Who likes walking on a wet sticky carpet? I bet no one! Yet it happens so many times that our carpet gets wet because of the cleaning, flood, or just because of the high humidity in the room. In this post, I will share tips on how to quickly dry the wet carpet after these accidents and how to prevent the damage from happening. Read on, I hope you’ll enjoy it.
As you know from our other posts, carpet cleaning involves using liquid shampooing solutions. When you rinse the carpet after them, it will inevitably get wet. It’s better to plan beforehand how you will dry the carpet after the cleaning. Luckily for you, I know five effective methods to deal with this problem fast.
How to Dry Carpet Fast – 5 Effective Methods
1. Creating Air Flow
In my opinion, this is the most effective and natural drying solution. Unless your carpet is located in a closed room without any windows, creating an airflow shouldn’t be hard. If you have windows in the room, open them wide and let the fresh air in. The circulation of air will create ventilation which will speed up the carpet drying. Plus, it will help to quickly get rid of the bad smells. If you’re lucky and the weather is warm and sunny, creating an airflow with open windows is the best solution. However, if it’s raining, it’s not the best option. A humid environment coming into the room can only worsen the situation.
2. How To Dry Carpet Fast After Cleaning Using A Fan
The second option of fast cleaning is not dependent on the weather. For this, you will need either a fan if you have it installed on the ceiling, or a standing or desk fan. Using a fan it’s a great option because you can control where it blows. It will create a nice circulation of air and the carpet will dry equally. Heat-emitting household appliances can also be used to dry carpets. For example, hairdryers, heaters, and fan heaters. Unfortunately, with a large area of wetting, drying the carpet with household appliances takes a lot of time, but this option is quite budget-friendly. But do not forget that you cannot bring the carpet too close to the hot air, because you can damage it.
3. How To Dry A Carpet After Cleaning with Air-Conditioning
If you have air conditioning installed in the apartment you’re even luckier. It’s a good option even for rainy days since the air coming from the air-conditioning is already dried, and you can regulate the temperature which you would like to blow on the carpet. The air that comes from the wall air-conditioning doesn’t circulate that much but it will be enough to dry the whole room and for you to reach the goal.
4. How To Dry A Carpet After Cleaning by Blowing The Carpet Dry
This method uses a fan or a blower. It is not that effective compared to the methods above, but it can be used as an alternative. Plus, you can use it in addition to the methods above. I would say this method is good for drying small areas of the carpet.
5. How to Dry a Wet Carpet With Baking Soda
Well… this is not a standalone drying method, but rather a technique to combine drying with fungus prevention. If your carpet got wet because of the cleaning, it may quickly develop mold and mildew. Even a few days will be enough for the carpet to get totally destroyed by this fungus. That’s why you should deal with the problem as soon as possible, dry the carpet, and prevent it from happening.
Step 1
First of all, you should go with the wet vacuum on top of the wet carpet area and try to correct as much moisture as possible. Run the vacuum until no more water comes out if you press on the carpet.
Step 2
After that, you should apply baking soda powder to the wet carpet area. Make sure that soda completely covers the fibers. After that, leave the soda on the carpet for around a day, it has to sit in.
Step 3
After the time has passed, vacuum the carpet and remove the dry soda from the carpet.
Step 4
This should help to remove any unpleasant odors caused by the flooding.
How to Dry Carpet After the Flood
Incidents happen and if for some reason your carpet got wet you shouldn’t panic just yet. There are many ways you can dry it fast and save it from damage. Follow the process carefully, and your carpet will serve you for many more years after the misfortunate flooding.
Remove the Water
Start with removing the excess water that is sucked into carpet fibers and base. You can use different equipment for these tasks; it depends on how much water was spilled on the carpet. The most commonly used are wet/dry vacuum and submersible pumps.
What is a wet-dry vacuum?
This equipment has a strong suction in comparison to the regular vacuum cleaner. Because of a powerful motor and water filter, they can easily remove large amounts of water. These vacuum cleaners have a different nose attachment for working on different carpet areas. To remove the water from the carpet using a wet-dry vac you have to push the vacuum attachment into the carpet. It will help to ensure a nice suction from the base of the carpet where the majority of the water is located. If you don’t get your carpet wet regularly, it doesn’t pay off buying a wet/dry vac, so you can rent it from the local hardware store.
If you’re looking for a cheap and powerful option, I can recommend the 6-gallon wet dry vac by Stanley at Amazon. It costs just $89.47 and has powerful suction to remove any water spillage that would take hours to blot otherwise.
Dry with a Towel
After you remove the water with the vac, you have to proceed to remove it with the absorbent towel. Actually, any rug will do the work if it’s made of natural materials like cotton.
