Some homeowners often find themselves unsure about what they should do when their carpets are accidentally over-saturated with liquids, such as when a pot of coffee overturns on a carpet. This article discusses some of the measures that can help you to deal with that excess moisture that has found its way into carpeting.
Use a Heater
One way to increase the speed at which excess moisture can be removed from the carpet is by making the air around the wet carpet warmer. Warm air has a higher capacity to contain more moisture when compared to cool air. Using a heater will, therefore, increase the moisture-holding capacity of the air. It will then be possible for more moisture to be absorbed from the wet carpet by the air around it.
Use an Air Mover
It is not enough for you to place a heater in the room and wait for your carpet to dry. The drying process can be accelerated by making use of an air mover, such as a fan. The air mover will increase the rate at which air is moving across the surface of the carpet to absorb the moisture within that carpet. Use as many air movers as the situation requires. For example, you can position a fan every 10-feet along the hallway after a carpet flooding event.
Use a Dehumidifier
Another way to ensure that your carpet will dry in the shortest time possible is by making use of a dehumidifier. That device will extract the moisture that has been absorbed by the heated air around your over-saturated carpets. This moisture extraction will give the air the capacity to absorb even more moisture from the carpet so that the drying time is reduced further. You can consider starting the dehumidifier early before you begin using a moisture extractor, such as a wet or dry vacuum cleaner. This early start may be needed for those dehumidifiers that take long to start doing their work.
Get a Moisture Probe
Appearances can be deceptive. You may halt the drying process when some segments of the carpet, such as the padding, are still wet. A moisture probe can help you to ascertain whether all the carpeting has dried before you make a mistake of putting an end to the measures that were intended to remove the excess moisture from the carpets.
Consider hiring professional carpet cleaners in case you don't have the skills or equipment to deal with the over-saturation of moisture in your carpets.
