Tips To Help You Clean Moisture Damage From Your Carpets

After a flood, broken water pipe, or other water damage occurrence inside your home, you will want to clean up and restore your home to its original condition as soon as possible. When dealing with moisture damage, you need to keep an eye out for mold and remove it properly to prevent health problems that can come along with it. Here are some tips to help you clean up mold from your carpets to restore your home and your life.

Remove Water

With any water damage, you will want to remove the water from the area so you can remove any damaged materials and begin drying out the materials. Use a shop vacuum or a water pump to remove excessive amounts of standing water from inside your home.

Rent, borrow, or buy some fans that you can turn on in the flooded area of your home. Direct the fans onto the floors, walls, and other surfaces that have been water damaged. Open your home's windows if the outside humidity is low, or you can turn on your home's heating system to help dry out your home's interior.

Determine Extent of Damage

When your carpeting has remained moist for too long, usually one to two days, it can begin to grow mold. If there is mold on the surface of your carpets, pull the carpets from the flooring to inspect their backing to see if there is mold growth there as well. Mold growth on the backing of your carpets can be a sign you need to discard the carpeting and padding and replace it. Mold that is only on the surface fibers of your carpeting can be cleaned fully and dried out to prevent further growth.

You will need to treat all molded surfaces surrounding your carpeting to kill all the mold spores. If you will be pulling out mold-saturated carpeting, you will also need to treat the underlying flooring with a vinegar or bleach and water solution to kill any remaining mold spores.

Clean Mold Growth

To clean mold from the surface of your carpeting, you will need a carpet steam cleaner. Use the carpet cleaner to steam clean the carpet to remove the excess mold. Next, combine approximately one cup of vinegar or bleach into the machine's basin of water and spray it over the molded carpet. Allow it to sit for several minutes, and then use the carpet cleaner to suck up the solution from the carpeting. Make sure you remove as much moisture as possible so the mold does not regrow.

Direct your fans onto the carpeting to help dry it. Placing a dehumidifer in the room can help, or turn on your home's heating or cooling system if there is a dehumidifier within your HVAC system. If you can remove the carpet, pull it outside to let it sit in the sunlight. Sunlight will kill mold spores remaining on your carpets.

If you feel you cannot do this by yourself, it is best to contact a professional mold remediation service, as they can ensure your house is properly protected from the health effects of mold.