There are many instances where owing to deposits of organic material on surfaces, offensive odors can arise through the presence of the organic material or its decomposition. For example, much household waste contains organic material, which upon decomposition can give rise to offensive odors. This is particularly true where the household waste must be stored for a period of time prior to its disposal. Similarly, many fibrous materials utilized in household applications are also susceptible to soiling by organic based material, which can give rise to offensive odors. These fibrous materials include carpet, batting used for mattresses, pillow and pad, as well as other relatively porous surfaces encountered in the household or commercial environment.
Many fibrous materials, such as polypropylene and wool, and particularly nylon used in the manufacture of carpets, batting and household fabrics may be susceptible to staining especially from the many food dyes used in beverages and other foods as well as from other chemicals from many sources. Nylon carpet fibers are often treated with stain blockers such as a sulfonated phenol formaldehyde condensate polymer, a sulfonated naphthol formaldehyde condensate polymer, a hydrolyzed vinyl aromatic maleic anhydride polymer or combinations thereof. The stain blockers act to prevent or reduce the ability of organic dyes, particularly acid dye colorants from chemically reacting with and bonding to the nylon. The fibrous material, especially carpet fibers are also commonly coated with a fluorochemical anti-soiling agent to improve the anti-staining or anti-soiling characteristics of the carpet surface. The fluorochemicals reduce the tendency of soil to adhere to the fiber making the clean up of any spills or soil on the carpet easier. The fluorochemicals also reduce fiber wettability, making for easy clean up of liquid spills through a simple process of blotting the spill. Examples of such fluorochemicals and other stain resistant chemicals are given, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,680,212 and 4,925,707, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference. The use of the stain blockers and fluorochemicals may not provide complete stain resistance to the carpet, as some materials may still penetrate the nylon fibers or react with the fibers, especially if left in contact with the carpet for extended periods of time. This may be especially true where the carpet is exposed to conditions such as direct sunlight or other UV sources or high traffic areas, as these conditions may cause the effectiveness of the fluorochemical and stain blocker coatings to be diminished.
In addition, especially in residential locations, the possibility of deposits of organic matter such as feces or urine from babies and pets can result in not only soiling of fibrous and other porous materials such as carpets and bedding but also a lingering odor and may, in extreme cases, require the replacement of the soiled object. In the past, various chemical compounds have been proposed to aid in removing odor in a cleaning process. Such chemicals generally act as odor inhibiting agents although U.S. Pat. No. 4,946,672 describes the use of biguanidine polymer compositions as odor inhibiting agents. However, even in those cases where the deposit is cleaned up and odor inhibiting agents utilized, the odor from such deposits may remain in the soiled objects and may become apparent as the effect of the odor masking agents wear off.
Deposits of various materials on carpet and other fibrous materials may also give rise to other concerns. Many of the deposit materials are capable of supporting bacterial growth, especially in the case of feces which contains many bacteria. Some of the bacteria that may grow, as a result of a deposit, may have the potential of causing disease in persons exposed to them, such as mold and mildew. Carpet and other fibrous material are also known to contain a number of naturally occurring bacteria and other organisms. Some of these bacteria may themselves give rise to odor due to incomplete digestion of organic material. There have been attempts to reduce the presence and number of bacteria present in carpet by utilizing various anti-microbial agents such as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,110,504 and 5,024,840. These agents are applied to carpet in a manner similar to the way stain blockers are applied to carpet. The use of anti-microbials, while reducing the number of bacteria associated with carpet, may raise other concerns such as the potential that some of the bacteria may become resistant to effects of the anti-microbials.
Many bacterial and fungal genera are known for use in odor control due to their capability for producing enzymes that are capable of breaking down organic material. Such bacteria are particularly useful where the organic material, if allowed to remain, will give rise to malodors. Several such bacterial and fungal genera such as Bacillus, Lactobacillus, Enterobacter, Streptococcus, Rhizopus, Nitrosomonas, Nitrobacter, Pseudomonas, Alcaligens and Klebsiella, among others, are known for use in such applications with Bacillus sp. being the most prevalent in use in various applications.
For example, European Patent Application No. 732,396 describes the use of Bacillus sp. for odor control of feedstuffs used in farming and JP Patent Application No. 7-031,668 describes their use for odor control of toilets, shoe boxes and pet litter. Other uses of the Bacillus for odor control for baby diapers and wallpaper are described in JP Patent Application Nos. 2-121,665 and 3-059,199 respectively. Preparations of sporulated Bacillus in a form suitable for spraying or otherwise distributing on a deposit, especially of pet urine and feces, on a carpet for controlling odor are presently marketed by The Bramton Company of Dallas, Tex. under the trademark OUTRIGHT. The bacterial preparations are used to deodorize a deposit by application directly on the deposit. Once the deposit is deodorized, the bacteria are depleted from the site or disposed of along with the deodorized material. In the event of a new deposit on the carpet, the treatment must be repeated.
There thus remains a need for a means for treating surfaces, particularly carpet and other fibrous material to counteract the effects of deposits and especially for controlling odor associated with the deposits, particularly deposited organic material, where the effects of the odor control are preventative and long lasting.