Carpets have long been an attractive flooring option for the home and office. But it’s often that a space is not maintained properly with professional carpet cleaning. In these cases, unwanted debris can build up in them over time, affecting indoor air quality and becoming a health risk to you and your visitors. Here are 5 of the most common allergens carpets can hide.
Dead skin
The average person sheds 600,000 skin cells per day, so it’s inevitable some skin flakes will end up in your carpet. Not only is the concept of dead skin all over your carpet pretty gross; if there is an excess of skin flakes, this may also cause insects like dust mites to breed in large numbers. Breathing in the dried poo of dust mites is a major cause of allergies.
Insects
Bugs are a common sight in any indoor space, but the perfect food attraction for them are all the tiny pieces of dust, poo and other organic matter that get stuck in your carpet over time. There is even a type of Australian Carpet Beetle which feeds solely on hair, carpet fibres and all your clothes – definitely not a guest you want to invite indoors! Compared to a smooth floor such as tiles or floorboards, a thick carpet is a place where the crumbling bodies of dead insects could get stuck and overlooked for months.
Bacteria
Carpet can easily become a haven for bacteria. Children, pets and other visitors can track in dirt and other pollutants from outdoors that get buried in your carpet. Lots of germs are harmless to us, but some of the varieties that commonly breed unseen can pose a serious health risk to you, your staff or your family, including:
- E. coli
- Campylobacter
- Salmonella
Mold
Since carpet holds moisture much longer than other surfaces, it can become a prime spot for the growth of mold. It can be hard to detect the growth of mold on your carpet without a professional eye, since it often grows underneath the carpet, not on it. And then this can become a problem when the mold has spread enough to trigger allergies, rashes and other serious health complications.
Pollen
Australia has been called the allergy capital of the world. It was found to have the 7th highest rates of pollen allergies on the planet. In a year over 4.6 million of us, or 1 in 5 people have to deal with the annoyance of getting hayfever. It’s especially easy for it to build up in the nooks and crannies of your carpet, and be a big pain in your nose and chest for longer than the normal allergy season. If anyone who frequents your space has asthma it’s even more important to keep the place pollen-free.
So what can you do about these?
Your weekly vacuum may be enough to get the top of your carpet looking clean, but the average handheld vacuum is not strong enough to eliminate all the nasties under its surface. If you smell a strange odor coming from your carpet, or some of your family members and staff are getting ill regularly, perhaps it’s time to get that floor checked with a commercial cleaning service.
Professionally cleaning your carpet at least once a year can help you keep all kinds of contaminants from a long term stay in your carpet. The thorough care and specialised equipment from our experienced cleaners will keep your home and office as healthy and pleasant a place to be, while increasing the lifespan of your carpet. Contact Infoclean to get your professional carpet cleaning quote today.
