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Yellow Spots from Dog Urine
This report was commissioned by an insurance company and the claimant used three different chemicals to get pet stains out and then the carpet yellowed. Although, the yellowing could have been from stain resistance turning yellow, it turned out to be urine.THE CARPET MANUFACTURER: Not Available FIBER/ ID METHOD: Nylon-Chemical FIBER HUE: Off White CONSTRUCTION: Tufted Cut Pile YARN STYLE: Saxony Plush SQUARE YARDAGE: See Report BACK SYSTEM: Conventional Tufted PRIMARY BACKING: Polypropylene SECONDARY BACKING: Polypropylene THE INSTALLATION DISTRIBUTOR: Not Available INSTALLATION FIRM: Same As Dealer LOCATION TYPE: Residential DATE INSTALLED: 1993 METHOD: Stretch-In SUBFLOOR: Concrete AREA INSTALLED: See Report USE & MAINTENANCE INFORMATION AT THE TIME OF INSPECTION LITERATURE RECEIVED WITH PURCHASE: Dupont Spotting Guide TEMPERATURE: 73°F - 22.7° C RH 44% ADULTS: 2 - CHILDREN: 0 - PET(S): 4 - 2 Dogs & 2 Cats DO THEY SMOKE? Yes SPOTTING AGENTS: See Report VACUUM/FREQUENCY: Upright Weekly ENTRY-MATS? See Report SOIL: See Report HEATING TYPE: Central Force Air Electric COOLING TYPE: Central - Electric CLEANING: Professional METHOD: Steam Cleaning TYPE OF CHEMICAL: Not Reported DATE LAST CLEANED: Not Reported TREATMENTS APPLIED: None Reported REASON FOR COMMISSION The carpet has reportedly discolored. THE REPORT Site Conditions and Geographical Information The carpet was installed in the claimant’s free standing single story house, located in the Hollywood Hills. The house was well maintained and owner occupied at the time of the inspection. BACKGROUND INFORMATION MADE TO THE INSPECTOR According to the claimant, the carpet in question was originally installed in the bedrooms and the hallway. Another looped-style carpet was installed in other parts of the house. Although the claimant did not remember who the manufacturer was at the time of the inspection, the yarn was a STAINMASTER® made by DuPont. Spotting problems occurred, of which some problems were from animal accidents. Initially these spots were removed with a variety of spotting chemicals and an ACME Shampooer owned by the claimant. The spotting chemicals that were used included GET SERIOUS PET STAIN REMOVER by Van Charles Laboratories, CITRUS ORGANIC CLEANER by Natural Bodycare Product, GONZO by Gonzo Corporation, ANGELES CARPETS PROFESSIONAL CARPET SPOTTER. After professional cleaning was performed, some permanent stains were noted. Hardwood flooring replaced all but one room because of the permanent stains in the carpet. This one room was used as an office and had the Saxony style installed. The looped style carpet was reportedly unaffected. Concerns by the claimant were expressed regarding the ACME chemical as the culprits of the permanent stains. The claimant strongly expressed that the remaining problems are not the result of animal urine. The insurance company of ACME is the commissioner of this report and their representative and the claimant met with this inspector on the day of the inspection and witness much of the testing. DESCRIPTION OF PROBLEM AREA BY THIS INSPECTOR Five spots with irregular edges were noted in the office in question. Their location was under a desk in proximity to the wall. One of the claimant’s dogs was under an adjacent desk during part of the inspection. These spots were three to six inches in width. Some spots had a yellow hue while others had no hue. All spots were lighter than the surrounding carpet and had no apparent change-of-hand. They also had no apparent odor. ON-LOCATION FIELD TESTING Numerous moisture tests were performed using a Delmhorst Moisture Sensor. This test would indicate the presence of moisture locked-up in salt compounds from urine and detergents. The results of these tests showed some moisture in the spots but not else where. An ultra-violet light was used to draw a reflection from substances with optical brightening agents. A yellow reflection will come from most urine stains; a blue or lavender reflection from detergents. The result of this test revealed that there was a strong yellow reflection from the spots, plus a reflection from other coin sized spots with yellow hues and from small specks on the wall. The small specks on the wall and the new coin size spots were near one of the five visible spots, but were not visible under normal lighting conditions. Numerous pH tests were taken using a digital type pH meter and a special low moisture probe that made direct contact with the face yarns. This device is accurate to ± 0.1 and was calibrated with a laboratory testing solution immediately before these tests were made. The test results were as follows: yellow spots 7.3 7.5 7.3 6.1 6.7 Ave. 6.98 non-affected areas 6.1 5.8 5.9 6.1 6.1 Ave. 6 The pH of any of the spotting chemicals was tested as well and was as follows: GET SERIOUS 6.6 CITRUS ORGANIC 5.6 GONZO 9.7 ANGELES