Why is it so difficult to remove odors from a piece of upholstery?
Here is the simplest reason:
In order to fully remove and/or destroy the odor causing material a technician has to make actual physical contact to the “stinky” material with detergents designed to eliminate mal-odors. The odor causing material is usually a liquid (urine, vomit milk etc)-these liquids roll down deep into the cushioned areas of a sofa which cannot be easily accessible. Once the foul material has had time to settle deep (possibly after repeated instances of contamination) a SAFE and effective method of saturating the upholstered item may not be possible-resulting in less than 100% odor removal.
When removing odors from area rugs, including antique Oriental rugs, it’s is usually possible for a trained technician to completely submerge the affected piece long enough to destroy the odor causing material. Once the odor has been eliminated followed by a thorough rinse and a speedy dry-down all is usually well.
Cat Urine Contamination
Not so with upholstery. The sofa in the above photo was contaminated with cat urine over several days. Because it is impossible to fully submerge a sofa in a decontamination bath technicians must spray detergents deep into the decking and wrapped pieces of the sofa. Usually it’s not feasible to make actual contact with the stuffing material in the inside back or arms rests of the piece.
Body fluids can penetrate deep into upholstery
As you can see from the photo above even with the loose seat cushions removed, there is still a great deal of stuffing material that has to be treated. Another consideration is the actual face fabric itself…some designer fabrics that we work with cannot withstand the aggressive decontamination treatment necessary for complete odor removal.
Questions about odor removal? Please contact us at 781-995-0683
"I LOVE WOOL!"
Shirley would love to hear from you. You can email her at shirley@regalclean.com or contact her on facebook
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