A common objection about cats is their tendency to use carpets instead of litter boxes for elimination. The proof shows that cats are not entirely responsible. A study was presented at the 100th General Meeting of the American Society for Microbiology showing the degradation caused by microbes as the cause of stinky carpets.

Researchers at Calgon Performance Chemical Group in Pittsburgh, PA, named Jodi Martin and J. Joyce, were interested in studying the cause of cat urine in new carpets. The hypothesis presented was that the odour could be due to the degradation of carpet backing by microbes or due to the use of chemicals in carpet backing. Later, the lab findings proved that microbial degradation is the cause of stinky carpets.

New carpets smell like cat urine, and the researchers wanted to find the reason behind the cat urine smell. Microbes break down the materials in use for carpet manufacture, thus causing biodegradation. Most of the microbes produce awful-smelling byproducts. The researchers used a standard method to isolate bacteria and found bacteria that showed growth in the latex backing of the carpet. These bacteria are of different types and show growth in the presence and absence of oxygen. They produce butyric acid, a weak acid that causes the carpet to stink. However, this acid causes no harm to the carpet.

Mostly, the disinfectants kill the harmful bacteria, but these bacteria are resistant to the disinfectants and survive in the carpet backing. This problem has no convenient way out. The addition of a different disinfectant will cause harm to the latex manufacturing process. Most of these bacteria are anaerobes and can be destroyed by blowing air into the carpet.

Carpets can harbour harmful bacteria, including dust mites, which are harmful to both children and adults. They can cause influenza. It is possible to kill harmful bacteria by using professional carpet cleaning. The use of ample light and air can help destroy these bacteria.

Methods to remove odour

Odour-causing bacteria and the odour itself cause aesthetic and health problems. It is necessary to remove malodours and their sources to make our hospitals, offices, clinics, and schools clean. The action of some volatile compounds on the olfactory system produces an odour response. A very low concentration of some compounds produces an odour response. There are many methods to control odour:

Positive fragrances can mask the malodours and provide a pleasing response to the olfactory system. A chemical reaction can be created with the volatile compounds to produce a pleasant response. The olfactory system can be anaesthetised with a chemical that interferes with the olfactory system. Reaction with volatile compounds to prevent them from coming to the nose through vapours. The organics can be broken down into simple substances that produce no odour as a result. The first three conditions do not eliminate the disastrous effects, while the last one eliminates the harmful effects.

Now, microbial products are created with the advent of biotechnology. In the case of the use of microbial products, specialised microbes penetrate the surfaces and consume the organics. Spores are activated to form the vegetative cells. When the organics are consumed, the microbes again break up. About 5 percent of these microbes can again form inactive spores. There is no other technology that works so well like the use of microbial products. Specific microbes act on the source of organics and prevent it from returning.

The cleaning of carpets can be performed efficiently by using microbial technology. In case of spillage, the organics seep into the backing and stuffing of carpet and also reach the pores on wooden floors. The surfaces can be cleaned with the surface cleaning agents, but the residual organics cannot be removed. The microbial products follow organics in the “micro niches” or pores. It can also be sprayed on garbage to remove the residual organics.

Additional applications for microbial odour control include:

  • Dumpster areas.
  • Animal containment areas.
  • Diaper pails.
  • Garbage chutes.
  • Dirty linen collection areas.
  • Subways.
  • Public restrooms.
  • Kitchen floors.

A carpet is one of the biggest odour-trapping materials in the home. It is a thick, lush mat that gets dirty easily and is hard to clean and keep free from odors. Now, odour-neutralising carpets are being created by manufacturers using silver ions. For many years, the makers of air fresheners and room deodorisers were the key players in the odour treatment business. But now textile manufacturers have also started to create odour repellents by re-engineering homes’s most odour-absorbing materials. Among the latest technologies are fabrics treated with bacteria-killing silver ions, upholstery its maker says is woven so tightly that smells can't get in, and even drapery embedded with the same sort of enzymes found in yoghurt.

Odour control by bacteria

Carpet is used commonly in houses in commercial areas because it is not very expensive and can be easily installed. Carpet gives aesthetics, durability, warmth, comfort, quietness, and safety. Carpet is now available in any colour and pattern by using modern techniques of manufacturing and dyeing. A manufacturing technique involves the insertion of plied yarn into jute or polypropylene fibres, dyeing them, and then using latex binding adhesive, which sticks to secondary backing material.

Carpet fibres like nylon and polypropylene can get stains from food dyes and many other chemicals. Stain blockers are used for nylon carpet fibres like sulfonated naphthol formaldehyde condensate polymer, sulfonated phenol-formaldehyde condensate polymer, a hydrolysed vinyl aromatic maleic anhydride polymer, and other combinations. Carpets can be coated with a flourochemical anti-soiling agent to develop the anti-staining characteristics of the soil. The tendency of soil or spills to adhere to the carpet gets decreased by the use of fluoro-chemicals. Fibre-wet ability is also reduced by using fluorochemicals, which makes it easier to clean up the spills.

Deposit materials like faeces also support the growth of bacteria. Bacteria growing in the moulds can cause disease in exposed persons, like moulds and mildew. Naturally occurring bacteria are also common in carpets and other fibrous materials. Odour can come from incomplete digestion of organic material by bacteria. Many antimicrobials can be used to reduce the number of bacteria in carpet. Antimicrobials can decrease the number of bacteria but can make the bacteria resistant to the use of antimicrobials.

Bacterial and fungal strains that produce enzymes can digest organic material. The presence of organic material can give malodour, which necessitates the use of these bacteria. Numerous strains of bacterial and fungal-like Bacillus, Lactobacillus, Nitrosomonas, Nitrobacter, Pseudomonas, Alcalis, and Klebsiella, Enterobacter, Streptococcus, Rhizopus, Nitrosomonas, etc., are in use for the digestion of organic material. Bacillus species are among the most common of these microbes used for digestion.

The method aids in the digestion of organic material left on carpet and other fibrous material. A preparation of dormant bacteria can be applied to the carpet. These bacteria can become activated and digest the material. The carpet is covered with this preparation of dormant bacteria; these bacteria digest the organic material and clean the carpet.

In another aspect of the invention, there is a composition for treating a fabric or fibrous material to provide control of odour associated with deposits of organic odour-causing material on the fabric or fibrous material. The composition comprises one or more strains of dormant bacteria, which, when activated, are effective in controlling odors. The invention can also control odours by using a combination of stain-blocker chemicals and odour-controlling bacteria. This controls the malodours arising in the carpet.

Summary

  1. Cat is not entirely to blame for cat urine smell from the carpet.
  2. A study was presented that pointed to microbiological degradation as the cause for the stinky carpet.
  3. Microbes cause biodeterioration and produce butyric acid, which produces cat urine smell.
  4. They are disinfectant resistant.
  5. Odours can be controlled by masking the malodour, chemically reacting with odorous volatile compounds, anaesthetizing the olfactory system, and breaking down the organics.
  6. Odour-neutralising carpet is being developed.