How to dry out a wet interior?

Maintenance/Repairs
1

The sunroof was broken and it rained for 3 days leaving the interior car and seats wet. the seats have dried out, but the carpet is soaked. how can I dry out the car?



My ideas:



using a leave blower;

using a hair dryer - but that would take forever;

running the in the car heat at full blast;

I am in Maryland, so just leaving the car open will not work now that it is cooler;



Any other suggestions?



Thanks,

BobinMaryland

2

The seats will dry out on their own, assuming you can leave the windows open at least part of the time. The carpet will dry, too, but more slowly. The padding underneath the carpet, however, is another matter altogether.

The padding is a sponge-like material that can soak up, and hold, water, almost indefinitely. There is no power on Earth, that I know of (no dryer, no Shop Vac, etc.) capable of extracting water from the padding underneath you car’s carpeting. You have to do it yourself, or pay MANY dollars for someone else to do it for you.

Lift the carpet (not rocket science). Remove the padding. Let it dry somewhere. Reinstall the padding and the carpet.

Be happy that you saved lots of money.

3

You have to pull the carpet and get the pad out and dry it out of the car. The pad should be replaced. You need to check and treat for mold too. In order to get the carpet out, you’ll have to pull the seats too so its essentially getting everything out of the confined space and out in the open where it can dry and where you can treat for mold.

4

Use a shop-vac. Pull the plug out of the electrical outlet before you drain it. Too much water really in the carpet padding so you’ll have to remove it and dry it in the sun.

5

May I recommend a wet/dry shop-vac? Make sure you use one that is made to vacuum moisture.