Act fast to preserve your carpet and avoid mold growth
A burst pipe, a backed-up drain, an internal sprinkler system, or a leaky appliance—there are many potential sources of water damage throughout your home. Regardless of what caused the flooding, it’s important to take action quickly to prevent structural damage and mold growth. But what do you do specifically if your carpet gets soaked?
Below, we’ll show you how to get water out of carpets before mold and mildew begin to spread.
Your carpet is expensive, and when it’s drenched in water, you’re rightly worried about taking action immediately. But before you begin trying to soak up the water and dry out the carpet, you need to figure out why the carpet is drenched in the first place—and take care of the issue.
It could be a broken appliance, flooding from a storm, a burst or leaky pipe, or something else entirely. But you’ll want to call up a local plumber or other relevant contractor to fix the issue as soon as possible. Until it’s fixed, you risk more water seeping into your carpet.
Knowing the source of the water damage—and thus the type of water—can also help you determine the right course of action. Three categories of water damage can affect your home:
Clean water: From rain or a busted pipe not connected to any appliances or mixed with any contaminants
Gray water: Contains cleaning chemicals or other contaminants from dishwashers and washing machines
Black water: Comes from sewage, toilet backflows, or nearby water sources in the event of a hurricane or severe storm, often in urban areas
If you have gray water or black water, you’ll need to scrap your old carpet, as it could be contaminated and pose a serious health risk for you and your family. In that case, you’ll want to file a homeowners insurance claim and begin budgeting for the cost to replace your carpet—anywhere from $775 to $2,800, depending on the extent of the damage.
After you’ve stopped the ongoing leaking or flooding, you can get to work drying out your carpet. Here’s how to get water out of your carpet in seven simple steps:
The first thing you’ll want to do is remove all your belongings from the room, including furniture. At this time, you can inspect your furniture to see if it’s been water-damaged. If it has, you’ll also need to make a plan to dry out and sanitize your furniture before mold begins to grow.
Note: We recommend wearing protective gloves while dealing with water damage. If you are sensitive to mildew, it’s a good idea to wear a face mask as well.
Use a wet/dry shop vacuum to suck up as much of the water from the carpet as possible. (Always remember to remove the collection bag and dry filter and install the wet filter, if applicable).
Don’t rush this step. It’s important to suck up as much water as possible, going over the same area repeatedly.
After you’ve thoroughly vacuumed up the water, use old towels to soak up any remaining moisture in the carpet. Apply as much pressure as possible to every inch of the towels to ensure they’re thoroughly sopping up the water.
Pro Tip: If you don’t own a wet vac, you can purchase or even rent one from a local home improvement store.
Next, sprinkle a liberal amount of baking soda all over the affected area of the carpet. Baking soda is great at soaking up water deep within your carpet and also doubles as a deodorizer for any resulting mildew smells.
Leave the baking soda on the carpet for at least an hour, if not longer, before vacuuming it up. Repeat this multiple times, as needed.
To dry out the water-damaged carpet further, you’ll need to create airflow in the room. Turn on any ceiling fans, open all the windows, and use box fans and pedestal fans to create airflow over the affected area.
Additionally, run a dehumidifier in the room. This is both a short-term and long-term solution. Even after the initial carpet restoration and water damage remediation throughout the room, you’ll want to run the dehumidifier for several months.
If you have a steam cleaner (or are willing to rent one), steam cleaning the carpet is a good idea to further sanitize it. You can also hire a local carpet steam cleaner to handle the job for you.
Alternatively, you can purchase an antibacterial carpet sanitizer to run through your carpet cleaner to further prevent the growth of mold and mildew.
In addition to the carpet, you should thoroughly sanitize any other surfaces that suffer from water damage.
If the water damage was extensive enough, it could have damaged the carpet padding or subfloor. You can use a carpet moisture reader (available at a hardware store) to detect the moisture level beneath your carpet or simply pull up a corner of the carpet to inspect what’s going on underneath.
If you’re not comfortable with the steps above—or if you determine that your carpet padding and/or subfloor were damaged during step 6—it’s time to stow away the wet vac and towels and call a professional water damage restoration company near you.
These companies can do more extensive remediation to your flooring, furniture, and any other parts of your home affected by the water damage. Teams can tackle both water damage and mold in their remediation.
Minor spills and leaks that get your carpet wet might be easy enough to tackle on your own. Spend the day using a wet vac, towels, baking soda, and fans to sop up the water and dry out the carpet—and don’t forget to sanitize.
But if there’s more extensive flooding, such that the carpet is highly drenched or the carpet padding and subfloor are at risk, you’ll definitely want to have a pro come tackle the issue. This is important both to prevent the spread of mold and to ensure the structural integrity of your floor.
On average, water damage restoration costs between $1,350 and $6,225, but depending on your policy, some of these costs may be covered by homeowners insurance.
The fastest way to soak up water in carpet is to use a wet/dry shop vac to suck up as much water as possible. Afterward, apply firm pressure to towels to sop up any remaining water, then liberally sprinkle baking soda over the carpet and let it sit for at least an hour before vacuuming it up. You can speed up the process by opening windows, using fans to create airflow, and running a dehumidifier.
Mold can grow quickly in wet carpet—in as little as 24 to 72 hours. That’s why it is crucial to take action immediately if there’s any water damage to your carpet. Remove as much water as possible with a shop vac and towels, then use baking soda to help remove moisture deep in the fibers. Always steam clean the carpet or use an antibacterial carpet sanitizer to kill any mold growth.
It takes 24 to 72 hours for water to evaporate out of the carpet if you use a wet vac and towels to soak up the majority of the moisture. Turn on fans and dehumidifiers to speed up the evaporation process after you have removed most of the water. The total length of time for the water to evaporate out of the carpet depends on how wet the carpet is, the type of carpet, and the thickness of the carpet.
