Spilling liquid on furniture is always frustrating, but it gets even worse when you do it inside your car. Getting liquid out of a car carpet can be difficult, especially if it’s coffee or juice. Luckily, we’ve found a few simple methods that have proven most effective in drying out the carpet.
The easiest way to dry your car is to open the windows and let it heat up on a warm summer day. As this is not always possible, we’ll explore other options in the following sections.
When is spilled on the carpet, it’s important to act quickly. Moisture will not get instantly absorbed by the carpet, giving you enough time to get some paper tissues, rugs, or a towel. Gather up as much as you can, then proceed to dab the carpet with paper tissues to extract even more. By acting quickly, you’ll get most of the liquid and make the drying process a lot easier.
Making a mess out of the interior is not a big deal if you’re living in a warm environment. Using ambient heat to dry the carpets is straightforward – leave the car in the sunlight for the day. Extreme heat may deform the dashboard plastic, so feel free to use a sun protector to cover it up once the car has heated up sufficiently. Leave the windows open to let the vapors escape.
If the outside temperature isn’t high enough to heat up the car, you’ll have to heat it up yourself. Turn the engine on and set the heating at maximum power and temperature. Leave the car running if you’re uncomfortable with sitting inside. This method will work best when the outside temperature isn’t cold enough to drain all the heat from the vehicle because again, you’ll have to keep the windows slightly open.
One of the most commonly used ways of getting the moisture out of a carpet is to use a hairdryer. If you can’t reach a power outlet easily, check the power rating of the 12V charger found inside your vehicle. Some vehicles have proper power outlets, so you can use those too. In either case, turn on the car first before using the hairdryer to avoid draining the battery.
Vacuum cleaners designed to absorb moisture can be very useful in this situation. As they require a lot of power, you may not be able to charge them fully through a car outlet – make sure to check the specification before trying. If you can’t reach an outlet inside your house, you can go to a self-service washing station. They usually have vacuum cleaners too, and while it may cost you a few quarters, you can use their vacuum to draw out a lot of the moisture.
The moisture-absorbing properties of rice make it a great solution for a wet carpet. Pour a layer of rice on the wet patch, and let it absorb the moisture overnight. If you’re not comfortable with wasting a food product like that, you can use cat litter instead. Once the carpet has dried, collect, and then vacuum the rest of the rice or cat litter.
No matter what method you decide to take, setting up a basic household fan to blow on the wet carpet will help. The air circulation will help expel bad smells and speed up the drying process.
The only thing you shouldn’t do when drying out moisture is to keep the car sealed. You’ll turn the cabin into an oven full of moisture, which is an ideal breeding ground for bacteria and mold. Even if you’re still deciding on what method to use, you should go and open up the windows as much as you safely can. If you’re keeping your car in a personal garage, open them fully and let the interior breathe.
When it comes to spills, what worries me more than the moisture is the bad smells that will appear if it’s not handled quickly enough. To make this guide complete, I’ll show you the best ways to get the bad smells out of your car.
Once the carpet has dried, you can pour baking soda over the section and let it absorb the smells. It also acts as a dehumidifier, which is great for getting every bit of moisture out of the carpet.
Coffee grounds provide similar results to baking soda, but they have more of masking than absorbing effect. If you like the smell of coffee grounds, you should place an open bag or container near the spill and keep it there for a few days.
Pour some vinegar into a container and let it sit inside the car overnight. It should absorb a significant amount of smell, but if it persists, you can use it in combination with baking soda.
Activated charcoal has a lot of uses, and can be used to get some of the moisture and smell out of the carpet. If you want to pour it over the carpet, make sure not to touch it or rub it in, and vacuum it when you’re done. Because it’s still charcoal, it will leave black residue and turn to dust, so avoid moving it too much. Alternatively, place it in a container near the wet spot and let it absorb the smells.
This one may seem odd, but it works quite well. You can buy a human or even better, pet odor remover to extract the bad smells out of the carpet. Hunters used them to mask their scents and trick animals, but they work just as well to get the smell out of a carpet.
I had the misfortune of getting the worst spill possible inside my car – animal blood. We took down a wild boar and packed it in the trunk, but some of the blood escaped from the trunk tray and seeped into the carpeting. The smell of rot was insufferable, and I have tried getting it out with bathroom cleaners, baking soda, coffee grounds, and white vinegar – nothing worked, as the growing bacteria were too persistent.
What I ended up doing is asking a friend who works as a medical staff to provide me with a cleaning detergent used for hospital sheets. It’s specially designed to handle bloodstains, and it’s not widely available, but it’s by far one of the most effective ways of getting rid of carpet odors. I’ve linked a solid option I’ve found on Amazon, but you can also try to find one locally.
A fan you would use to deal with the moisture can continue to be useful in airing out the bad smells. If you can’t use it all the time, open up the windows and let the draft flow through the vehicle and draw out as much of the scent as possible.
Drying a wet carpet is all about reacting quickly, then being patient. Gather up as much of the liquid as soon as you spill it, then use one, or several methods in combination to handle the rest. Keeping the windows open is crucial to prevent forming of mold and bacteria, even when it’s cold outside. Fighting odors is a battle of attrition, and it may take you days, if not weeks to get rid of the most persisting smells.
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