is better, if you actually get sun and warmth weather) Use a moisture probe deep inside to insure they are completely dry. We have had 100% success with this method.

 

[DangerkittyToTheRescue]

Yeah, good job on those cushions Gene.

Yeah we get those cat cushions in here too from time to time. The worst one recently, with customers permission and understanding, I soaked the down filled cushions in a bath of Odorcide, rung them out with the rug roller, then tossed them into the commercial drier, low heat with a couple of tennis balls. they fluffed up perfectly.

The covers were a cotton blend, same deal here, odorcide then used GeniCare cotton care like a rinse cycle, dried them 3/4 way out, low heat, them got them back on the cushions, put them in front of an air mover.

Trick is that I occasionally stop the drier, stretch the covers a bit and I usually dry them inside out until they 3/4 dry and ready to go back on the cushions after I slip a dry-cleaning bag on them.

 

[Clean Response]

I had a sofa cushion that had cat pee on it. I put it in a trash bag a ozone it for a few days. Took care of the smell.

Give it a try.

 

[Lee Stockwell]

My cat will become an OUTside cat if this day comes..or if she scratches a grandchild.

 

[GeneMiller]

Chet I removed it from one foam cushion years ago. Never again. Just two slow to dry out the foam. They can get that part easily replaced from a local shop I only clean the outside in that case.

Troy I wondered about that. I've never had one to experiment on yet. If its Dacron or poly fill I dunk away.

Jim thanks for the reminder about the fired retardant. I recently had a customer get her sofa replaced after it turned red. Generally I look at the cotton liner for discoloration. Hoping it starts there. Do you think the immersion will remove from the fabric or is the bond to strong ?

Gene

 

[Jim Pemberton]

I think you might remove some of it, but I don't know about all of it.

Do a pH test and see if it's around 5- 5.5. If it reads around that, it's likely present.

 

[GeneMiller]

Jim, I'm sure I'll be back. Next time I'll test it. Thanks for the heads up

Gene

 

[Goomer]

I made the mistake once of fully saturating foam upholstery cushions.

Took me a full week of wrapping them in dry towels and sucking them using a big SpaceBag.

I remember being amazed how they barely dripped, even when holding an additional 20+ pounds of liquid.

Never make that mistake again.

 

[Jimmy L]

Just a injection using either odorcide or enzymes for me..............fuk it.
Tell them burn it.

 

[GeneMiller]

Back at the same house for dog piss this time The sofa turned out nice. Looked and smelled perfect. I left it wetter than I would of liked but It didn't hurt it. Great technique if your brave.

Gene

 

[dgardner]

Maybe you should offer dog and cat removal - as an add-on service....

 

[ruff]

Not criticizing, just curious:
When do you draw the line?

If I had to put that many hours into correcting the problem or multiple trips etc.,the cost will exceed the value of the sofa and or replacement. And unless it is a multiple soaking etc kind of job, though the owner may not smell the urine, little Fiddy will. And rest assured, little Fiddy will also re-apply.
You betcha!

 

[Harry Myers]

Gene I did emerge my cushions in acetic acid for a while like 4 hrs. Extracted with the claw. Cleaned with a higher pH solution in a pit . Exacted again with the claw. Then last but least I made slits. Then used my pump up sprayer and used enzymes. It worked out well.

 

[Shawn Abbey]

Jim's right about our skewed view of our pets.

I had one customer with two cats. She mentioned to me that those two cats alone cost her over $10,000. I got about $3,000 of that from multiple decontaminations, floor repairs, cat scratches, upholstery, etc. The rest went to their Veterinarian.

Amazing, but profitable!

 

[GeneMiller]

Not criticizing, just curious:
When do you draw the line?

If I had to put that many hours into correcting the problem or multiple trips etc.,the cost will exceed the value of the sofa and or replacement. And unless it is a multiple soaking etc kind of job, though the owner may not smell the urine, little Fiddy will. And rest assured, little Fiddy will also re-apply.
You betcha!

Nothing is going to be more effective than immersion cleaning, And it's very fast to do. I only immerse the pillows that got hit. i hit the bags heavy especially since 2 were feathers. Dwell time was going on during other cleaning. It probably added 30 minutes in total time with 2 people working. It added way more to my bill. Basically I'm just charging for my time and I'd rather spend it in as few places as possible. She never asked how much and yesterday left a blank check. She wants it done , done now and no smell. Personally the couch isn't that great but everything was picked by a decorator and it all matches the room. These kind of people don't shop ready made and usually pay a decorator. I'm the easiest alternative. I wish I took pictures of the two Chairs she had us clean. The fabric arms on both were chewed off. She still wanted them clean until replacements come in.

As far as when do I draw the line I don't. That's the customers job.

Gene

 

[ruff]

Good answer and well said, Gene.