Have you cleaned your carpet recently and are wondering why it isn’t drying? You’re asking yourself a very important (and common) question. If your carpet doesn’t dry, it could start growing mold or ruin your padding. And believe me, that’s something you don’t want!
Your carpet most likely isn’t drying because of excess of moisture in the air, because a lot of water was used during the cleaning, or a combination of both. Let’s take a deeper look into this problem and what you might need to do to solve it.
How Can You Dry Your Carpet Easily
You’ve cleaned your carpet, and are expecting guests tomorrow. However, you’ve just realized that your carpet isn’t drying. This is truly troublesome as your place will have a damp and awful smell, making everyone uncomfortable.
However, it’s no hassle if you’re aware of the ways to dry your carpet. Most of the time, seeping the moisture out of your carpet does the trick. In doing this, you can use vacuuming and placing your carpet under fans to help remove the moisture. However, there are several other methods alongside this one. Let’s dive deeper into it:
WARNING
BEWARE OF MOLD
Drying your carpet might be more important than you think! If you don’t do it right you could risk having a mold infestation at several places. You won’t even notice until the mold has spread in different spots. That is why you must get your carpet dried up effectively.
If in case you’re experiencing mold infestation, it’s better to call for mold remediation experts that will help minimize the spread. If you delay the process, it’s most likely that the mold will eat your carpet. It will also cause health issues and respiratory problems for you and your family.
But if you are experiencing a mold problem, perhaps these posts will help:
8 Methods to get Mold out of Carpet
These 8 Tips Will Help you Prevent Mold on Your Carpet
Different Types of Molds (and how dangerous they are)
Tip 1. Removing Moisture Adequately
Getting your carpet cleaned is your top priority. However, ensuring that it is dried effectively should be on your priority list too. There are several adverse circumstances that you will face if you don’t dry your carpet effectively. That is why removing moisture from your carpet adequately is highly necessary.
One of the simple ways to do this is to use wet vacs or wet vacuums. The market has several vacuum companies that manufacture vacuums suitable for water. You can use these to dry your carpet effectively and easily. All you need to do is to research the market for vacuums for drying carpets, and you’ll find a handsome list of products at reasonable rates. Or check our post on Best Vacuum Cleaners of 2022
Get yourself one if you plan of cleaning your carpets and rugs often.
Tip 2. Creating Air Flow
Another option that can assist you in drying your carpet after carpet-cleaning is by creating an airflow. Now you might be thinking that you will be needing industrial fans to dry your carpet.
However, that is not what is meant here. All you need is to give your carpet as much space as you can. For this, remove the furniture first. Most of the time your furniture often traps moisture from the air, especially your upholstery. This adds to the already existing moisture in the carpet, making it difficult for the moisture to escape.
That is why, make sure that when you’re cleaning and drying your carpet, place it in an airy place. This will help remove the moisture in the carpet effectively as well as in lesser time.
Tip 3. Replacing Carpet Padding
Another reason that your carpet isn’t drying is because of the saturation of water in your carpet padding. Carpet padding is a form of a spongy material or foam or rubber placed under the carpet. It is either glued or stapled which helps extend the life of your carpet.
During cleaning, the carpet padding can get saturated with high amounts of water. This results in an immense effort, ending up needing professional drying methods from carpet cleaners.
If you have to change your carpet padding or want to know more about why it’s so important, check out the following post! It’s the best online guide on Carpet Padding:
Carpet Padding Buying Guide: Everything in 1 HUGE Guide.
Padding is a huge part of buying a carpet. But it’s not easy to understand and many salespeople make it hard on purpose. This Ultimate Guide covers everything you need to make a buying decision.
Tip 4. Steam Cleaning
If you’ve managed to clean your carpet effectively without saturating the padding, and still it isn’t drying, then you might want to try out steam cleaning. Steam cleaning is an efficient way of drying clothes as well as carpets, and have been used by professionals too.
There are several advantages to using steam cleaning. One of the main perks is that it de-moisturizes your carpet effectively. The high temperature causes the moisture to evaporate instantly, leaving you with a well-dried and sleek carpet.
In addition, it is also effective in removing toxins, mold spores, and any deodorizing elements left after cleaning. That is why steam cleaning is also efficient since any leftover toxins or mold spores can wreak havoc on your carpet, damaging it permanently.
Tip 5. Using Baking Soda
Not only baking soda is effective in making wonders in your kitchen but its moisture absorbing abilities are truly fantastic, especially if you’ve cleaned your carpet. Using baking soda can help rinse off the remaining moisture from your carpet efficiently.
All you need to do is to sprinkle it on your carpet and it will soak up the remaining moisture in your carpet. Let it sit for about half an hour, and then vacuum it.
However, just ensure not to sprinkle it too much as it will take you more time cleaning all of it later. Save yourself the hassle and sprinkle a little amount where you find moisture spots evident.
Tip 6. Sanitizing the Room
This might seem odd, especially when you’re going through carpet drying. Well, it’s not. As highlighted earlier, your room and furniture trap moisture from the air. This moisture keeps the overall environment of your place. Placing a freshly cleaned carpet in such a place and expecting it to get dried is a bad option.
That is why you need to clean your walls and remove the remainder of the moisture from your place. In doing so, you can simply remove the furniture to help the carpet dry completely. Doing so, you should use sponges that will soak humidity and moisture from your walls. It’s better to remove your furniture to help minimize the total effort needed.
Tip 7. Setting Up Fans
The last thing you can do is to set up fans. No need to get industrial used fans or heavy duty fans for this purpose. All you need to do is to get your regular ceiling fans ready for the purpose.
While doing this, you can opt for additional drying methods too. This will assist your drying process and the fans will be able to cool your carpet in no time. Again ensure that the fans are centered on the visibly damp parts. Keep rotating your carpet to make airflow for the padding.
This will help rinse and dry moisture from all parts of the carpet seamlessly. Make sure to set your portable fans on damp areas and ceiling fans for equal drying of the carpet. Vacuum after specific intervals and you’ll be able to dry your carpet effectively.
Tip 8. Using a DeHumidifier
Using a de-humidifier is a great option, especially when you want to dry your carpet as well as get your place soaked out of the moisture. As evident from the name, a de-humidifier absorbs moisture from your place.
This leaves an airy atmosphere for your carpet to get dried effectively. Moreover, you can also opt for lifting the carpet using gripper rods. These rods help lift the carpet and create an airflow down it, making it easier for the padding to get dried.
This also minimizes the saturation of water in the padding, which if happens can cause complete replacement.
PRO TIP
MAKE YOUR CARPET DRYING HASSLE-FREE
When you’re drying the carpet, use water vacs to dry it up. Spread some baking soda on it and vacuum it again with intervals. Meanwhile, keep turning it upside down so that the padding doesn’t get saturated with water. In addition, keep the carpet in an airy room, turn on the fans and vacuum after hourly intervals. This will help in effectively drying the carpet.
If you want to know how carpet beetles spread then click here
Conclusion
Getting a refreshingly cleaned carpet can be easy. However, it is the drying that is the most difficult to handle. Several methods from using a vacuum cleaner to using baking soda and de-humidifier can help dry your carpet effectively and you will get a superbly cleaned carpet all ready to welcome you, your family and your guests. If you’re not opting for DIY, then searching for the “best carpet cleaners near me” will get you professionals near you.