I don’t know what to do. I got kinda drunk and let my G/F drive Saturday night. Went out to my car yesterday afternoon, and she/we left the sunroof open during a storm. Carpet is completely SOAKED! The seats feel pretty dry though.

What should I do? Anyone have this happen?

I really have no idea what my course of action should be, and any help is very much appreciated.

 

hmmm....let the car air out by opening the doors and sunroof. Make sure it is in the sun and it will dry out faster....

 

Also, after it is dry, a detail shop might help in getting rid of any musty smells and shampoo the carpets.

 

 

You can vacuum with a wet/dry vac then take a hair dryer to it (but not a close range). You'd better work fast before it starts mildewing.

 

DIY car washes around here have DryCleaning machines in back. I would do a round of that. Should help. GF did that to HER car (she can't drive mine! Advantages to having a 5spd) and I did the DryCleaning machine thing and never had a problem. Worth a try.

 

Use a carpet cleaning machine, like a Bissell, without the water. These machines will suck up a ton of water quickly and are easy to dump afterwards. Blotting the carpet with dry towels will remove most of the remaining water.

 

Check in the housewares or home cleaning supply section of the local K-Mart or WalMart for some stuff called dessicant, marketed for keeping closets and confined spaces dry. It is usually packaged in 1/2 gal. milk cartons or something like that. Get a few, it's cheap.

After cleaning and/or drying with a powerful shop vacuum, place four 11" cake pans, not more than 1/2 full, of this dessicant in the floor boards. Close doors and windows and leave it overnight, a weekend is best as you may want to repeat a couple times. It sucks the moisture right out of the air, seats and carpets and holds it. Each pan will be filled with a liquid mush. Works great.

Otherwise: if you live in humid regions (deep south, Florida, Houston) you should pull seats and carpets and "line dry". Clean as much as you want... either the mildew smell will gag you or the shampoo perfumes will if you don't get the moisture out completely and quickly. And the carpet will still rot quickly.

By the way... I remember when cars had rubber plugs in the bottom of each floor pan, to allow draining water!

 

You have to get your carpet and padding dry as soon as possible. This might require you to remove the carpets and padding in order to fully dry them before mildew and bacteria develops.

I had a similar experience with a 87 Maxima over 10 years ago. I tried chemical cleaners, bacteria/enzyme cleaners and baking soda products with unacceptable results. I finally replaced the carpet and padding. This resolved the chemical mildew smells. The $200 I paid for new carpet and padding was a welcome relief to get rid of the mildew smell that I battled with for months.

Hopefully you do not have to replace your carpet if you get it dry fast enough. Good luck!!