To the naked eye, artificial turf might look the same superficially even if the installer and the products used differ drastically. Perhaps that’s a testament to how far the quality of synthetic turf products have come since the early adoption of Astroturf and similar “plastic-looking” products from the middle of the 20th century.
Underneath the surface, however, there are many different types of products used as infill, which is a part of the artificial turf that is unseen but plays no less of an important role in the management of water. For pet owners, the importance is even more pronounced, since the choice of infill must be safe and hygienic for you and your pupper, as well as being able to control for stains and odours from pet urine.
Which products are commonly used for infill in synthetic turf and which products are the best for dog-friendly synthetic turf?
Traditional Synthetic Turf Infill Products
Worldwide, some of the most popular infill products for synthetic turf have long been materials such as rubber crumb, silica sand, and thermoplastic elastomer pellets. While these materials have their place on decorative synthetic turf installations, some have known health hazards associated with them such as rubber crumb which is believed to be carcinogenic.
While some of these materials are fairly cheap and are often made with recycled tyres and other rubber waste, the possible hazards they can pose to people (and more especially, dogs) using the turf are not worth it.
Indeed, for many athletic surfaces, reputable synthetic turf installers have gradually begun to shift away from a rubber crumb for these reasons and are instead using more modern and safer infill products designed for performance, safety, and other factors (e.g. bounce for tennis courts).
ZeoFill Artificial Turf Infill
One of the most popular and suitable infill products for dog owners and kennel owners is ZeoFill, a 100% organic product that has been certified by Australian Certified Organic (ACO Certification Ltd). Australian ZeoFill contains no hazardous materials for dogs or their owners, and contains hard, approximately 300 million-year-old volcanic ash minerals that absorb ammonia coming from pet urine whilst emitting nitrogen.
In effect, the stains and odours that come from pet urine come from ammonia mixing with other substances or drying. As an aside, ammonia from urine on its own has long been historically valued as a laundry detergent, but it’s when the ammonia is left to dry (e.g. from a dog urinating in a corner of synthetic turf) that it can lead to stains and foul odours.
According to Michael from ZeoLite Australia, ZeoFill is also perfectly safe in the event that your dog chews or nibbles at it, although you may wish to correct this behaviour at some point with good training. ZeoFill is widely used for cattle and livestock as well, so it’s been thoroughly tested and performs superbly in all of its applications.
ZeoFill instantly works to stabilise the turf product whilst providing its invaluable benefits for dogs and dog owners alike. Moreover, ZeoFill is fully permeable, thereby allowing rainwater and urine to be wicked away underneath the turf.
K9 Grass
Learn more about ZeoFill and our many other synthetic turf products by dog owners and for dog owners at K9 Grass.