How to dry out car carpets quickly?

ice_babe

I hadn't noticed that my Megane CC had developed a leak in the rear :mad:

I have vacuumed as much water from the rear foot wells as possible and hubby greased the seals yesterday to try prevent any more water coming in.

However carpets are still damp. I want to dry out the car asap as the interior is in perfect condition. Currently I have left it all morning with the roof down to Air the car. And keeping an eye out for rain!

IS there anything else I can do?

spacey2012

Yes unblock the rubber drain bungs on the bulkhead under the bonnet, the bit under the windscreen, they block up and the water runs out of the floor vents.

NWOIHTS

The only way to properly dry out a carpet is to take it, and all the underfelt out, and let it dry naturally - a labourious job for anyone not well-versed in removing a cars interior. The next best thing is to lift the carpet up and put papers under it. You might need to do this a few times to soak up all the water. And of course fix the leak first as soaking up water will be pointless if more is coming in behind it.

scotsbob

Split open a bag of cat litter and leave it in the car overnight. It will absorb the moisture. If a large car, or a lot of moisture, use two.

InsideInsurance

With my previous convertible it was a case of leaving all the doors/ windows open and put a couple of electric fan heaters in.

Take any floor mats out to dry separately.

How long it takes to dry depends on how thick the carpet/ underlay is and how wet it got. Mine took a couple of days to be fully dry, the carpet felt dry fairly quickly but any pressure and the water welled up from the underlay

Kiran

Use a dehumidifier with the roof, doors and windows closed?

TrickyWicky

scotsbob wrote: »

Split open a bag of cat litter and leave it in the car overnight. It will absorb the moisture. If a large car, or a lot of moisture, use two.

Similar to this but more effective..

Go to ASDA. Buy their WOODEN cat litter pellets.

Go home and lift the car carpet near the door. You don't need to remove it, just lift it high enough that you can get your hand under it.

Stuff it with WOODEN cat litter pellets UNDER the carpet. Leave for two days, hoover out (be warned, you will need to empty the hoover every 10-15 seconds). Reapply pellets as needed.

How does it work? The pellets are condensed saw dust. Gravity works downwards pulling the water towards the pellets. The pellets absorb the water and turn into damp dust but in doing so encourage more water to be absorbed. After two days the carpet and foam will be completely dry. Oh and yes I've done it myself.