carpet mold

To properly care for carpet, you do not want to expose it to excessive amounts of water or moisture or prolonged periods of dampness.

Damp carpet can result in mold growth within 24 hours if it goes unnoticed or is ignored. The presence of mold in carpet is bad for the carpet and the health of your home and needs to be addressed immediately.

Here is more information on carpet mold:


The primary reason mold grows in carpet is because the carpet is wet or even damp for a long period of time. There are several reasons a carpet can be exposed to moisture.

One common reason for damp carpet is humidity. This is especially typical in warm areas of the USA such as Tampa, FL. Too much humidity in home will lead to moisture forming throughout the home, including the carpet and if the moisture builds up and isn’t extracted from the carpet, there is the potential for carpet mold.

You will also find damp carpet in dark areas of a home such as a basement or in rooms that do not receive a lot of air circulation or sunlight. This poses a problem because if the homeowner doesn’t notice the carpet is damp in one of these areas soon enough, there is a chance mold will grow.

Homeowners will also sometimes experience damp carpet and mold if there are leaks in a home’s roof, windows or plumbing. A leak in a roof, window or pipe will drip or pour onto the same area of a carpet over and over until the carpet is saturated with moisture. This can also occur after a severe storm or hurricane. This is known as water damage and it requires the attention of a carpet cleaning service or restoration service ASAP in order to extract the moisture, remove the mold and successfully restore the carpet and floor beneath.

The other reason a carpet can become damp is due to hiring a carpet cleaning company that uses too much water and solution in their process. The most typical type of carpet cleaning process is steam cleaning and this method requires several gallons of soap and water in order to effectively clean carpet. The reason steam cleaning needs to use so much water is to rinse out the soap and detergent from the carpet fibers, however, this often results in damp carpet following the service, sometimes for as long as 24 hours or more which is enough time for mold to grow.

You want to hire a carpet cleaner in Tampa that uses less water in their process. This will ensure you do not damage the carpet or the health of your home in the process of cleaning your carpet.


There are several signs to look for to determine if your carpet has mold in it or not. Pay attention to these signs in order to identify mold fast and address the problem before it causes permanent damage.

The first sign of carpet mold is the appearance of green or black spots and stains on the surface of the carpet. If mold is visible on the surface of the carpet, it means there is an even larger growth and buildup beneath and the problem as probably become too significant for basic carpet cleaning and you will need to hire a restoration service or consider tearing out and replacing the carpet. If you identify signs of black mold in carpet, we recommend leaving your home until the issue is resolved.

A less obvious sign of carpet mold is a musty type of odor emanating from the carpet. If there is a stale or musty smell near your carpet you should inspect it further and look deep into the carpet fibers to see if you notice any mold growth in the carpet. If the growth is minimal you should call a carpet cleaner ASAP in order to access the mold and attempt to clean it with extraction.

Another indirect sign of mold in carpet is if you or someone in your home starts to suffer from allergies or coughing, chest pains and headaches. If there are no other obvious causes for the symptoms, then it could be that mold is in your carpet and contaminating the air in your home. If someone who suffers from allergies lives in your home, you should be even more diligent about identifying and removing mold from carpet.


To remove mold from carpet requires professional attention from a restoration service or a professional carpet cleaning Tampa service. You should not attempt DIY removal of mold from carpet in your home. You can remove or tear out the carpet, but if you intend to attempt to restore and retain it, you need to call a professional.

The carpet cleaning company will use powerful extraction equipment to remove all traces of water and moisture from the carpet. Then, the service will perform traditional deep cleaning in order to break apart the mold and remove it from the carpet pad and fibers.

If the mold growth is extensive, the carpet cleaner will inform you of the severity of the problem and either recommend a restoration service or recommend you tear out and replace the carpet.