FAQ

Our artificial grass cleaners are made for us in the UK using the highest quality ingredients to make them as effective as possible, as quickly as possible. The raw ingredients for our cleaners are expensive to buy. The raw materials for enzyme cleaners are particularly costly, but we use the best enzymes as we know you’re desperate to get rid of the pee pong. We have the cleaners tested, and their effectiveness certified by an independent forensic lab as we want them to be the best you can buy, and we’re here with advice and help, seven days a week.

We’re asked this question a lot, but although we give guidelines for the dilution rates of the WEE FREE Sub-base Soaker, there are no hard and fast rules. The enzyme cleaners contain live bio-enzymes that will eat the dog urine from underneath your artificial turf. These live enzymes need to come into contact with the dog urine to remove it completely. If your grass is very smelly, make a more concentrated mix so you have more live enzymes per watering can full of cleaner to be eating your dog urine.

Be guided by your nose! If your garden is smelling bad, or you’ve not cleaned it for a few weeks or months, make a stronger solution, Remember, that it does have to be diluted with water to become active, and that it then remains active for up to five days if it can be kept damp.

Old dog wee has formed a crispy coating that’s hard work for the enzymes to digest, so a stronger solution will be required. New dog wee is easier to remove, so you’ll need less cleaner in your solution.

We recommend that you do not use the WEE FREE Sub-base Soaker in a pump sprayer. We do not recommend that the WEE FREE is atomized, i.e. that the cleaner is pumped into the air as a fine mist.

Although the WEE FREE cleaner is very safe, it does contain a large number of live bio-enzymes that reproduce in warm, damp areas, like underneath your artificial grass or within your lungs. Also, the WEE FREE will not be hugely effective if atomized. The WEE FREE needs to be mixed with water and to be soaked into the grass. So, a fine mist of atomizing pump sprayer is not going to give you the best results.

The WEE FREE cleaner is a bio-enzymatic cleaner, which means that it’s made from live bio-organisms that replicate the bio-organisms in soil that would digest and break down waste matter. The job of the WEE FREE Sub-base Soaker is to digest and remove fecal matter or urine, from your artificial grass. It will also clean the grass and make it look cleaner and brighter. It does not kill germs, viruses or diseases, that’s not what it’s been designed to do. Its job is to remove odor by physically removing the nasty stuff that produces odor.

You would use the WEE FREE if you were struggling to remove dog urine odor from your artificial grass or if you have stains or bits of dog poo or bird poo within the artificial grass blades or a buildup of leaf mold and leaf matter. This is when the WEE FREE will be helpful because it will digest and remove all these unwanted particles.

he PIA Power Wash is a commercial strength disinfectant, and although kind to pets and children, its job is to instantly kill germs, viruses, and various pet and human diseases that can be found on your artificial grass. It will remove the odour, but PIA deodorises in a very different way to the WEE FREE, by killing odour-producing bacteria and rupturing odour molecules and killing germs. It does not remove the built up dog urine from underneath the artificial grass.

You would use the PIA Power Wash if you were concerned that the surface of your artificial grass was dirty or contaminated with bacteria. Say for example, after a dog had been ill, if you have puppies mixing with older dogs, if your garden had been visited contaminated by urban foxes or local cats, if you have small children that were playing on the garden after dogs had used it. Use PIA Power Wash is you feed raw dog food. It will kill salmonella, listeria and Campylobacter instantly, thus making the lawn safe for children to play on.

Top Dog Turf provide a professional artificial grass disinfection, and deodorizing service from our base in Milton Keynes. We cover a radius of up to 200 miles of Milton Keynes, but for people who live more than 100 miles away from Milton Keynes there may be wait of several weeks before we are in your area.

Our cleaning services start from £8 per square meter gardens of 100m2 for a deep enzyme clean: £12 per square meter for power brushing the lawn, applying ZeoStop odor reducing minerals, and deep enzyme cleaning the area.

Smaller lawns cost approximately £11 – £15 per m2 depending on the service required.

You may chose to have a ‘one off’ deep clean or a weekly visit. It’s up to you, just get in touch

If you’d like a quotation or to check that we offer our cleaning services in your area, please drop us an email at info@topdogturf.co.uk. Somebody in the office will be able to help you.

There are hundreds of artificial grasses on market. Choosing the right one for you and your dog is difficult … and confusing. It’s easy to make an expensive mistake. At Top Dog Turf, we recommend that you always add an odor reducing infill with any artificial grass that you buy. This will prevent dog urine going through the drainage holes in the grass and getting trapped underneath the lawn and smelling.

