Need tips to dry wet spot on carpet

[Jerry.Tan]

We managed to dump about a half gallon of water on a carpet floor today. It's just water so it's not gonna stain or anything, but the carpet is fairly thick and has foam padding under it. My main concern is that it dont swell the particle board floor under it. The wet spot is about one sq. ft in size.

I dont have a wet-dry shop vac, or I would have used that. I laid dry towels on it and stepped them into the spot. Then used more towels and repeated a few more times.

Since then I have been using a heat gun on the spot. moving it quickly so I dont burn the carpet. It's partly dry at the surface but I can tell the padding is still wet.

Just thought I'd post this to see if anyone has other tips...

(No, I'm not gonna remove the carpet).

Thanks

[Norminn]

It will be a crappy mess if the particle board comes apart, and it doesn't take long. A shop vac would be a very worthwhile investment. Everybody has them...borrow from a neighbor? We rented a high-power vac when a washer hose let go and flooded our kitchen and dining room. Dining room rug was soaked and about 1" of standing water in kitchen....the rug was dry within 24 hrs., but I was able to lay some pvc pipes under it to help aerate, then kept fan going.

I repainted the trim in our DR after we had tile installed on floors. When I repainted, I caulked the gap along bottom of baseboard, mostly so that the bb did not soak up water if I mopped the tile. It was a worthwhile effort because it helped contain our flood.

[Stormin Mormon]

Winter time, the air is already dry. Put out a couple fans, and keep the air circulating. That's my first thought. Maybe a neighbor or friend has either a wet vac or a carpet extractor you can borrow for this incident. By the next day, any soak in damage is likely done and can't be reversed.

- . Christopher A. Young learn more about Jesus .

. .

[trader_4]

Agree. Just get a fan and keep it aimed at the carpet. With dry air moving past the carpet, it will dry out fast. Shop vac would be good if you had it initially or if there was standing water. But by now the water has spread out, dispersed and I doubt a vac is going to do much good.

[Meanie]

I didn't realize carpeting was laid under bridges.

[notbob]

You've done all you can do and that's more than enough for water. No need to worry about a wet under pad. I've used the towel/foot method to remove freshly spilled red wine completely out of a white carpet using this very effective technique, so I know it works. I also have a hoover rug cleaner and have used commercial units. If the top of the rug is dry to the touch, good enough. The under pad will dry out in time.

nb

[Jerry.Tan]

By now, there is no standing water, like you said. It is drying, and I have been using that heat gun every 20 minutes or so (when I'm in the house). The surface drys, but that water comes back up and the carpet is once again damp. I am going to run a fan now. that way it will keep drying, not just whane I run the heat gun.

I do have a "Shop Vac", but it's only for DRY use (as far as I know). It dont say "wet" anywhere on it. I bought it at a garage sale, so I dont have any instructions. But that really dont matter anymore now.

[wstiefer]

WAG - Heat it, pour a couple pounds dried rice on it, cover it with plastic and let it sit a day.

[Jerry.Tan]

That sounds like some useful advice. I've heard about putting a wet cellphone in rice. Why not the carpet. I'm going to do this. The carpet is pretty dry now, but I can tell there is still moisture in the pad under it.

Thanks

[Tekkie®]

Meanie posted for all of us...

Sure, Obama did it as part of "shovel ready" so the folks wouldn't apply for jobs and the not looking for work people aren't counted in unemployment figures. They were gonna get Barcoloungers but big O sent them to ISIS so they would like us.

[Norminn]

And if the rice soaks up so much water it turns to mush, then what?

[Jerry.Tan]

I began to think about that....

Using the fan, and several more times using that heat gun, seems to have it pretty dry. I'm just gonna let the fan run over night and I think it will be good. I just ran the vaccuum cleaner over it to lift the top furry part of the carpet. That say more air can get to the lower part.

[Stormin Mormon]

Dehumidifier uses a bit of electricity. Might be cheaper than floor repairs.

- . Christopher A. Young learn more about Jesus .

. .

[Stormin Mormon]

Call the Chinese family with the dog that likes to eat off the floor. You know; Pug Dum Mut.

- . Christopher A. Young learn more about Jesus .

. .

[Tony Hwang]

Hi, Rent a carpet steam cleaner and use it's vacuum to suck up as much water as you can. And point a potable heater with fan/lo heat on the wet area. Hope sub floor is not particle board. Good luck.

[Ameri-Clean]

On Friday, March 6, 2015 at 10:32:14 PM UTC-6, [e-mail] wrot e:

The problem is mostly with the padding, which will be the last to dry. Your Shop Vac may work for water if the inside pipe deflects away from the moto r. Remove any cloth or paper filter first. Google the model and see what th e mfr. says. You should hope to get the padding dry within 3 days before mo ld and mildew set in. You may also have a stain from the spill; although on ly clean water, it will wick up soil from the subsurface as it dries. It ma y also leave a white outline from mineral deposits if you have hard water. To avoid wicking of soil you can put down a thick layer of white towels and put a weight on it; then the soil will wick into the towels. The cleaner y our carpet the less the problem with wicking.

In the meantime keep applying dry towels and standing on them until no more water comes up.

[makolber]

All good ideas... Heat Dry moving air Rice

But covering with plastic, not a good idea

Mark

[Jerry.Tan]

It's dry. It took a few days, and a fan, and numerous times running a heat gun over it. Thanks for all the advice!