In order to keep carpet clean, we’re talking really clean, you need to have the work professionally done at least once or twice a year depending on the amount of foot traffic it receives. But we all know that moisture can have the potential to damage carpeting if left wet for too long. You might experience buckling and wrinkling, not to mention the possibility of mold and mildew growing inside or underneath the backing material and padding. There’s also the possibility of water damage to the floor.

That’s why it’s important to know how long it should take for a carpet to dry after it’s been cleaned. Even more critical, hiring the right carpet cleaning company who knows how to properly clean, and dry, the carpet so you aren’t dealing with the potential problems that come from a carpet with too much moisture still trapped inside long after the cleaners have left your home.

At Green Dog Chem-Dry, we have the skills and expertise to clean your carpet while ensuring that it doesn’t fall victim to the dangers of excessive moisture. Let’s take a look at the normal drying times you can expect after a carpet is cleaned and the steps you can take to help it dry quicker.

Proper Technique

Thorough cleaning means eradicating all of the dirt, grime, and bacteria that can get trapped in your carpet over time. But if your carpet cleaner fails to dry the carpet fully, the carpet will never truly be clean. That’s because when the water gets trapped in a carpet, so does all the filth that the water was used to clear out.

It falls to the technician to make sure your carpet is fully clean. That is the job they were hired to do, so they need to be well aware of how much water should be used to do that job and how much is too much. Poorly trained carpet cleaners will almost always make this mistake and you’re left paying the price with a carpet that remains wet for far too long, causing a whole range of problems that will just cost you a lot more money.

Normal Drying Time

When a carpet has been cleaned properly, the usual drying time is anywhere from 6 to 12 hours, based on a number of factors. Any carpet that remains even damp for longer than that has either been cleaned poorly or you are dealing with high levels of humidity in the room where the carpet has been installed.

High humidity will always make a carpet dry slower because the moisture has nowhere to go. In order to dry a carpet, the moisture needs to evaporate into air that is dryer than the carpet. When the air is full of moisture, the carpet will remain wet because of that delayed evaporation process.

What You Can Do

The best way to protect your carpet is to take actions that will help it dry faster and stay cleaner. For starters, you want to concentrate on air flow and reducing humidity. So turn on your air conditioner to lower the humidity in the room and turn on some fans to keep the airflow evenly distributed all over the carpet. Open some windows to help this process along as well.