My House Stinks! What on Earth is That Smell?
By Eric Perez – DryMaster Systems ‘Cleaning Coach & Odor Specialist’
As a DryMaster Affiliate and Being an odor control ‘specialist’ means that you are expected to understand all odors and sources, not just pet/human urine.
In the northeastern US, late spring brings warm days and humid weather, (oh boy, I can remember that when I used to live in New York) and with that warmth and humidity, unpleasant odors in carpet and upholstery become more intense and apparent. Any unpleasant odor, such as urine and/or dog smell, can ruin the most beautiful of homes. What makes dealing with that smell especially difficult is that after just a few weeks, the unsuspecting pet owner can become completely desensitized to the smell, not realizing how offensive it really is to visiting family and friends.
This odor from pets goes beyond home-owner embarrassment. For example, homeowners considering putting their home on the market, such offensive pet odors will directly affect the price of the sale.
Many of your customers experience pet odor in their carpets and upholstery, and no matter how much they clean, they can’t get it to go away! Sometimes it can be a customer’s tenant who has allowed their pet to soil the carpets, or taken in a new puppy that had lots of accidents throughout the unit. Even older cats have a hard time using their litter boxes correctly, and eventually start soiling the surrounding carpets. All of these common scenarios present typical client cases for our DryMaster Affiliates. Your job, as the ‘odor specialist’, is to make a recommendation or offer a solution!
The most common odor that cleaners are called upon to treat is pet ‘pee‘ or urine odor. Often, however, when a cleaner is called upon to treat such an odor, what they detect isn’t urine or ‘pee‘ at all, but instead an odor we cleaners call “doggie odor”.
“Doggie odor” is the smell that comes from decaying pet hair (cats as well as dogs) that accumulates deep in the carpet pile. This hair is never completely removed by the consumers vacuuming, and as bacteria begins decomposition of the hair, the resulting odor is one that is said to smell like “dirty socks” or “an old mop”. In fact, it not uncommon for cleaners to amplify these odors during the professional cleaning process to the extent that it becomes a post cleaning complaint.
The importance of this distinction between urine odor and “doggie odor” is that the treatment for each is different. The application of water based deodorants, including enzyme products in the large volume necessary to neutralize urine residues will only increase the bacterial activity that creates the “doggie smell”.
The most effective treatment in removing “doggie smell” is to clean the carpet with DryMaster Carpet Out The Odor-Odor Eliminator and sanitizer. The ingredients used in this product will lower the bacterial activity to the point where the odor will no longer be noticeable.
The best procedure to follow when you’ve determined that a carpet is contaminated by “doggie smell” and not urine, is as follows:
1. Groom and vacuum the carpet thoroughly.
The more animal hair you remove using a Grandi-Groomer
with vigorous back & forth action, the less organic material
will remain to support future bacterial activity.
2. Clean the carpet and add to your solution with The Out The Odor Sanitizer,
following label directions carefully.
No boosters, additives, or other chemicals can be
mixed with this product. DryMaster Clean Carpet Out The Odor
Sanitizer is a very effective cleaner, and won’t
require additional prespray or rinsing agents to
remove soil as well as odor.
3. Speed Dry. The faster the carpet dries, the less
odor that will remain.
SUMMARY:
Being a local odor control ‘specialist’ means that you are expected to understand all odors and sources, not just pet urine. During the warm and humid months ahead, you should find offering this service to be good for your bottom line, and misery relief to the substantial number of your customers who share their home with pets.
P.S. DryMaster national average recommended charging rate for this service is $.10-.15 per sq ft extra on top of the cleaning depending on the severity of the problem.
To purchase Out The Odor go to: https://www.drymastersystems.com/shop/out-the-odor-odor-eliminator-copy/