Let the Carpet Air Dry
After you have removed all the tangible water, it’s time to let the carpet air dry. To speed up the process, use a humidifier in the room, and create with the airflow. This will help to improve their water evaporation. In case you have a small area of the carpet you can do this with our usual hairdryer. Move the hairdryer back and forth along the wet area until dry.
Dry Carpet Because of High Humidity
Not all of us are lucky to live in the south and in a hot dry climate! (Just kidding). If you live in an area where rains are very common, your carpets may get wet even from the open windows. The best solution to this is the dehumidifier. You don’t even need to open the windows as with the method. The dehumidifier will work in a room without airflow. For the best effect, you can put this machine in the middle of the room where your humid carpet is located. Turn it on and let it do the job.
This is the simplest and most correct way to dry carpets, which, by the way, is also used for other household problems, for example, high humidity in an apartment, fungus formations, and drying building materials after the repairs.
With this method, your carpet will be dry even within a day.
How Fast Does the Mold Grow in a Wet Carpet?
To put a long story short it happens quite fast. In many cases, it will be enough for the carpet to be wet even for 24 hours for the fungus to start developing and growing.
During the first few days, the spores will colonize the carpet, and then after around a week, you will see visible changes on the carpet. How fast the mold grows on the carpet depends on the weather conditions, conditions in the home (such as humidity and temperature in the house), and the type of carpet that you have.
On average when the mold lands on the carpet it will start spreading in the moist area where the word part of the carpet will be most affected. A serious mold scenario can even destroy your carpet base materials, resulting in you having to change the carpet completely.
For this reason, you have to dry the carpet as fast as possible after the water damage has happened, don’t give the mold a chance to sit in.
Don’t forget to check out our previous post on how to get mold out of the carpet.
FAQs about How to Dry a Carpet
How to get water out of carpet
There are many ways to get the water out of the carpet, but some are more effective than others. My favorite and the most effective way is by using the wet vat (shop vac with a water filter). They are the smartest solution. First of all, they are cheap to rent or even to buy. You can use it to suck off as much water as you need, just start the process as soon as possible. These vacs have different attachments (noses) that you can experiment with. Try them on and see which one does the job better. They are generally very easy to use, but I recommend reading the manual before the first use, just like with any other house equipment.
How long does it take for carpet to dry
The drying process depends on a few factors. These are humidity in the room, how wet is the carpet, is it located on a sunny side, etc. In the table below, I’ve listed the approximate drying time for the different levels of carpet humidity. Hope this helps you to plan the job beforehand. These numbers are very approximate and may be different depending on where you live and what your carpet is made of.
| Carpet Drying Time | Carpet Humidity |
| 3 – 5 days | Flooded |
| 12 – 24 hours | Partially wet |
| 1 – 3 hours | Visually damp |
| 4 – 8 hours | After professional cleaning |
| 6 – 12 hours | After DIY cleaning |
| 2 – 4 hours | Steam cleaning |
What not to do when the carpet is wet
Wet carpet is a delicate material that is important to preserve. Therefore, if the carpet or carpet gets wet, you need to know what not to do:
- refrain from walking on wet surfaces, as the pile may crumple and you will not straighten it ever again;
- do not dry the carpet in direct sunlight, do it preferably in the shade;
- be sure to remove all the heavy objects and furniture from the wet carpet, otherwise, it will remain deformed forever;
How to Remove Damp Carpet Smell
This is a popular cleaning method that works not only for the damp smell but basically any smell. Baking soda is a great absorbent, that is a true lifesaver. If your carpet got soaked with water for some reason, even after the humidity is removed, your carpet may still have a musty odor. Baking soda absorbs that odor and any remains of the moisture.
To use it for removing a damp carpet smell, you will need the following items:
- Baking soda
- Broom or sponge
- Vacuum cleaner
- White vinegar
- Cleath towel
Start with sprinkling the baking soda powder on the carpet. Be generous, let it cover the fibers completely. Use a broom or a sponge to evenly spread it on the carpet and penetrate the pile. Leave the soda in the carpet overnight.
Remove the soda with a vacuum cleaner. Make sure you remove it completely, as the white residue will be very visible and crunchy.
Now it’s time to prevent the mold. Create a solution: 1 tablespoon of white vinegar mixed with 1 teaspoon of baking soda and 2 cups of water. Spray this solution on the carpet. Blot the carpet with a dry towel. Let the carpet air dry, and then vacuum it to remove the soda residue.
This simple process should be enough to remove the unpleasant damp smell from the carpet.
Conclusion
As you see, drying the carpet is not a difficult process, I would even say that it may be pleasuring. Looking at a dry carpet free of water stains and bad smells, what can be better? I hope the tips will help you in this process and now you’ll know how to dry wet carpets to save time and money.