The Best Way to Dry Flooded Carpets
It is a common problem indeed that often crops up in every household.
Dealing with wet flooded carpets, especially padding, is a situation that needs immediate attending, especially keeping health reasons in mind. Once mold starts developing in the carpet and padding, the best advice is to find a way to get rid of these bacteria laden furnishings. Mold is certain to pose various respiratory illnesses. It is understandable that one may feel frustrated at the cost of removing and replacing the floor coverings, especially the padding, in the long run you will be much better off.
The most important action taken to deal with wet flooded carpet is to locate the source and act quickly to stop the water. Depending on the humidity, temperature, and dew point levels will determine how quickly mold will develop which under ideal conditions is around 24-36 hours.
When you are working towards drying flooded carpets, do check into your homeowner's policy to see if it covers things like expenses to dry flooded carpets! There was an incident when a sump pump overflowed in the family room and the homeowner's policy covered getting the carpet professionally cleaned. So never forget to check the option out.
To get the smell out of your wet flooded carpet spread a considerable amount of baking soda on the carpet and leave it on there for a couple of days. Then vacuum it up. The smell should be gone. Works great and it's not one of those methods where the smell is just masked by perfume.
When your carpet is flooded, try to remove as much of the water as you can by using a Wet Vacuumizer. Then apply baking powder liberally to the carpet. As the powder absorbs the liquid, move it around with a broom to ensure the wetness has as much exposure to fresh sand as possible, until wetness is completely gone. The method works not just for wet flooded carpets but also for vomit, cat fur-balls, and animal accidents and so on, on any carpets, including auto carpets.