Odor Elimination Tips & Tricks

If you have odors in your carpets, the cleaning process can make these odors appear worse afterwards. This is especially true for those homeowners who have pets in the home.

Dogs especially have oily fur, and this oil is deposited on the carpet or furniture when the animal lays down. These oils attract soil, and the soil traps and holds the odor. When the soil and oily residue is removed from the carpet, the trapped odor is released. The “wet dog” odor will generally be stronger after the cleaning process, and will dissipate within a day or two.

 

Using deodorizers can mask the odor temporarily. It is not a good idea to saturate the carpet with these products. Our technician can provide additional odor elimination and deodorization during the cleaning process upon request.

Air it out

Opening windows to dispel the odor when the humidity is high can make the problem worse. If the humidity is below 50% the windows can be opened to air out the building. Setting your air conditioner to the proper setting to maximize drying can also help dispel the odor more quickly. Using products such as Febreeze, spray your air conditioning filter. This will help distribute the deodorizer more effectively without saturating the carpet.

To help prevent this problem, the IICRC recommends that people with pets have their carpets professionally cleaned on a regular basis to keep the oily buildup minimized, generally every 2 to 3 months. Using “do it yourself” products, or any dry cleaning carpet method can actually trap more of the oils and make the problem substantially worse later.

Pet oils in the carpet can also cause recurring spots, which are dark areas that appear on the carpet within a day or two of cleaning. These spots are caused by the excess oils wicking up from the bottom of the carpet fibers after the cleaning process. Regular professional cleaning can also help prevent recurring spots.

Odor elimination

If you have other odors in your home, such as from a fire, cigarette smoke or cooking odors, these can be removed using advanced hydroxyl technology along with specialized cleaning methods, but the source must be eliminated first.

Especially in the case of nicotine from cigarette smoking. Nicotine is a sticky yellow-orange substance tat adheres to the surfaces in the building. Painting and removing the carpet will not necessarily remove the nicotine odor from the home. A thorough cleaning, using specialized chemicals is needed to remove the sticky residue from the walls, fixtures and other surfaces. Once this is accomplished, the walls can be painted and sealed. The carpets can generally be cleaned of nicotine, removing the odor for good.

Soot is another sticky substance, and can be treated similar to nicotine to remove the soot from surfaces that have not been charred by a fire, therefore restoring these items instead of having to replace them.

Additionally, pet odors from urine in the carpet can be successfully removed, but if the pet is still in the home and allowed into the area, the problem will re-occur because the pet will urinate in the same area if given the opportunity.