Wet carpets from flooding and cleaning should be dried appropriately, or else risk mold and mildew growth. Here's how to dry carpet in a few easy steps.
There is nothing worse than having to deal with water getting into your carpet. Whether it’s due to a spillage, caused by a leak, or your entire room is flooded, drying a carpet can be a challenge.
Very often in these circumstances, as long as the water is not contaminated, it is possible to save a carpet that has been affected by water damage.
To be able to save your carpet, you’ll need to act fast. In this article, we’ll discuss how to dry a carpet.
How Long Will It Take to Dry Your Carpet?
Before you start to dry your carpet, you’ll want to know roughly how long it will take. The length of time it will take to dry the flooring depends on how much liquid it has retained.
If your carpet is flooded, then this will take between three and five days to dry out. If it is only partly wet, this could be anywhere between 12 and 24 hours.
If you’re carrying out a DIY carpet clean you should allow anywhere from six to 12 hours for your carpet to dry out. A professional clean, on the other hand, could dry in four to eight hours.
If you are steam cleaning your home, allow between two and four hours for this to dry.
If your carpet is damp, this should take between one and three hours to dry.
How to Tell if Your Carpet Needs Drying
There are some obvious times when your carpet will need to be dried out. For instance, you might have a leaking radiator, or you could have some minor flooding. There may be other times when your carpet is damp, but you can’t tell why.
Here are some signs that your carpet needs drying out:
- There is a musty smell around the area
- You get an allergic reaction when you are close to it
- The carpet feels damp to touch it even if it is not obvious from a distance
When you find that your carpet is damp, you should attempt to dry it out immediately.
Why Should You Dry Your Carpets Straight Away?
If you know that your carpet is wet or damp, you should always aim to dry it immediately. There are several reasons for this, these include:
- The dampness can soak through into the padding under your carpet
- Damp padding can lose its shape
- You could develop mold and mildew in your carpet
- You could develop respiratory problems from being around a damp carpet for extended periods of time
Luckily, if you dry your carpet quickly enough you will prevent all of these problems from occurring. To dry your carpet, you’ll need to use several techniques.
How to Dry a Carpet
Whether you are drying your carpet following a routine cleaning or after a flood, the principles are the same.
- Create airflow
- Remove the moisture with towels
- Vacuum up the moisture
- Use a dehumidifier to remove the moisture from the air
Here is a full breakdown of each step that you need to take.
Get the Air Circulating
The best way to help your carpets to dry is to get some air flowing in the room. If there are windows and doors in the room, make sure that they are open so that fresh air can circulate the room. Of course, this tip is weather permitting.
If you have a large standing fan, a ceiling fan, or an air conditioning unit, use it and point it in the direction of the affected area. You may be able to kick start the drying process using a blow-dryer, provided the damp areas are quite small.
Remove Moisture
If you have a considerable amount of water, you could use towels or a mop to try and soak up as much as you can. The more water you can get off the surface, the sooner it’ll dry.
Remember to wring out the towels or mop as often as you can, but do this into a bucket away from the flooded area.
If there is no serious volume of water, you should move on to using the wet-dry vac to remove the soaked in water.
Use a Wet-Dry Vac
Your next step should be to use a wet-dry vac to suck up the water that is on the carpet. This type of vac has strong suction and can be used to suck up almost anything. In addition to their strong motor, they also have a filter that allows them to suck up water.
You can use any wet-dry vac to vacuum up the moisture, however, you should make sure that it has a water-safe filter or one that is made from sponge and which allows it to take in water.
Starting with the largest attachment, you should begin vacuuming the floor. You will need to do this multiple times to get the best effect.
Once you’ve done this, move to the smaller attachments and make sure that you get into all of the corners that might be affected.
Use a Dehumidifier
Once you have the majority of the moisture out of the floor, you can use a dehumidifier to remove the rest of the moisture from the air.
If you don’t have a dehumidifier you could turn your air conditioning unit onto the highest setting as this will also take the moisture out of the air.
Replace Your Flooring
If too much damage has occurred on your flooring or you can't seem to find where that mold is hiding, you may need to reach out to the experts and replace your flooring.
At National Floors Direct we have a range of flooring options available. Get in touch today for more information, or a quote.
