Rained inside car: passenger side insulation under carpet moist

[PilsnerUrquel]

Well I was stupid and left the passenger side window cracked open.

It rained heavily and it dripped all night on the passenger side carpet. The carpet itself is dry to the bone, but if I feel with my fingers under that rectangular cutout in the carpet (what are those for anyway?), I feel wet insulation.

 

So that needs to be dried out to prevent mold. How would I go about that without replacing it?

 

What I already tried: pointing a fan inside that rectangular hole and propping the carpet up with a small piece of plastic. My reasoning is the following: allow airflow between the metal and the insulation, thus evaporating the moisture. I successfully dried it out partially, but when I feel further with my finger, I still feel moistness so I suspect the moisture extends over the entire carpet. I can prop the entire carpet up but getting airflow with a fan in there is difficult through that rectangular cutout.

 

What I'm gonna try: put a dehumidifier in the car and hope it pulls the moisture from the carpet...

 

Any other suggestions?

[SC03OTT]

Dehumidifier would be my solution.  An electric one, not those windowsill packet ones. 

[Novascape]

You got a carpet cleaner? If so try sucking water out. If not dehumidifier is probably best bet

[Sir_Ron_Norris]

Take out the mat then press down very hard on the wet under-layer with a sponge. Wring out into a bucket. Repeat as many times as necessary until the sponge picks up no more water. Then drive over several days with the air conditioning on full (there is a dehumidifier in the AC system). 

[Ootohere]

If warm & dry outside you get the windows open, or get into a heated building / garage and windows open,

you use kitchen towels, the stuff at the trolley park at the supermarket or newspapers and you keep changing them.

 

Use a greenhouse heater inside with the windows a little open when parked.

Get Damp Traps in the car. 

 

All depends on just how wet.   

 

Concentrate on getting as much water absorbed as you can even if that is changing the paper often. 

 

 

Edited 29 January, 2023 by toot

[PilsnerUrquel]

10 hours ago, Sir_Ron_Norris said:

Take out the mat then press down very hard on the wet under-layer with a sponge. Wring out into a bucket. Repeat as many times as necessary until the sponge picks up no more water. Then drive over several days with the air conditioning on full (there is a dehumidifier in the AC system). 

You can't remove the passenger side carpet. It's the insulation underneath which is wet.

[Sir_Ron_Norris]

You've misunderstood. I said nothing about removing the carpet. You will see that I was referring to the floor mat (the one with the two click fastenings). With that out of the way you can proceed with the method I described. It's a pain but I've done it and it works. As for the AC on full, this was a suggestion from my local independent garage. Apparently wet interiors are quite common (especially with VAG cars}, and this is what they advise their customers to do. A common fault with VAG cars is that ventilation channels get blocked (leaves, etc) which leads to heavy condensation in the cabin, which eventually drains down to the carpets and underlay.

Edited 30 January, 2023 by Sir_Ron_Norris

[Ootohere]

Wet interiors from Kerb Side autos prepping sales cars and not having a good wet vac has been common for decades.  Driving hundreds of miles using AC does not resolve the issue.   Opening the doors and windows and pointing the Blown heater or putting in the paint booth was more common.