Expert: Jahann and Sons Persian Rugs - 9/11/2009

Question
hello
how do you remove old animal urine stains out of a persian?
thx

Answer
Hi Paul,

Thank you for your question.  I'm sorry to hear about your rug!  If the stain is older, it is quite possible that what you have is no longer a stain, but rather, the area has been dyed by the contact of the urine.  In order to remove this, in most cases, you must use dye removers and treat the stain just like any other dye (www.ritdye.com sells some products).  You have to be careful of the colors underneath this stain, as these will be affected by dye remover as well.  

If you suspect that there may be traces of urine still in the rug, and not just a stain leftover, then before you do anything, you must flush the area with cold water.  Regardless of how well you treat a stain, if there are urine traces in the rug, the yellow may come back.  

Depending on the size of the stain and value of the rug, this may be something that you want to take to a professional.  Working with dyes is quite tricky and you may end up making it far worse.  It is so much harder to fix a botched stain removal than to remove the stain in the first place!

If you're in the Washington, DC area, we would be more than happy to help you with your rug.  If you have some photos you can email me, I'd be glad to give you some additional advice.  

Best of luck,
Katie ruglady@jahannandsons.com

Jahann and Sons Persian Rugs
4210 Howard Avenue
Kensington, MD 20895
301-530-6660