Many professional carpet cleaners use water extraction and a water extraction cleaner to clean carpets.
This is often the best way to get dirt and soil out of carpet fibers and help keep your padding dry, too. If you’ve spilled something on your carpet or even if it’s just starting to smell a little musty, here’s how to remove that gooey mess from your carpet.
Steps For Drying A Wet Carpet Quickly:
- Dab/wipe up all the excess liquid off the surface of the carpet using paper towels or an old towel.
- Mix 2 cups warm water with 1 cup white distilled vinegar in a spray bottle then spritz the area where you removed excess liquids from earlier on the affected areas on your carpet.
- Use a carpet cleaner solution to spray on the affected areas on your carpet.
- Use a wet/dry high-powered vacuum to remove water from the carpet. Make sure you have a fresh filter in your vacuum and check it often as they can easily get clogged up with dirt or water after using it for this purpose.
- Let the carpets dry completely then air out for 24 hours before allowing pets back into room as they can track wet odors onto clean carpets which is difficult, sometimes impossible, to remove later on.
Tips For Drying A Wet Carpet Quickly:
Drying a wet carpet quickly is important so if you have a large area or more than one room that has been flooded, here are some tips:
– Remove as much water as possible by blotting and use a wet/dry vacuum.
– Use air movers to maximize air circulation in the room/area, if you have them available.
– Keep an extra fan on hand so that you can put it right over the carpet as this will draw more air from other areas of the room/house drying a wet carpet quickly even faster.
Although a ceiling fan does a great job at circulating water vapor out of carpeted areas, fans are not recommended because they can cause permanent stretching of carpet fibers if left running for too long. This is especially important when dealing with wall to wall carpeting or other delicate floor coverings such as area rugs. The best thing to do with these types of carpets is to open closed windows and turn on a fan or air conditioner if available so that they can dry evenly from all sides.
*A wet/dry high-powered vacuum should be used as quickly as possible after the flood has occurred because moisture in carpeting leads to mold, mildew and bacteria growth. As time passes and water remains trapped in carpet fibers it provides the perfect environment for molds & mildews to grow which is why you will want to get rid of as much water as possible using a wet/dry vacuum first thing. This is especially true if your home becomes flooded due to some sort of natural disaster such as flooding, hurricanes, etc…
If you do not have one available, you can fill a bucket with warm water and place it near the area where you are working to absorb some of the moisture in carpeting.
How To Do Home Water Extraction Yourself:
Rent or borrow a water extraction cleaner machine from your local hardware store. This is an inexpensive unit that attaches to your garden hose which operates similar to a vacuum cleaner except it has rotating brushes inside that scrub at the fibers in your carpet causing them to swell up. This swelling process allows more water under pressure to be forced out of your carpets, plus it does an excellent job of helping agitate dirt and grime off the surface of your carpet fibers allowing them to be sucked back into your wet/dry vacuum when you’re finished cleaning.
Rent a wet/dry vacuum that has a transparent tank so you can see when all the water has been removed from your carpet. This is especially important if you have wall-to-wall or area rugs in your house as it’s difficult to tell when they’ve dried completely.
What not to do:
Do not use heaters, hair dryers, fans, etc… on your carpeting after water damage because this will cause permanent stretching and compaction of carpets with wall-to-wall carpeting or area rugs which is why we recommend opening windows and turning on an air conditioner or fan during and right after flooding occurs. If you choose not to open any windows but must turn on a fan to speed the drying process, then keep it at least twelve inches away from your carpeting as long as it’s still wet.
What Water Extraction Solution Do Professional Carpet Cleaners Use If They Are Called In To Fix The Damage?
We use a thorough three-step cleaning process that uses specialized equipment to extract both dissolved and emulsified dye, which is what causes most pet urine stains on carpets. The first step is labeled pre-treatment which consists of applying an organic solvent that breaks down solid matter like hair, dirt and other organic material (which holds the odor) into small particles that water can easily penetrate. This also increases its ability to dissolve additional matter making them easier to remove during our post-treatment cleaning water extraction process. In addition, this also serves to remove food stains and other organic materials that can dye carpeting a dark color if left in the fibers for any length of time.
The second step involves pre-spraying our organic solvent onto the stained areas along with water softening agents which help to break up solid matter so it can be extracted during post-treatment cleaning. This is done using a special sprayer that has rotating brushes inside similar to a rug doctor machine but smaller and more powerful making them perfect for spot treating heavy stains throughout your home.