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How to get the car dried? 850

Hi, all,

Due to the very hot weather, I didn't close my car windows all way up. Last night's storm flooded my car. Can someone give me some advice on cleaning up the mess - dry out my car. Thank you.

Best,

P.








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How to get the car dried? 850

In addition, when this happened to me, I used hairdryer to dry area as much as possible. Then followed by putting house fan blowing the wet area overnight.

Not much a big deal since you caught it early.








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How to get the car dried? 850

If the h2o did not go underneath the carpet, you should be able to use a shop-vac to suck most of the water out. Then, towel dry all of the wet areas. After that, leave the windows down for a couple of days to let air dry. It would be best to let it dry in a garage, for obvious reasons.

But check to see if water made it underneath the carpet. The best way to do this is to remove some of the trim in the door opening and wedge your hand between the body of the car and the bottom of the carpet to see if it's wet. Because the carpet is rubber-backed and is normally water-proof, it will not ever dry unless you remove the carpet, which is big job.

When this happened to my BMW, I had to remove the seats and most of the interior trim to get the carpet up. Even then, I could not remove the carpet from the car; I had to clamp it up and let the foam dry for a few days.

If you do not dry the carpet completely, you will have a mold problem so bad that you will be strongly tempted to drive the car into a tree. You need to get it dry within a week to prevent this. I detailed cars in college and had to clean more than a few where the owner submerged their car while launching a boat. They invariably smelled of aquatic life despite prompt treatment. River water is much worse than rain water, but you get the idea.








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How to get the car dried? 850

Hi, JeffLa,

Thanks much for your input.

Unfortunately, the water did get under the carpet. Luckily, only the floor in front of the rear seats got soaked. Though it was a big mess, I managed to pull the carpet covering rear seats' floor out (after removed all the seats and center arm rest.) I am going to leave the carpet and foam in my garage for a couple of days to dry.

The mold problem is the last thing I want to deal with since I am allergic to it.

Thank you again and I will remember to close my windows whenever I am not driving it.

P.







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