How To Dry Carpet After Cleaning - Easy 5 Methods

A rug or a small carpet can easily be dried if you take them out and hang them till it dries completely. However, getting your wall-to-wall carpet dry can be quite a tedious job. And if you don’t do it soon enough, it starts to form molds and fungus. Don’t worry, we will talk about how to dry carpet after cleaning without causing any damage. We’re here to take you through all the steps and help you dry your carpets.

Why should you dry your carpet?

Before you get to know how to dry your carpets, let’s see why you should dry them and what happens if you don’t.

Whether you’ve cleaned it by yourself or given it to some cleaning agency, there will be some moisture left on the carpet that needs drying. If not dried entirely and allowed to sit in, the space between the carpet padding and the floor creates a dark, moist area that is liable to form mold and mildew.

This mold is a fungal infection that comes with a foul smell and, when left unnoticed, can ruin your floor and the carpet. The padding of the carpet is more like a sponge that absorbs moisture and keeps it locked inside. This leads to mold formation. When this mold mutilates, it has the ability to cause many infections, severe illnesses, and even breathing problems like asthma.

At that stage, getting rid of the mod can be quite problematic. You need to make sure to kill it completely; if not, it continues to multiply. If the mold has grown wider and you can’t seem to kill it, then opt for professional help to get rid of it.

How long does it take for mold to form?

Mold usually takes 24-48 hours to form when the carpet is being exposed to moisture. When not attended immediately, it continues to grow and multiply.


How can you identify it?


There are a few signs that’ll let you know-

Smell- The mold brings a sour, musty smell to the carpet.

Colour- It causes discoloration of the carpet and also creates stains.

Infections- The mold causes infections and breathing problems for all family members, and that too very quickly affects the ones with asthma.

Methods to dry your carpets fast

Drying the carpets highly depends on their size, climate, and humidity. Let’s see the different methods that we can use.


Open your windows




The best way to dry your carpets is to let fresh air in. You’ll be surprised to know that constant fresh air circulation makes the carpet dry faster. So open your windows and let the fresh air do its job.

If you have two windows opposite each other, open one window entirely and the other one just half-open so that it will dry quicker as it creates a stronger crosswind. A lot of fresh air has another benefit too. It avoids the foul, musty smell that comes from the carpet and doesn’t allow mold formation.

This method might seem like the easy and best way, but this heavily depends on the weather. On days of rain and high humidity, opening the windows might not do much good to your carpets. So during those days, you go for the other methods mentioned below to dry your carpets.


Using fans




When the weather outside is not your friend, then there’s a great alternative you can use; fans. Ceiling fans above the carpet work best in drying your carpets. Since they are right above the carpet, the concentrated funnel of air that they create directly hits the carpet making it an efficient way of drying your carpets. Since fans circulate the air very well, they avoid molds and the musty smell that they come with.

If you don’t have ceiling fans right above your carpets, don’t fret cause you can always use standing or desk fans. These fans might be less competent than the ceiling fans, and to match them, you can use two standing fans at opposite ends of the carpet and dry it as quickly as possible.


Using Air conditioners




Keep ACs your last option when you have no other go. It doesn’t provide fresh air or circulate air as the first two methods, but this is an excellent alternative for the ones without fans or windows. People living in closed apartments find this method effective. On rainy and cloudy days, with no option of dry air, you can go for AC.

Note that carpets dry quickly on summer days with dry and warm air. So when you use AC, it might take much longer to dry completely. And also, when you use ACs, the cold air comes in contact with the carpet, making it difficult to tell whether it’s dry or damp. It might’ve dried completely, but the cold air makes it feel like it’s still damp.

So when you know the carpet has dried, turn off the AC and allow the room to settle down to room temperature. Then check the padding of the carpet to see if it has dried completely.


Professional blow-dry




If you had your carpets cleaned by professionals, then you might be offered to blow-dry your carpet by them. If not, you can even use a blow dryer and get your carpets dry. While this might seem like the quickest and easiest option, this definitely isn’t the effective option. Blow drying could only dry parts of your carpet and not completely. But this method can give you a great head start to get the best results when you follow the other methods mentioned above.


Clean your carpets regularly




While this might not be one of the ways to dry your carpet, this does reduce the drying time eventually. The dirtier the carpet, the more longer it takes to clean and dry. When you clean your carpets regularly, it provides much less possibility for mold formation, and you’re also keeping your place clean with a clean carpet.

How long do you have to wait before using your cleaned carpet?

Once you’ve cleaned your carpet and installed it in your room, remember to avoid heavy traffic for at least six hours. And during that time, try to keep your children and pets off the carpet. When it comes to replacing the furniture, it is advisable to wait for 24 hours.

Conclusion

The methods we’ve mentioned above are very simple and productive, and you won’t be needing the help of a professional for that. But when your entire carpet is somehow soaking wet or you couldn’t control the mold formation, and it’s multiplying, then you ought to seek the help of a professional as soon as possible. If not, the mold infection could even spread to the floors and walls and damage it beyond repair.

We have provided you with all the methods you wanted to know about how to get your carpet dry after cleaning? It is totally up to you and the climatic conditions to use the method which you find the best to get your carpets dry.
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