Accidents happen
Even the most well trained pet can have an accident in the home for any number of different causes

If you own area rugs and pets it's important to understand the four ways that urine can damage your rugs as well as what you can do to protect your rugs from damage.

Urine can cause permanent fiber damage and the damage isn't always visible from the top.
Urine salts attract moisture to the cotton foundation of the rug and this moist environment can cause the cotton foundation to rot and mildew. Bugs also use this environment as a food source and if left alone this will result in a hole in the rug.

The ammonia in urine can damage dyes and can damage the rugs ability to hold dye, this leads to bleeding colors and color loss especially on silk rugs.
As the urine decomposes it releases an odor and we become accustomed to smells and urine odor gets worse over time so commonly, rug owners don't even realize that the odor is as bad as it is.

In order to eliminate the odor, all the urine salts and bacteria must be washed out of the foundation of the rug.

Top cleaning the rug with carpet cleaning equipment won't work because the source of the odor is in the base of the rug in the foundation.
Tufted rugs with the backing like these can be cleaned with standard carpet cleaning equipment.
These rugs are cheaper to make but they are made with a layer of latex to glue the fibers in place.
Urine can penetrate and bond with the latex in these rugs making it very difficult if not impossible to completely remove the odors.

Finally decomposing urine can stain rugs. As urine soaks into a rug it spreads out in the bottom layers of the rug. These stains are like icebergs they're small on top and much larger underneath and inside.

Here are 5 things you can do to make living with pets and rugs easier.

1- Have a spot removal plan.
You'll want to clean up pet stains and other spills quickly.
Your rug cleaner should be a partner in this process and we can teach you what to do if you have a problem and if you come home to a pet catastrophe, we are just a phone call away.
2- Buy rugs that can be cleaned
When possible, Buy rugs that are woven with color fast dyes.
3- Get a busy design that hides stains and spots better especially if you have rescue pets.
4- Get pads under your rugs to protect your floor
5- Apply fiber protector to suspend spills and give you more time for cleanup.

Also if you have pets, you should have your rugs washed professionally every 1-3 years.

If you have any questions about proper maintenance of your rugs just give us a call and we'll be happy to help you out even in the case of an emergency.

Hi! My name is Darren Miller and I look forward to caring for all your area rug cleaning needs