The need to dry wet carpet arises due to several different reasons. Some of the prominent reasons among them are:
- After a professional wash since the carpet tends to stay damp for about 10 hours or so even after drying
- Flooding has caused the carpet to get wet
- Washing a carpet in humid weather can make it feel damp for quite some time
- The cold and damp weather of winter makes the carpet feel damp
- Cleaning the carpet at home
- Accidental liquid spillage etc
It is necessary to dry the carpet properly as the space between the floor and the padding of the carpet can assist the growth of fungal infections like moulds and mildew. These are difficult to get rid of and cause deterioration of the air quality of the room thereby leading to respiratory distress, asthma etc.
While there are several ways of wet carpet drying, some of the most effective techniques are enumerated below with details.
Creating an airflow
By opening all the doors and windows of a room, a fresh airflow is created. This helps to dry up the carpet and relieve the room of musty and damp smells. If a room has two windows facing each other one needs to be fully opened and the other slightly open to create a very strong crosswind. This will dry up the carpet faster.
While this is a very effective method, it is still dependent on the weather and cannot be adopted in rainy or cloudy weather.
Using a fan
A strong concentrated air funnel is created if a fan is situated directly above the carpet. This airflow created by the ceiling fan helps to dry the carpet even if in moist and cloudy weather. Since it assists air circulation, all damp smells are effectively annihilated. In the absence of the ceiling fan, two table fans can also be used but they need to be placed across from each other to create a strong crosswind.
Using an air-conditioner
This method is neither as effective as using a ceiling or table fan nor is it cost-effective. Hence, this should be used as a last resort. Two drawbacks plague this method. They are the inability to provide a fresh environment and the air circulation created is not satisfactory. But in the absence of fans during the rainy season or on cloudy days, this is the only method available. It should then be adopted since keeping a moist carpet in the room can have disastrous consequences. When carpets are dried using the AC, they take much longer to dry.
Blow-drying the carpet
This method is generally adopted by professionals and dries the carpet quickly. But it is not as effective as the other methods mentioned above. The carpet remains slightly damp for anything between 10 and 24hours even after blow-drying. This dampness needs to be dried again using the above methods.
However, the best way to dry the carpet especially as an aftereffect of a flood restoration is to place it out in the sun on a warm and sunny day. The heat of the sun dries up the carpet effectively and kills all chances of fungal infections.