Carpet gets wet by several reasons like leaking roof, overflowing sink or torrential rain. Whatever is the reason once you notice a damp carpet, you have to dry it immediately.
Wet Carpet must be dried quickly and thoroughly to prevent mildew and molding. Luckily, it is easy to dry wet carpet in less than 15 minutes. The following are 3 methods that will quickly dry your wet carpet.
- Spread several towels over the wet carpet. In bare feet, walk up and down the surface of the towels. When they are completely saturated, replace with dry towels. Repeat this process if any excess moisture remains.
- Vacuum the wet carpet with a wet/dry vacuum until no moisture remains. Before vacuuming, you can choose to spray a carpet cleaner over the surface. Afterwards, you will be left with a clean and dry carpet.
- Circulate the air around the carpet as fast as possible. Use household fans, hairdryers or ceiling fans to encourage the moisture to evaporate. Simultaneously, use any sponges you have in your home to absorb the excess moisture.
Molds grow abundantly in damp conditions. Humid atmosphere and contact with water enhances the rampant growth of molds and mildews. Some people put the heater on thinking that this would evaporate the water from the wet carpet. This actually does harm to the wet carpet and as a matter of fact molds reproduce fast at higher temperature. So, do not make any conscious attempt to warm the room.
Now with air conditioner chilling the room, there is no possibility of further mold growth at lower temperature on the wet carpet. Carpets come with padding at its base. The padding made of soft material absorbs moisture and water is collected inside this compartment. So, the carpet and the padding have to be dried properly. Expose both the padding as well as the carpet to drier. Any trace of water locked in between the carpet and pad should be extracted using floor blower, fan and dehumidifier.
If the padding has developed adamant stains, don't worry, this would go below the carpet and would be concealed. Check for any mold attack on the padding by visually inspecting for any patches, discoloration or smell it. If you find it musty, then mildew has set in and takes necessary steps to terminate the mildews in the padding. If the smell still persists, then you will have to get a new replacement and dispose this.
Whether you intend to dry the wet carpet or you give it to a professional company, do it fast.
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