I have an 05 RX330 that I just bought, and didnt notice that it had a severe sunroof drain leak until i was about to do an interior detail. There was a small wet spot on the driver’s side floorboard where a body plug was pulled by the previous owner to try and remedy the solution. I pulled the carpet back and found that all 4 floorboards were wet, for god knows how long, as it sat on a dealer lot for 2 months, but the carpets weren’t wet because the padding and carpeting are separated by rubber. I am going to do my usual carpet extraction on the carpeting because it just has usual dirt and spillage on it, but i’m worried about the padding. I sucked all the water out of the padding with a shop vac and let it sit overnight outside with a large fan to dry it out pretty good, but how can i make sure there’s no mold or anything living in the padding? I dont want to put the carpet and interior back together and have stinky mold months later. It actually doesn’t smell bad now and i didn’t smell the musty moldy smell when it was still wet until i pulled all the carpet out. Should i follow the guides on the internet about cleaning home carpet padding? Any particular mixture or solution i should use? I assume i soak it with something and then shop vac it and let the rest dry for a few days, yes? Thanks in advance.

 

Sunshine is the best disinfectant.
I would spritz or lightly spray it with what I have in the house (Lysol Clean & Fresh) and let it sit in the direct sunlight for the day.
Then I'd vacuum it in the evening and call it done and bring it in inside.

Leaving it outside overnight will only add to the moisture, no? Morning dew, and all that? Especially if its on the grass or even elevated over the grass. It gets even more humid overnight where I live on the East coast and everything is wet in the morning.

 

I have that Lysol Stuff too and considered using it, but if there’s any odor-causing bacteria really deep down in the carpet padding i dont think just spraying it will take care of it. It almost needs to be soaked. Humidity is not a problem where i am but that’s a good thought. I saw a guide online for cleaning home carpet padding in which you soak the padding with a hydrogen peroxide solution (+water) and then vacuum it out/let it dry. Makes sense to me as h2o2 kills bacteria and mold. Will probably do that unless anyone has anything to say about it.

 

If you have a pressure washer with a detergent tank, mix carpet cleaner and borax in the detergent tank and pressure wash both sides, carpet and padding. This is what professionals who clean flooded cars do.

Once you get it clean, use a shop vac to suck out as much water as possible and let it dry in the sun.

Mine leaked during hurricane Harvey and I didn’t find it for a few hot Houston days so it had started to mold. After doing all this, the carpet smelled fresh and was cleaner than it was when I bought it.

 

The padding is toast, I give up on that. I'm going to nuke the carpet clean since I actually know how to do that, and I'll probably buy some jute and glue it to the back of the carpet to replace the old crap. Really tired of this

 

Just in case it helps someone in the future... i recommend just getting rid of all the padding. It’s so dense that it’s almost impossible to rid of water and mildew. Wash the carpets real good, whether that means sending it to a cleaning service, using a carpet extractor, or pressure washer. Buy new automotive jute insulation (got mine from an automotive interior restoration shop) and cut the pieces out to match the old padding, including where it’s double-layered, and glue it all together with some 3M Super 77. I also Lysol’d the floorboards before reinstalling the carpet.




New padding installed

 

Thanks for the pics. great reference.