As a carpet cleaning professional, it’s essential to know how to remove unwanted odors from your clients’ homes or businesses. The most common requests from clients may include getting rid of pet or human smells or odors caused mostly by urine, feces or vomit. With the right cleaning method and pet odor eliminator solution, you can easily remove these smells and leave your clients with fresh-scented carpets.
Learn the best way to get rid of pet, human and mold smells on commercial or residential carpets to grow your carpet cleaning business and improve your customers’ living environment.
Assess Potential Causes for the Smell
When a client contacts you about a foul-smelling carpet, your first course of action should be to assess the potential causes of the odor. Ask the customer if they know what is causing the smell. If your customer saw their cat or dog urinate on the carpet, it can give you a better idea of how to approach cleaning the area.
If your client isn’t sure what the smell is, you can ask them a few questions to determine if it might be mold or mildew. For example, ask them to describe the offensive scent; if they say it smells damp, rotting, musty, or like wet clothing, the culprit is likely mold or mildew.
Common Odors Associated with Pets?
The most common odors associated with pets include urine, feces, or a wet dog smell. Cat urine is tough for pet owners to remove on their own. It contains uric acid, a pungent-smelling compound that leaves a lingering ammonia odor. This acid also marks the territory for cats, leading to continued elimination in one area.
What Causes Mildew and Mold/Musty to Smell?
When a carpet remains damp, mold or mildew can grow within its fibers. As the mold grows, it emits gaseous compounds called microbial volatile organic compounds (MVOCs). Mycotoxins are MVOCs that leave a musty, stale odor, indicating the mold’s presence.
Removing mildew or mold is essential for eliminating the smell in your client’s home or office environment. However, it’s also crucial for their health. Unchecked mold growth can cause wheezing, itchy eyes, and other health issues, especially for those with breathing issues like asthma.
Choose the Right Carpet Cleaning Method for the Space
As you prepare to deodorize carpets for your customers, choose the right carpet cleaning method for their space. Take their carpet type and odor issues into account when choosing between the following methods:
- Shampooing. Shampooing is the least effective carpet cleaning method. It tends to leave carpets wetter longer, which is not ideal for someone experiencing mold or mildew problems.
- Hot Water Extraction. Steam cleaning carpets work well for small area rugs that can be hung out to dry but isn’t preferred for larger indoor carpets. Hot water can also make pet odors, like cat urine, smell worse.
- Bonnet Cleaning. Although it is a low-moisture cleaning method, bonnet cleaning is not ideal for cleaning mold, mildew, or pet elimination residue. It’s mostly used for commercial spaces for superficial cleaning of a carpet’s face fibers.
- Spot Cleaning. Spot cleaning is a good option for one-time pet accidents and can be used by homeowners to remove the smell. However, as a professional cleaner, you will likely need more powerful cleaning solutions to address your clients’ needs.
- Encapsulation. Encapsulation uses a dry crystalline cleaner that removes dirt and debris from the carpet. It is ideal for light cleaning but won’t address deeper issues like pet elimination or prolonged mildew growth.
- Dry Carpet Cleaning. Dry carpet cleaning removes up to 97% of bacteria from carpets, making it the best option to deodorize bacteria + mold smells and pet urine or feces. It works on all types of carpets, doesn’t damage carpet fibers, and offers a deep clean that removes the source of the odor problem.
Opt for a Professional Odor Removing Solution
A professionally formulated carpet odor eliminator is crucial when addressing unpleasant odors. A high-quality pet odor eliminator for carpets offers an effective, safe way to deodorize pet or human urine and remove damp, musty smells caused by mold and mildew.
DryMaster’s Out The Odor- Pet Stain & Odor Eliminator is one of the best carpet pet odor eliminator products available to professional carpet cleaners. The product is a concentrated odor eliminator that is safe and economical. It permanently rids carpets of embedded odors through absorption and counteraction. It works on noxious smells caused by:
- Mold
- Mildew
- Pet or humane urine and feces
- Garbage
- Vomit
- Organic decomposition
This cleaner works as a pre-soak detergent or rinse additive and can be used in a spray soaker or spray-on cleaner for commercial spaces like nursing homes, schools, or hospitals.
In addition to a pet odor removal product, you may want to use several of the following favorite carpet cleaning products from DryMaster to clean your customers’ homes.
- Powder. For powder cleaners, we recommend the Nexus- Heavy Traffic Carpet Cleaner for heavy soils or Grease Eater- Greasy Carpet Traffic Lane Cleaner for commercial locations like restaurants or institutional facilities.
- Spray. We offer multiple spray products, such as the Fabric Watch Fabric Protectant to protect high-end fabrics or No Smoking-Smoke Odor Eliminator & Cleaner spray for areas affected by cigarette smoke.
- Shampoo. Carpet shampooing products include our Foam Away-Defoamer, which prevents foam buildup from harming your cleaning machines, or Pet Pro Carpet and Upholstery Pet Stain and Enzyme Remover, another deodorizing cleaner for pet messes and smells.
You can also use our carpet cleaning products for specific uses, such as stain removers for getting rid of tough, caked-on stains like pet waste or vomit.
Grow a Successful Carpet Cleaning Business With DryMaster Systems
DryMaster Systems offers resources to those who want to or have just started a carpet cleaning business to grow their company and succeed. We provide multiple resources for carpet cleaners, including helpful information about starting a carpet cleaning business, carpet cleaning cost guides, and marketing materials to help you sell your services.
We also offer high-quality carpet cleaning solutions and equipment so you can get the job done right. Contact DryMaster today to learn more about becoming an affiliate, or visit our online store to view tools, accessories, equipment, and cleaning products to elevate your business.