Flooded carpets are a pain to clean, especially if the water was exceptionally murky. It’s not just the wetness that you have to deal with — there are also a million microbes to get rid of. If not treated immediately, you may actually be better off considering it a lost cause and spending more money to have new carpets installed.
Well, if you’re trying to avoid that cash outflow, the moment the flood’s gone, hire professionals who can take care of carpet cleaning; Adelaide has expert carpet cleaners who not only have the right skills but also the appropriate equipment for the task. However, if you’re in stiff competition with other homeowners for professional services, the carpet cleaners Adelaide locals turn to have shared their effective treatment process so you can launch into the task until the pros are able to squeeze your home into their schedule.
• First thing to do is to suit up for the job. Wear a face mask and rubber gloves and make sure that your body is properly covered.
• Take the flooded carpets out (as well as furniture that got wet) so you can clean your floors and walls. You need to make sure that the floors and walls are thoroughly disinfected and dry. Use powerful cleaning agents that kill all sorts of bacteria and germs, rinse, and then let the floors and walls dry completely. By doing this, you do not just get rid of germs that may still transfer to your cleaned carpet, but you also zap any unpleasant odours.
• When you scrub floors and walls, inspect for traces of mildew or moulds – they’re little specks of green or black. For these, be sure to use the appropriate cleaning agents because these do not come off easily. Professional stain and mildew cleansers that are slightly diluted with water should be applied directly on moulds and mildew; let the solution seep and loosen the build-up, scrub vigorously, rinse and dry.
• Getting your carpet clean is a multi-layered process. The first thing you have to do is to soap and rinse – this will reveal stains that you may need stronger cleaners for. The first wash is usually not enough, so follow up by using detergent and water. This will eliminate germs and musty odours. As you are using this solution, scrub away the damaged rubber “underlining” of the carpet (just replace it with new sheets or rubber lining) – it’s just going to crumble more over time and create dirt. After the second washing, some believe it can help to lightly and evenly spray disinfectant. And it always helps to steam your carpet to further disinfect and deodorise it. If you don’t have a steamer, drying your carpet under the blazing heat of the sun will actually do.
Flooded carpet restoration case study at an Adelaide school
Cleaning up after serious water damage, usually referred to as carpet flood restoration, is something that we do a lot of. These jobs can be very technical and laborious, but it’s always rewarding to see such a huge difference in a relatively small time frame. To get an idea, have a look at the videos below from a recent flood restoration job at an Adelaide school.
After the clean up job is finished, we leave some heavy duty drying fans for 3 days to make sure all of the remaining moisture is removed.