Need tips for drying very wet carpet.

[savidon]

Hi all ... I have been lurking here for several months and have picked up some good tips, but now I have a question that I could not really find the answer doing a search.



I had a leak in my car .. still working on figuring it out, but I was hoping to find some tips on getting the carpet dry. I tried towels and newspapers to blot it up, but it is taking forever because the carpet is pretty saturated. I also tried a shop vac, which seemed to work ok, but it also slow going. Maybe a hair dryer will work better?



Any other tips or ideas? I was thinking of maybe kitty litter or rice or something to soak up the water.



Thanks for the help.

 

[hondaguy2582]

Try the hair dryer, just don't get the carpet too hot.

 

[kartoon]

If you keep it in a garage, a heater should speed up the drying process.

The hair dryer could also help but if it's a large area it could get tedious.



:welcome to Autopia

 

[ALAN81]

if you can pull the seats get a big fan and aim it on the wet carpet make sure its lifted from underneath so the backing can dry

 

[flyinhigh]

It was flooded right?? Well sounds like it to me.that means you probably have alot of water sitting underneath the carpet itself.Most cars have insulation type material to block roadnoise and heat from the passengers ,this is most likely soaked also.

Like above find a way to take the carpet up some so you can asses what you are dealing with.Once the problem is understood the problem can be solved anyway I look at it ,I would take the carpet up and make sure it is dry underneath also.This wil prevent that nice mildew smell youll have in about a month

 

[mnbv]

take out your front seats, makes things easier. Were you cleaning it or was it in the rain?

 

[imported_Intel486]

How serious was the water?



You may have to pull seats out and pull the carpet out. The padding under the carpet may have soaked up a lot of water.



It is a lot of work but it's better than having your car get a mildew smell and have to replace the padding underneath.

 

[savidon]

Thanks for all the tips.



I actually got it pretty dried out using the shop vac to suck the heavy water out of the carpet and a leaf blower to dry it out.



It seems to be ok for the moment, but I am waiting to see if it reappears from below the carpet.



At this point, I think once I get it dried up sufficiently, I am going to get rid of the car.



Thanks for all the help.