24/7 Emergency Service
What Do I Do About a Soaked Carpet? | SERVPRO® of East Lansing/Haslett
1/7/2021 (Permalink)
If you have water damage in your home due to a burst pipe or another cause, contact us right away; SERVPRO of East Lansing / Haslett is available 24/7
Sometimes water just happens. Maybe you go away on vacation and when you come back, you found your teenager left her window open the whole time. It was a rainy week, and now the carpet is soaked.
You wonder, “Can this carpet be saved? Can we dry it ourselves? How do we dry it ourselves?”
Luckily, SERVPRO has answers to these questions. Yes, many carpets that have been thoroughly saturated can be salvaged. Whether you can deal with yours on your own depends on one, how long it was wet and two, whether it was wet with contaminated water.
How Long Was Your Carpet Wet?
As soon as your carpet becomes wet, it starts changing. The fibers soak up moisture and the mold spores that are present begin to grow and spread. But chances are, if your carpet was soaked less than 48 hours then you can dry it yourself.
How do you dry a carpet?
You’ll need to manually remove as much water as possible. Press clean, dry towels into the carpet, then wring them out. Repeat when you can’t get more water up this way.
Create an atmosphere conducive to drying by opening windows, pointing fans at the carpet, and/or running a dehumidifier.
Keep removing water by running a wet/dry vacuum. As with the towels, run the vacuum, then empty the canister, and repeat until you can’t get more water out of the carpet.
Sprinkle it with baking soda or a commercial carpet disinfectant. Leave overnight before vacuuming up.
Was the Water Contaminated?
If sewage or other contaminated water got into your carpet—or if it was wet more than a couple of days—you’ll need to lift it, then clean, decontaminate and dry it before putting it back in place.
It is possible you can do this yourself, if you have the right equipment. You’ll need to take the carpet and pad up and thorough clean the floor under it. Then be sure to disinfect, shampoo or steam clean, and dry the carpet before laying it down again.
However, this can be a very unwieldy process. Your best bet in this situation is to reach out to a commercial cleaning and restoration company, such as SERVPRO. Very often, our talented technicians can help you remove mold and odors, destroy harmful microbes, and make your carpet usable again.
From emergency cleaning and restoration to routine disinfection, we’re there for you. Contact us at any hour for a consultation or immediate assistance.