CARPET 6.3 Water was applied to surrounding areas in an attempt to make foam from agitating the wet yarn. Excessive foam was made indicating the presents of detergent residue. A bleach test was performed using a test kit from COLOR MATCH SYSTEMS and revealed that there were no bleaching compounds in the light spot or in any of the spotting chemicals. An ammonium salts test was performed using a test kit from E. M Science. Ammonium salts are a by product of urine deposits. The results of this test revealed that there was a strong amount of ammonium salts in the affected areas. THE ISSUE OF THIS REPORT The question that I have been asked to address is: what caused the stains in question? GUIDELINES FOR EVALUATING THE ISSUE The Standard for Carpet Cleaning S001-1994 is the standard for cleaning and is published by the INSTITUTE OF INSPECTIONS, CLEANING and RESTORATION CERTIFICATION at the recommendation of the FEDERAL ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY. These service standards are for professional cleaning and are recognized by nearly all carpet mills and carpet cleaning associations. They also give definitions of terms and guidelines for consumers with respect to their responsibilities. Warranty information about STAINMASTER carpet can be obtained from most carpet dealers, or directly from DuPont, or on DuPont’s web page on the internet and also states some of the limitations of the yarn with respect to spills and accidents. Technical terms can be found in the FLOOR COVERING DICTIONARY published by the Academy of Textile & Flooring located in Whittier, California. This publication contains over 10,000 terms used in the flooring industry and offer explanations and short commentary on those terms. INDUSTRY STANDARDS, PRACTICES & DEFINITIONS Consumer responsibility for spots and stains in the S001-1994 CLEANING STANDARD says this: 3. Immediate Spotting - Most spots can be removed easily if the excess is lifted or blotted and treated immediately by carpet owners with plain water, or with spotters containing mild (pH range of 5 to 9), dilute detergents that do not leave residue. If ignored those spots, or components thereof, may bond with fiber dye sites, forming permanent stains. Immediate spotting is an essential responsibility for home and business owners/managers. The unknown spot is defined by the Flooring Covering Dictionary by the following definition: Spots can be caused by a number of things. If the spot was not present when the carpet was installed, there is a 99 + 1 change that it was caused by spillage, tracking or some local agent. It could be related to something the installer used or product found in the home. Spots do not "appear" for some unknown reason after installation. If they have a pattern, they may be related to the manufacturing of the carpet. If they are randomly spaced, they are caused locally. Urine - Hidden in the Flooring Covering Dictionary by the following definition: In poor light some soiled carpet won’t show old, half cleaned urine spot. You clean the area, the deep residue come to the top of the clean area, and "you" have yellowed the carpet. The best defense is to show the owner the spot glowing under a black (UV) Light. According to DuPont they say this in there warranties on a STAINMASTER carpets: No carpet is fully stainproof. Therefore, this warranty excludes stains from: 1 - Non-food and non-beverage substances; 2 - Such foods and beverages that contain strongly colored natural substantive dyes as found, for example, in mustard and herbal tea; 3 - Substances which destroy or change the color of carpets such as bleaches, acne medications, drain cleaners, plant food; 4 - Vomit, urine and feces. THE INSPECTOR'S ANALYSIS The first analysis of a permanent spot is to determine if dye has been added or has color been removed from the affected area. Spots that are lighter than the surrounding carpet are always a color loss. The problem is considered permanent or repairable if it is done only by a color restorations. The attempt to make foam and the pH tests both indicate that a significant amount of detergent residue were still present. The logical scenario of this information given would indicate that attempts to remove previous spots were successful due to color being added to the carpet. The stain resistance provided by DuPont likely protected the yarn initially from receiving a permanent stain. After the cleaning, the color was missing and there was nothing to remove. Color losses of this type can be created by either some type of bleaching compound or urine as noted in the warranty information from DuPont.
The lack of urine smell which was the only lacking evidence at the time of the inspection, could be accounted for by the effective use of deodorants. CONCLUSION The stains in the carpet in question were due to a color loss from urine, based upon observations, in-field testing and the definitions given. |