Restoring your carpet
Unless it is indoor/outdoor carpet, drying it out isn’t something you think you’ll ever be concerned with, right? After all, why would your carpet get wet? Well, accidents happen, like the bathtub overfilling or a something gets spilled, requiring the carpet to be cleaned. Then there are catastrophes like a leak in the ceiling.
So, you see, the concern about carpet drying isn’t as far fetched as you may think. Just how long should carpet take to dry? Well, that is going to depend on why it is wet and then there are several factors to take into consideration surrounding the situation. Carpet drying from an overfilled bathtub, or a roof leak will take a little longer than from a carpet cleaning process.
Carpet drying depends on evaporation. This means that the moisture, which is leftover water, in the fibers must evaporate in order for the carpet drying to happen. So, dry air will get faster carpet drying and humid air will cause the carpet drying to take longer.
If you’ve just cleaned up an overflowing bathtub and you’re asking yourself, “why won’t my carpet dry?”, it is highly likely the bathroom has little to no air ventilation. The first thing you should do to aid in carpet drying is turn on the exhaust fan. If there isn’t an exhaust fan and it isn’t cold or wet outside, open any exterior window in the bathroom. The next step is drying carpet with dehumidifier.
Using a dehumidifier for carpet drying will remove any moisture in the air by converting the wet air in to into water. A dehumidifier has two systems with one being the inlet that draws the damp air in and an outlet that emits dry air. When the moisture in the air converts into water, it goes into a storage tank that is emptied. Replace the tank and repeat the process.
When dry air is emitted, the dry air evaporates more moisture, continuing the carpet drying. You should continue this process until there isn’t any moisture left in the air, which can take up to 12 hours for a 250 square foot bathroom.
What if you don’t have access to a dehumidifier, can you dry carpet using fan?
Knowing how to use a carpet drying fan, or an air mover as they are called in the business, is key in this type of carpet drying working. Remember, this will take patience because drying carpet isn’t just a matter of drying the surface. Remember, you are drying carpet and padding too in most cases. If the padding doesn’t get dried, the carpet will never thoroughly dry. Then you’ll have mildew, mold, and the odors that come with that issue.
An air mover, i.e., the big fan, lifts the moisture from the carpet fibers and dries the carpet fibers. When you have wet carpet, the only way for fast carpet drying is with the high speed of an air mover. Professional water extraction process will have one air mover blowing under the carpet and one blowing over the top.
One of the best things you can do for small to medium sized areas of carpet drying to take care of is a combination of carpet drying fan with heat. The following steps will help you get your carpet drying done as quick as it can happen:
- Shop Vac Extraction: Extract as much water as you can with a shop vac, using the biggest attachment first then step down to the smallest. Create a good seal with the attachment by pushing down as hard as you can.
- Towel Absorbing: After extracting as much as possible with the shop vac, get a bunch of dry towels, lay one down on the wet area and walk across it to absorb more water. Remove the now wet towel, lay another dry towel, and repeat this process. Keep doing this with the towels until a towel is no longer wet after walking across it on the wet area.
- Moving Air with Heat: Place a fan or a box heater in place where it is blowing warm air across the wet carpet. If you have access to a dehumidifier, place it so that it the dry air it emits is blowing over the wet carpet by the fan. Turn the ceiling fan on to the highest setting possible.
Not all wet carpeting is soaking wet, sometimes it just moist, so how to dry moist carpet isn’t as entailed as these steps. The household wonder ingredient, baking soda, can be excellent way to dry a moist carpet, just follow these steps:
- Remove as much excess water as possible with dry towels or a shop vac, getting as down deep as you can into the carpet fibers.
- Sprinkle a large amount of baking soda over the wet area.
- Let the baking soda sit for up to 24 hours. The longer it sits, the more it will absorb the wet and any odor.
- Vacuum over the whole area and either throw away the bag or empty the vacuum canister so the baking soda doesn’t clog the vacuum.
- Run a fan of the area of carpet that was wet for a hour or so to get any linger dampness.
A professional service for carpet cleaning with drying will use commercial, professional carpet drying equipment that will leave your carpeting as dry as possible. It is important to ask the technician when the carpet will be safe to walk on so that footprints are left on your fresh clean carpet! They will often provide you disposable shoes wraps to put over your shoes for a period of time. Call (954) 548-5613 today for your carpet drying in Broward, Palm Beach, and Miami-Dade Counties, FL.