Your Carpet Cleaner Cleans the Top, But Your Dog Didn't Pee on Top | Vital Clean, by VITAL CLEAN CARPET CLEANING on YouTube. 2 min 34 s.
- Video length
- 2 min 34 s
- Time to do it
- 2 hours plus 24 hours drying
- Difficulty
- Medium
- Steps
- 9
What you need
Steps
Find out how deep the urine went. Fold a white towel over the spot and stand on it. If the towel smells or the wet patch reaches the backing, the pad is soaked and surface cleaning will not fix it.
Lift the carpet at a corner or seam near the stain and check the pad. Pad that is soaked through, crumbling or stained dark should be cut out and replaced rather than cleaned.
Spray enzyme-based pet urine cleaner onto the spot and work it into the backing and pad. Use enough to reach where the urine travelled, not just a light mist on the fibres.
Let the cleaner dwell for the time on the label, usually 10 to 15 minutes. This gives the enzymes time to break down the uric acid crystals that cause the smell.
Extract from underneath. Push a subsurface tool or a wet dry vacuum crevice nozzle tight against the carpet while a helper injects clean water under the backing, then pull the dirty water out from below.
Rinse with clean water and repeat the extraction until the water you pull out runs clear. Work in overlapping passes so you do not miss the edges of the stain.
Dry the area fast. Run a box fan and a dehumidifier over the spot for 12 to 24 hours and keep the room ventilated. Damp padding grows mould and the smell comes back.
Smell the spot once it is fully dry. If odour remains, replace that section of pad and seal the subfloor with an enzyme treatment or a shellac-based sealer before refitting the carpet.
Call a restoration cleaner with subsurface extraction gear if the stain covers a large area, has been there for months, or has soaked into the subfloor.
Tips and common mistakes
Skip steam and very hot water on urine spots, because heat can set the smell and make it harder to remove.
Test any cleaner on a hidden patch of carpet first to check it does not change the colour.
Regular carpet cleaning only reaches the top of the pile, so the smell returns within days if the pad is still contaminated.
Wear gloves and keep the room ventilated, and never mix bleach with ammonia-based cleaners.
Questions
Why does the dog pee smell come back after cleaning?
Because the urine soaked past the carpet fibres into the backing and pad. Cleaning the surface leaves the uric acid crystals underneath, and they reactivate whenever the carpet gets damp.
Do I always have to replace the carpet pad?
No. A fresh stain on a small area can often be flushed and extracted from beneath. Pad that is soaked through, falling apart or badly stained is usually cheaper and faster to cut out and replace.
Can I do subsurface extraction without a Water Claw?
You can get close with a wet dry vacuum and a crevice nozzle pressed hard against the carpet while someone injects clean water under the backing. A dedicated subsurface tool does a deeper and faster job on large stains.
This guide was drafted from the video's details and general task knowledge. It has not been checked against the full video. Check the video and relevant product instructions before following a procedure. Report a correction.