To allow for an odor reducing infill, we suggest that you buy a good quality grass with a minimum pile / blade height of 32 millimeters. Look for a grass that is dense and compact, but longer than 32 millimeters. Avoid grasses that look like uncut meadow grass with long tufts as you’ll you will need to pick up the worst dog poos on some occasions! That Boxing Day dog ‘turkey dinner’ poop is quite often the worst poop of the year. Look at the sample and ask yourself, ‘could I pick up a Boxing Day poop from this grass?”

We suggest that the best artificial grass for dogs has blades of an even and uniform height and a dense thatch. Thatch is the brown curly bits within the grass that holds the blades upright. When artificial grass is made, it’s the little brown bits, the thatch that are expensive. So, we would recommend that you get the best quality artificial grass that you can afford, which will usually mean that it has a denser, better quality thatch. At Top Dog Turf we supply a selection of the best polyurethane backed artificial grasses for dogs.

Top Dog Turf travel around the UK deodorizing artificial grass for dog owners. We see many hundreds of different types of artificial grass. Customers who have very short grass for their dogs find it impossible to use a odor reducing infill, and thus control the urine odor that’s coming from the grass. So, it’s for that reason, we do not recommend that you buy a grass shorter than 32 millimeters if you have a dog.

Top Dog Turf we only supply polyurethane backed artificial grass for dogs. We have chosen not to supply a latex backed grass for dogs. Standard latex backed artificial grass (grass with a thick rubberized backing) will absorb dog urine as it ages, cracks and degrades. The Polyurethane backing on our grass is a similar plastic to water bottles – nonabsorbent and inert. Dog urine will not become absorbed into the surface like it can potentially with a latex rubber and odour will be less of a problem.

The manufacturing process for polyurethane grasses is far more expensive than that of standard latex backed grass. Polyurethane backed grasses are relatively new to the UK market. And at present, there are very few suppliers. Due to the manufacturing process and the materials used, polyurethane backed grasses are generally a higher quality than many latex backed grasses, the polyurethane being a stronger and more resilient product.

We would suggest if you have large, heavy dogs or multiple dogs, that you use a grass with a slightly thicker blade and more structure, which will keep the grasses upright, looking better for longer.

For larger dogs we would recommend Best In Show, Pedigree, and the Top Dog 2019. These are all grasses that have a structure or a spine within the blade. Which will keep the blade upright, allow a greater infill volume of ZeoStop odor-reducing minerals, so that bigger dog wees can be absorbed and the odor removed before it becomes a problem.

The Champion grass or the Top Dog 2019 are both very nice grasses for families with small dogs or young children. Both these grasses are soft to the touch as the blades do not contain a spine. These grasses will require some brushing, as they may flatten over time.

Our grass rolls come in two-meter or four-meter wide rolls. And up to 25 meters in length. American grasses are 4.52 meters wide.

Yes! Standard artificial grass installations are great if you don’t have dogs. We would suggest that your artificial grass is installed in a way that allows for fast drainage and easy cleaning to help prevent a buildup of dog urine odor from your lawn and garden. Standard artificial grass installations generally have a layer of sharp sand screeded under the grass, and a layer of dried silica sand within the grass as an infill. Sand can trap dog urine and exacerbate urine odor problems.

Beneath the grass, sharp sand will remain damp, and the angular nature of the particles trap dog urine crystals, which are also sharp and angular in nature, locking into the sand, making them virtually impossible to remove, thus creating a terrible odor.

We are happy to advise you on installation methods and liaise with landscapers and artificial grass installers to help them install the best fast-draining system for dogs. Email us for an installation guide or more information.

Top Dog Turf do not install artificial grass. We specialise in the prevention of pet pee smells, and can supply you with everything you need to install and maintain your dog friendly lawn. Our friendly knowledgeable team are on hand to support you or your landscaper, to install our grass in the best way to prevent urine odor.

At Top Dog Turf we understand the science of smells! We work hard developing new products and methods of deodorising and installing artificial grass to keep your garden wee free. We prefer to leave the installation of artificial grass to the landscapers and grass-fitting companies.

Top Dog Turf supply dog friendly artificial grass and ZeoStop – odour reducing minerals to many installers across the UK. We are happy to pass on contact details if we know of anyone in your area, or liaise with your chosen professional. We recommend that you read this blog… and there’s a link to a blog post… and please feel free to get in touch if you need any advice or help finding an installer.

Dogs that dig and wreck gardens can be quite frustrating, and many pet owners choose not to have artificial grass because they worry that the dog will damage their new installation. We find that dogs do not usually tend to dig artificial grass.

