Cleaning and Pets

1. Hard Floors:
Cleaning and pets! Many pet owners assume that hard floors are easier to keep clean and odor free than is carpet; few find out until too late that this isn’t always true. Once urine finds its way beneath some floors (laminate and vinyl) into grout lines (ceramic tile and stone) or into finish (wood floors), pet odor treatment may become very challenging to perform.

2. Area Rugs:  
Pets, when given the chance, will contaminate area rugs that have been placed over hard floors first. Area rugs that are heavily contaminated are better cleaned by immersion cleaning in plant where heavy urine residues can be more easily flushed away.

3. Upholstered Furniture:
Pets are rarely forbidden from resting on furniture. It is only natural that when circumstances of illness or excitement occur, that they may urinate or vomit on furniture as well.

4. Ductwork:  
Its not uncommon for pets to urinate into registers. When animal hair is also present, there is now an additional breeding ground for the bacteria that lives off of urine residues.

Just as cleaners are learning that they must no longer be perceived as “carpet cleaners”, but instead as “Professional Cleaning Services” because of the changes in floor coverings, they must also expand the way they are seen as “Odor Control Experts”.

People who are struggling with the odor causing behaviors of their pets should not be expected to get rid of the pet. They very well may get rid of the carpet though. This trend should be addressed by a caring cleaning professional in two ways:

1. Keep Them Happy With Pets and Carpet:  
If you can provide an effective but reasonably priced program that keeps the carpet’s odor under control, your customer will not need to opt for expensive replacement. Carpet is warmer, softer underfoot, and in the long run less costly to maintain than most hard floor surfaces.

You should advise your customer that many hard floor surfaces could be harder to take care of when pets have accidents than carpet. This also applies to the inevitable choice of adding area rugs to the home to overcome the discomfort of hard floors.

2. Understand New Odor Removal Challenges:
If your customer does replace their carpet, make sure that they understand that you can help them keep their new flooring clean, as well as odor and stain free. One such example would be with ceramic tile and grout flooring. Very few such installations have the grout sealed, and it would be in your customers’ interest to have the grout sealed by you after the grout has cured. Sealed grout will resist the penetration of urine, make it easier for them to clean, and prevent unsightly stains and odors.