If your carpeting has
received some water damage you need to know what to do for the best
in order to dry it out and minimize the damage.
Your carpets will in all
likelihood have some kind of padding underneath and this pad provides
a cushion and gives your carpet that springy feel when you walk upon
it. Unfortunately being spongy these pads soak up water quickly, it
is these rather than the carpet fibers themselves that collect the
water.
You should never leave acarpet to dry by itself if you have had a large spillage of fluid on
to it, small spills are fine, as long as you use something such as
paper towels to soak up the excess, and give the affected area a
thorough clean afterwards. However, waterlogged carpets should not be
left to dry by themselves, because they will not, and all that will
happen is that mold will grow and before you know it you will have to
replace the entire carpet.
To thoroughly dry the
padding many commercial and professional carpet drying companies will
need to separate the padding from the carpet fibers, once this has
been done, powerful fans are utilized in order dry the carpet fibers
and padding before the dreaded mold and mildew gets a chance to form.
Of course even a
professional carpet cleaning company cannot always save your carpet,
and this especially applies to situations where the carpet has been
contaminated by so called “black water”, this is water that
contains sewage for example. This is a situation that calls for the
carpet to be replaced as it is too much of a health risk, if you have
“grey water” which is water from a washing machine or shower for
example then you will need to dispose of the pad but the carpet
fibers can be cleaned and saved.
So depending on what
kind of flooding you have suffered there is a good chance that you
will be able to keep your existing carpet rather than have to pay for
a new one.
