How do you explain....

[Warren Wallace]

You clean urine spots they look great but, with a black light you
can still see them,please explain why is this..

 

[sweendogg]

When Urine/bodily fluids are emitted they contain certain proteins that will fluoresce because of the particular molecular structure. These proteins and the body fluid itself is acidic in nature and heated to body temperature. This lowers the surface tension of the body fluid making it easy to penetrate surfaces such as carpet, pad, wood, fabrics ext. The Proteins(acidic in nature.. ie amino acids) end up saturating any open dye sites in the carpet or saturating hardwood/floors much like a Kool Aid drink does. As the urea or extra products are digested by bacteria, the proteins remain and often become bonded with the fibers in such a way that they often will not remove. This is usually true of Nylon and polyester. Olefin and Smartstrand fibers usually will not hold onto these proteins nearly as well. wool can wash out depending on the dyes and chemical treatments, while some wools will not.

 

[-JB-]

I was taught it was due to mineral deposits in the protein, magnesium in particular, is this correct or am I just splitting hairs here?

 

[Mikey P]

When Urine/bodily fluids are emitted they contain certain proteins that will fluoresce because of the particular molecular structure. These proteins and the body fluid itself is acidic in nature and heated to body temperature. This lowers the surface tension of the body fluid making it easy to penetrate surfaces such as carpet, pad, wood, fabrics ext. The Proteins(acidic in nature.. ie amino acids) end up saturating any open dye sites in the carpet or saturating hardwood/floors much like a Kool Aid drink does. As the urea or extra products are digested by bacteria, the proteins remain and often become bonded with the fibers in such a way that they often will not remove. This is usually true of Nylon and polyester. Olefin and Smartstrand fibers usually will not hold onto these proteins nearly as well. wool can wash out depending on the dyes and chemical treatments, while some wools will not.

:shock:

have you ever tried that on a customer David?


I bet their eyes glaze over at fluoresce

 

[sweendogg]

Heck no... ok well once :mrgreen: He was a science guy and he really really enjoyed the explanation. Iseeru

 

[ACE]

The way it was explained to me was that urine etches the fibers so it will always show up under black light. I thought about applying an optical brightener to after cleaning to fool a landlord that was going to do a backlight inspection after one of my clients moved out.

 

[sweendogg]

Its not so much the urine that does it as Urine is relatively neutral to only slightly acidic like 6.5-7.0. If its higher or lower, it can identify certain urinary tract problems depending on how low or how far above it is. (watch all the newbee's are going to go and stick their pH pen in their urine the next time they pee! Remember to santize those things after.)

The rapid shift from acid to alkaline after the bacteria/microorganisms begin to digest it creates a very high amonia like byproduct that will kill the stain resistance and thus making the etching of protiens more permanent.

 

[-JB-]

I was taught it was due to mineral deposits in the protein, magnesium in particular, is this correct or am I just splitting hairs here?

...and then???

1]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NkEEhZE0aME1]