One of the things that can often cause carpets to need replacing is water damage, but it is also true that if certain steps are taken, they can be given a reprieve. These can involve getting a professional cleaning company to rescue and restore your carpets, and you can also take steps yourself which can help with that objective.
A critical element of whatever actions you take is that you act as quickly as possible. Every minute that you delay or ponder what you are going to do, is a minute where the water is doing ever-increasing damage to your carpets.
To give you a head start just in case you unfortunately ever find yourself in this kind of situation, we have outlined several ways in which you can help protect and save your carpets from water damage.
The first objective is to remove as much of the water from the carpet as possible. Obviously, the more water there is, the more difficult this is going to be, but nevertheless it needs to be done.
The most common way is to use a wet/dry vacuum cleaner which will suck up the water which is within your carpet. If you do not own one, you can hire one, or most carpet cleaning companies are bound to have one if you employ to remove the water.
Once all the excess or flood water has been removed, you carpet is still going to be wet, so the next step is to attempt to dry it as much as possible.
This can be done using large fans, which you place in the rooms or rooms where the wet carpets are. Note, the fans should be left running 24 hours a day until the carpets are dry, so noise might be an issue for those in the house.
Special high-speed drying fans that get the job done even faster can be hired from tool rental stores, and, as you will not be surprised to learn, professional carpet cleaning companies will have them as well.
As an additional step in the drying process, it is recommended that you set up a dehumidifier in any room which has been affected. Although isn’t going to directly dry out the carpet, what it will do is remove any excess moisture which exists in the room and is thus slowing the drying process.
Also, if the water or flooding has also gone on to or into other items in the room, such as furniture, the dehumidifier will help to dry them quicker too. You may also want to keep air flowing through the room if possible, to help the drying process, and prevent odours.
Once you are satisfied everything is completely dry, you will want to assess whether or not your carpet padding or underlay needs to be replaced. By doing so you will ensure that carpet mould cannot build up, underneath the carpet.
Now you are ready to for your carpets to be steam cleaned. Steam cleaning them will not only remove any dirt and grime but more importantly, with respect to the water, it removes toxins and odours which may exist due to flooding.
Do not forget that as part of this cleaning process, you should be cleaning and sanitising any furniture, walls, and skirting boards which may also have been affected by water. The last thing you want is for your professionally cleaned carpet to have mould start building up, due to dampness on other items.
