On 04/10/2018 11:26, Brian Gaff wrote:
If a carpet of the normal house kind ie not one meant for a bathroom, which
are designed to get wet, gets wet, how is the best way to dry it and stop it
from rotting?

Been there with the T shirt, and have made some mistakes in the past
(mainly over wetting when cleaning).

It will only rot if left wet for months. People use old carpets on top
of compost heaps and they don't rot for many months.

Even if water has not been discovered for months and the carpet backing
has a mild mould a wipe over of the backing with a rag damped down with
bleach after first drying it out can save the carpet. Don't make the rag
too wet or the bleach will wet the pile.

May seem daft, and I know that if its polluted water from a naff central
heating leak or a flood where more than just a bit of rain is involved its
probably a throw it away job,


If the water from the central heating leak is relatively localised and
clean or just slightly stained then as long as the leak is caught soon
enough first let the carpet fully dry out and then shampoo it. Letting
it thoroughly dry first may/will reveal a water mark around the edge of
the area of the leak, especially visible if the carpet is one colour.
The trick is not to wet the carpet too much when shampooing - try to
just clean the pile without getting the backing wet/damp. You may have
to do this multiple times letting the carpet dry between applications.


but it was just that I do have the odd
accident with fluids and wondered if simply using a fan heater on it or
throwing it over a radiator might do the trick. I'm interested in stains and
smell, in the main.

It depends on how much water and how the carpet is fitted. With a fitted
carpet a rubber/foam type underlay may trap the water and its best to
try and lift the carpet away from the underlay. This is easy with
something like a radiator leak as only the edge of the carpet needs to
be lifted. If the carpet is small then hang it out on the washing line
or put over a radiator.

In the past with a fitted carpet where a lot of clean water was spilled
in the middle of carpet I have screwed in a self tapping screw into the
carpet, attached a string to the screw and lifted the carpet perhaps
half an inch away from the underlay.

As for smell you may/will get a distinctive wet carpet (wet dog) type
smell while it is wet and for some time after its dry. Once fully dry a
spray with something such as Fabreeze. If you have lifted the carpet
spray both sides, and the floor underneath, and let it dry again before
restoring the original fitting.

The final solution may also be down to the material the carpet is made
from. I have some largish synthetic fibre rugs which I can take outside
and clean with a hose pipe and soft brush to work in the shampoo. Draped
over a garden bench they drip dry in 24 hours in rain free summer days.


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