Dogs dig in natural lawns for several reasons. Reason one, that they can smell interesting things under the grass and want to investigate. Some dog experts believe they can even hear some of the insects and creatures that are living under the lawn.

At certain times of the year, soil gives off very interesting smells as various bacteria start multiplying to signal the beginning of the growing season. Many dogs love these smells, and want to dig and investigate them.

Some dogs love to hide things and dig to bury uneaten food, save things for later.

Bored dogs will dig, dogs that are left unattended for long periods.

Dogs do not tend to dig artificial grass because the installation process contains a layer of agrifurt, which prevents any interesting smells. Dogs just do not find artificial grass that interesting.

Often, when artificial grass is being installed, a dog chooses to start digging in flower beds and destroying other areas of the garden. Unfortunately, that is a training issue, and not anything we can help you with. However, note, if you do have a young dog or a dog prone to digging, we would suggest that additional care is put on edging so that a bored dog does not pull up the edges of the grass, that the edges are very well, very firmly glued and attached to prevent a dog noticing a lifted edge and pulling and worrying at the edge, therefore damaging the grass in the installation.

Zeostop is a volcanic mineral formed when volcanic ash hits sea water. Top Dog Turf imports the best quality Zeostop, and we use it as an artificial grass infill and odor eliminator. Top Dog Turf’s Zeostop, is the best quality, and triple-sieved to remove as much dust as possible.

Zeostop is brushed into your artificial grass until it disappears between the blades, and it sits right at the base of the grass blades on the backing materials so that it cannot be seen. It absorbs dog urine like a sponge. When your dog wees on your grass, some of it will become stuck to the top of the grass blades, but most of the urine will flow to the bottom of the grass and sit on the backing. The Zeostop absorbs the dog urine and its hollow honeycomb center traps the ammonia and nitrates from the dog urine and holds it within its honeycomb center. It then prevents the ammonia and the nitrates from causing an odor.

Read more about it here:

When it rains, the Zeostop is cleaned by the rainwater via a process called ionic cation exchange. The smelly particles from the dog urine are then released into the atmosphere as a gas, and are then blown away by the wind. After rainfall, the Zeostop has been cleaned, and as it dries, it is ready to absorb more dog urine.

We suggest that you apply your Zeostop gradually, because occasionally it can be tricky to brush into to some grasses. Firstly, brush up or rake up your artificial grass so the grass blades are upright. This will make it easier for the Zeostop particles, (which look like a fine cat litter), to make their way through the grass to the grass backing. Using a Tupperware pot or a small bowl, take a bowl of Zeostop from the bulk bag and apply it over a meter square of lawn, careful not to apply too much in one place, gradually sprinkling the Zeostop evenly over an area, and using a stiff broom or grass rake, move the grass blades to allow the Zeostop to naturally fall into the bottom of the grass. Cover your entire lawn in this way, paying particular attention to areas of the lawn the dog urinates on more frequently, and after application, you can rinse the grass with water to remove the dust.

Zeostop will stick to wet grass blades. We recommend that you only apply Zeostop to dry grass. If Zeostop is used on wet grass, a dry, chalky residue will be left over the grass from the Zeostop sticking to the blades, and whilst these will do no harm to the grass or pets, it is unsightly and can be difficult to remove without active scrubbing.

Top Dog Turf Zeostop is a very high-quality, food grade material, and is 100% natural and safe. Zeolites are a natural forming mineral, and many zeolites are used in the food industry and pharmaceutical industries to remove heavy metals and toxins from the bloodstream in animals and humans.

You may buy up to four bags of Zeostop on our website shop with free shipping. However, for more than four bags of Zeostop, we would deliver on a pallet. We charge shipping at cost for orders larger than four bags of Zeostop that need to be sent on a pallet.

If you have bought your artificial grass from Top Tog Turf, it is easy for us to calculate the amount of Zeostop needed for your installation. If you are an existing customer, please contact our office. For other grasses, for new installations, we would suggest that between eight and ten kilos per square meter is used in new installations for laying below the grass and above the grass. For existing lawns, we would suggest between three kilos and five kilos per square meter applied to your lawn. The bigger dogs and the more dogs that you have, the more Zeostop that you will need. The amount of Zeostop that can be applied to your lawn will be governed by the length of your grass blades and the depth and quality of your grass. It’s not possible to get much Zeostop into short or sparse artificial grass, but we do suggest that you apply as much Zeostop as possible, especially if you do have large dogs with small gardens, which will result in a large volume of dog urine being present on the lawn at any one time.