Carpet padding
Padding is the cushion under the carpet that affects comfort and carpet life — and it is where pet urine soaks and hides. Surface cleaning never reaches the pad; deep urine requires high-pressure injection into the padding, or in severe cases, replacement of the pad and sealing of the subfloor.
What it is actually for
Padding is not there for comfort alone. It absorbs the impact of every footstep that would otherwise be taken by the carpet backing, which is a large part of why a carpet over good padding outlasts the same carpet over cheap padding.
Density matters more than thickness. A thick, soft pad lets the carpet flex too far with each step and works the backing loose over time.
It is also the reservoir
This is the part that matters most to anybody with animals. Urine does not sit on the carpet — it passes through the face fibre, through the primary and secondary backing, and soaks into the pad. On a large or repeated accident it reaches the subfloor and wicks into the seams.
What you see at the surface is the smallest part of the deposit. Older ones frequently leave no visible mark at all while remaining fully active underneath, which is why a blacklight in a darkened room comes before any water goes down.
The odour is produced by bacteria feeding on the organic material down there, and humidity reactivates it. That is the whole reason the smell comes back on a wet day months after somebody cleaned the carpet.
What reaches it, and what does not
A surface pass cannot. Neither can any method designed to keep moisture out of the backing — that design is the reason those methods dry in about an hour, and it is not a defect.
Spiker injects enzyme solution into the pad at around 700 to 800 PSI to saturate the pad and the subfloor beneath, then flushes until the recovery water runs clear and lets the enzymes work. That is an attempt, and we never guarantee a result on pet urine.
When the pad has to go
Sometimes it does. Heavy repeated contamination in one area saturates the pad and affects the subfloor, and at that point replacement and sealing is the honest answer rather than another treatment.
Spiker does not pull carpet, replace padding or seal subfloors — that is construction work for an installation or restoration company. We will say so plainly rather than keep taking money to try again. And do not pay for that work while the same animals are still marking the same floor: a flood and flush is the right call until the source is dealt with.
The follow-up
questions.
Considerably. The pad absorbs impact that would otherwise be taken by the carpet backing. Density matters more than thickness — too soft and the carpet flexes too far with every step.
It can be treated, though never with certainty. Enzyme solution injected at pressure saturates the pad and subfloor and is flushed until the rinse runs clear. Whether that is enough depends on how long and how often the deposit went down, and nobody can tell from the surface.
When contamination is heavy and repeated in one area, saturating the pad and reaching the subfloor. At that point sealing and replacement is the honest answer — and it is construction work, not cleaning.
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