What to do About Wet Carpets?

My truck's windshield was leaky until very recently and now the carpet is pretty wet. The windshield shop fixed the leak, and now I'm stuck with drying the carpets. I have three problems: my truck lives outside, its going to be rainy here for a couple months, and my garage is too small to park the truck indoors with the windows down. Does anyone have any good tips for me here? Do you think a shop vac would suck enough water out of the carpet to help? Can I buy an enormous silica dessicant like you see in jerky bags, only truck-size?

A shop vac will get a good bit of water out. Then pick your days and leave it wide open. A little sun and cold wind will do wonders. Not as fast as a hot day, but it will get the job done. 

The other option is to strip the carpet and padding out and dry them in the garage. 

Damprid is the beast you are looking for.

Do a Google search, but your can get buckets of it at lowesdepot 

Apexcarver said:

Damprid is the beast you are looking for.

Do a Google search, but your can get buckets of it at lowesdepot 

No berkeleying way! I was kidding about the truck-size dessicant. I bet that and my shop vac/dryish day will get me shipshape. 

Buy a dehumidifier. It will dry everything without doing anything else. We use the Frigidaire brand. They work great. 

Source: we live in Florida. 

Edit: that and a blue tarp from hammer store. 

Source: massively leaking Miata. 

We have a small wet vac, think steam cleaner but no steam. It is awesome for cleaning vehicle carpet and also pulls up water. It is easier to clean with than a shop vac, though a shop vac works. The wet vac ends up getting used all the time for spills, pet stains, toddlers, etc. It is a very good tool. I used it to clean vomit out of my wife's Tahoe and had to clean a large area because the vomit clean up area looked better than everywhere else.

If you add alcohol to the wet carpets before vacuuming, the moisture that's left will evaporate quicker. 

M2Pilot said:

If you add alcohol to the wet carpets before vacuuming, the moisture that's left will evaporate quicker. 

Now that is a neat trick!!!  

Shadeux said:

Buy a dehumidifier. It will dry everything without doing anything else. We use the Frigidaire brand. They work great. 

Source: we live in Florida. 

Edit: that and a blue tarp from hammer store. 

Source: massively leaking Miata. 

Does the AC work?  If so, you have a built in dehumidifier!  Turn the temp up, put A/C on on Recirc on full blast.  Do this for a few hours, then every time you drive it for a while, it will pull the moisture out.

+1 to Shop vac will pull a fair amount of water out before starting the above.

In reply to ProDarwin :

That's brilliant. The AC does work so I can try that too. Helps that I work from home so I can let the truck idle in the driveway while I watch. 

The shop vac took the carpet from wet to damp, so that's a nice start. 

In reply to ProDarwin :

That's what dealerships do.  Start the engine and run the AC for a few hours. 

Definitely shop vac as much water out as possible.  And then go over them again once they seem dry-ish to pull more air through the carpets.  After that, pull up any edges you can easily and confirm it's dry under the carpets.  Then just do whatever you can to get things dry.  Putting a dehumidifer inside the truck will work, or run it with the A/C on and the temperature turned up for a few hours. 

Why not just remove the carpeting?   Even a small amount of water left behind will go after the metal floor.

Ive not had any massive leaks or serious wet carpets, but for me it's about moving air - a box fan will do wonders after a shop vac gets the majority up. 

Is it the best way? I dont know, but it's an easy and cheap way. 

Ive left my windows down and it stormed. Just rolled up windows, put fan in (with extension cord) and ran it all night long. No smells, no dampness.

In reply to hybridmomentspass :

Years ago the office I worked sprung a leak and soaked some carpet. The restoration crew used snail fans with no heater because the heat could shrink the  carpet - the air flow was goal.

I was actually able to leave the truck open all day today. Helped a good amount, but I should probably have closed it up before the sun started to set. I swear the carpets were drier midday than they were just now. Either way, it's an improvement from having to towel off the inside of the windshield because it was so damp inside. 

I don't carpet for that reason but I SOAKED my drivers' seat. I put a box fan in one window aimed down and left the other window open. Dried my seat over night.

Rons said:

In reply to hybridmomentspass :

Years ago the office I worked sprung a leak and soaked some carpet. The restoration crew used snail fans with no heater because the heat could shrink the  carpet - the air flow was goal.

Years ago a pipe burst at my parents house, just spewing water out and soaked all of the floor in their basement/ground level.  Again - shop vacs were used while lots of fans were put in. 

I also was in a Chamber of Commerce group locally years ago and After Disaster was also involved, so I spoke with their person often...nice guy. He said the key is air flow, otherwise youll get mildew and mold. So, yeah, Ive always done the airflow thing

Never dealt with a truck cab, but had a wet carpet problem in my mazda 3 recently.  Borrowed my dehumidifier from the basement, removed one of the rubber floor pan plugs in the trunk, ran the drain hose through the hole and let it run in there for an entire weekend.

A second that DampRid is some good stuff. You can find it at supermarkets or your favorite home improvement store. 

In reply to David S. Wallens :

Telling me that supermarkets carry it too just saved me an extra trip today. Thanks!

I have my truck idling in the driveway with the AC on recerc, heat up, etc. Feels really weird to just let it sit there running. I'm glad I have a gate and park behind my wife's car so no one can jump in and take it. 

In reply to thatsnowinnebago :

Cool, happy to help. Our old wagon used to leak, so I just kept one of those DampRid tubs in the car. 

You can also find the generic product at dollar stores:

https://www.dollartree.com/the-home-store-moisture-eliminators-98oz/144947

I bought a case of 12 when I noticed my little teardrop camper leaked. It's in storage under my parents deck so it doesn't get rained on but the moisture eliminators keep it from mildewing from condensation.

And they are super inexpensive 

In reply to stanger_mussle (Supported by GRM undergarments) :

Hmm, I hadn't seen the generic. Works just as well?

Also, sort of related, you can put one of those little desiccant pouches in your helmet bag.