What You Should Know about Area Rug Odors and Monsoon Season - Sedona AZ
It’s me, Ruthie with Arizona Oriental & Specialty Rug Care again, and I’ll keep it short with this one - the odors in your area rugs that seem to magically appear around monsoon season are probably because of your four-legged best friend.
During spring and the first part of summer, there aren’t as many complaints about odors in area rugs. But then monsoon season starts up and suddenly there are a LOT of stinky rugs!
Let’s say your four-legged best friend has an accident on your area rug. If you’re like most homeowners, you’ll likely dab up as much urine as possible and perhaps even treat the spot with a little at-home urine spotter if you have it available.
But I’m going to let you in on a little secret…
DABBING & SPOT CLEANING DON’T ACTUALLY REMOVE THE URINE!
The odorous urine salt crystals that are still in your rug eventually dry and you may not notice any odors for a while. However, the chemistry of the urine changes as bacteria feed on the urine deposit and off-gas ammonia, which turns urine from being acidic into being alkaline and makes odors much more apparent. Before you know it, the rains move in and humidity goes through the roof. The now-alkaline urine salt crystals absorb the humidity and off-gas even more, making odors WAY MORE NOTICEABLE!
Remember - urine is VERY DAMAGING to rug fibers. Why?
- Urine destabilizes dyes & causes bleeding (the reds and blues spread into the beige)
- Urine can cause color loss & discoloration.
- Rug fibers are weakened, which leads to…
- Dry rot! This will cause splits, tears, and holes to form in your rug.
- Urine attracts all kinds of yucky bacteria and germs you don’t want to keep around your home.
There might be one good thing about urine odors, though. They remind us that the urine deposit is still in our rugs, doing the damage listed above! These deposits need to be thoroughly treated and flushed out before they can do any more damage to your lovely area rug.
At Arizona Oriental, we specialize in removing animal urine from area rugs and we can make your rug fresh and clean again! We have special cleaning solutions and urine-neutralizing products that are all wool and silk safe certified, designed to remove animal urine from fine rugs
Till next time, enjoy your beautiful art for your floors and remember a clean rug is a rug that can last you a lifetime!
Arizona Oriental & Specialty Rug Care serves Sedona, Prescott, Prescott Valley and much of the Northern Arizona areas. We meet the highest standards in professional cleaning of area rugs with rug wash specialists having earned the highest training, including certification as WOOLSAFE FIBRE CARE SPECIALISTS through the WOOLSAFE ORGANISATION. Such extraordinary certification ensures the area rugs of our client’s receive the utmost in care.
Call us for more information about monsoon season and odors in area rugs at 928-445-1718, visit our website at www.ArizonaOriental.com, or stop by Monday through Friday 10:00 am to 5:00 pm at our rug washing facility at 565 EZ Street, Prescott, AZ 86301 (pick-up and delivery also available). (07-13-17)
