Carpet pad question

[SubyDude]

Hey guys, got a question for you.



I recently ran into an odor problem. The cargo area on a 4runner smelt of wet dog. The cargo floor mat was simple enough and even the floor carpet. But the tricky part is the carpet pad. The floor ccarpet is backed by rubber and glued to the rubber is carpet pad. Well somehow the smell was able permeate to the carpet pad. I`m guessing the dogs were wet and it ran under the carpet to the pad. Any suggestions on cleaning the pad? I treated it with valugard OT so perhaps that will be enough but I don`t think it will penetrate enough (at least not in one treatment). But for future jobs I am wondering if it would be ok to steam clean it. I was afraid that would ruin the glue bond, and also wasn`t sure how that loose/rough texture carpet pad would handle steam and extraction. Well if anyone has some tried and true methods or suggestions I`d love to hear about them.



Thanks!

[brwill2005]

I would tell the customer to throw it away and purchase a new one from the dealership. I do not see a good way to properly clean carpet padding. You could inject an odor removal product into the padding, but that would only be effective if you knew exactly where the spill was on the pad.

[SubyDude]

Fotunately they have decided to get rid of the car so I don`t have to contine on with it. But I could see having this issue in the future. So no good remedy you think? I agree with just replacing it, but with these folks, and many other dog owners, the dogs are often in the back so the problem could arise again. Replacing everytime would be out of the question. So I hope to find a good way to clean and deodorize carpet pad.

[salty]

I have done it a few times in the past. This is what i did.



Removed the carpet with pad. Cleaned an area on my shop floor or driveway. With garden hose cleaned the carpet side with cleaner and scrubbed then rinsed and then sprayed with enzyme or bacteria based deodorizer. You will have to extract carpet when back in vehicle.



For the padding i wet it with water and sprayed with above deodorizer. Let dry in the sun if possible and repeat until smell is gone. It usually took 3 or 4 tries before smell was gone so i had the carpet for days.



Or you could replace padding, try an upholstery shop.