When people tell us the dog smell came back a week after the last carpet cleaning, they're usually right, and the cleaning was usually fine. It just never reached the problem. Urine soaks through the carpet, spreads out in the pad underneath, and dries there into salts. Those salts pull moisture out of the air. On the first sticky Midlands day, they wake back up and the room smells like it did before.
A regular cleaning works on the carpet fibers. Pet odor work has to go deeper than that.
Step by step
- Find every spot. A lot of contamination is invisible, especially old spots and the corners a cat favors. Your technician uses detection tools to map where urine actually went, and it's often more spots, and bigger ones, than anyone expected.
- Pre-treat. Set-in marks from accidents, food, drinks, and the musty patch by the back door get a pre-treatment to loosen them before the main work.
- Apply the live enzyme. This is the core of it. The enzyme digests the organic material behind the smell (urine crystals, dander, bacteria) and gets applied in enough volume to follow the urine down into the backing and pad. Perfume sprays sit on top and fade. The enzyme breaks the source apart.
- Extract from the bottom up. Strong suction pulls the broken-down contamination and the moisture back out of the pad, so nothing is left sitting damp underneath.
- Lift the discoloration. Our carbonated clean goes after the stain that's left on the fibers, gently, with little water.
- Let it dry. With so little water put down, the area dries quickly and there's no wet-dog smell hanging around afterward.
- Check the work. We go back over the treated areas with you. If an odor lingers after the treatment has had time to work, call us and we'll come re-treat it. That's part of the 100% satisfaction guarantee.
It isn't only pets
Most of our odor calls involve a dog or cat, but the same approach handles other problems. Mildew smell in a basement-level room or a closet that got damp. Smoke odor left over from a previous owner. Food, grease, and oil stains near the kitchen. Even some paint spots. Tell us what you're dealing with and we'll tell you how hopeful to be.
When it won't fully come out
Urine is acidic. When the same spot gets hit over and over for months, it can permanently bleach or shift the carpet dye, break down the pad, and soak into the subfloor. We can usually get rid of the smell in those spots. Removing the stain is less certain, and occasionally a square of pad really needs to be cut out and replaced. You'll hear that from us on the walk-through, before you pay for anything.
The best odds go to accidents that get treated early. Blot a fresh one with a white towel and plain water, skip the scented store sprays (your dog can still smell the spot under the perfume and may go back to it), and call before it's had a few humid weeks to set.
Homes with more than one pet
If you've got two dogs, or a cat and a puppy in training, a professional treatment every six months to a year keeps things from building up again. A protector applied after the treatment helps a little too, since it keeps fresh liquid on the surface longer so you can blot it.
When it's more than one room
Sometimes the damage runs through half the house: a hallway, two bedrooms, the stairs. Before you price out new carpet in that situation, read through this guide to severe pet urine damage in carpet, pad, and subfloor. It covers what can be saved and what usually can't.
Getting started
The $25 pet treatment coupon is listed under coupons, and most people add the treatment onto a regular carpet cleaning. When you call 803-310-3848, the most useful thing you can tell us is how long the spots have been there and how many animals live in the house. Writing it up on the contact page works just as well.