How to Restore a Car's Carpet After Water Damage
- 1). Remove the carpet from the car if the carpet is removable and place outside. Use old towels to soak up liquid from saturated carpet.
- 2). Run a liquid absorbing machine such as a shop vacuum over the carpet to remove as much water as possible. Keep running the shop vacuum over the carpet until liquid is no longer lifting from the carpet.
- 3). Lay the carpet across a clothesline or rail handle. Put in the sun if possible to speed up the drying time.
- 4). Clean the carpet with a carpet shampoo. Spray the carpet with a garden hose and scrub with the carpet shampoo. Rinse the carpet with the hose and hang out to dry in the sun. The shampoo destroys bacteria forming on the carpet.
- 5). Vacuum the carpet after it has thoroughly dried. Sprinkle carpet refresher or baking soda onto the carpet to give it a clean smell.
- 6). Discard any wet padding from the car and replace with new padding. Place the clean, dry carpet back into the car.
