While carpets are a great addition to any Gainesville Florida area home due to their aesthetic appeal, you may be surprised to know that they can actually affect indoor air quality.
Well if you really think about it, carpets do have the capacity to gather dust. This is doubly true if they don’t undergo regular cleaning. So how do carpets affect indoor air quality? If you’ve always wanted to know the answer to this question, then we’ve got just the thing for you. Here’s a brief discussion on the effect that carpets can have on the indoor air quality of your home.
How Do Carpets Affect Indoor Air Quality?
Many health issues have been linked to bad air quality, such as allergies, respiratory illnesses like asthma and bronchitis, and chronic cough. Other side effects include skin rashes, inflammation, and headaches. Children are generally more vulnerable to the health effects of bad air quality than adults.
A study on environmental predictors of asthma suggested a correlation between carpeted homes and asthma in children. Earlier studies have shown that carpets usually contain more dust and allergens than non-carpeted floors. Carpeted floors, that are not properly maintained, have also been linked to worsened symptoms in individuals with asthma and allergies.
Since carpets obviously “trap and filter” these allergens and pollutants out of the breathable air space, the issues is more related to proper care and maintenance. When properly maintained, studies by the CRI and others have shown that indoor carpets can reduce the number of particles in the air and help to improve indoor air quality.
What Are Common Pollutants Found in Carpets?
There are many different types of pollutants that can end up trapped in your carpet. These pollutants come from sources such as outside your home, pets, spills, cleaning solutions, and pests. Some of these sources are avoidable, but others are just a part of life. Here is more information about some of the possible pollutants that may be in your carpet:
- Pet dander
- Pollen
- Mold spores
- Fungi
- Dust mites (dead or alive)
- Roach allergens
- Dirt
- Debris
- Dust
- Bacteria
How Do You Avoid Indoor Air Quality Problems?
It’s recommended that you clean your carpets according to the schedule your carpet manufacturer and/or the EPA suggests. However, depending on your lifestyle and household activities, you may need to clean your carpets more or less often. In addition, it’s important to deep clean your carpets every 6 to 12 months to maintain the best possible IAQ in your home.
Professional carpet cleaners offer several services and treatments which can deep clean your carpets and remove any mold spores, heavy staining, allergens, and debris that your vacuum couldn’t handle.
Conclusion
We hope this article proves to be useful when it comes to helping you gain a better understanding of how carpets can affect indoor air quality. While dirty carpets can negatively affect the air quality in your home, there are things that you can do to deal with it. Be sure to keep everything you’ve learned here in mind to help you make the most informed decisions that will help keep your home in the best possible condition!
Keep your carpets clean with the help of Dreyer’s Carpet Care. We are a carpet cleaning company serving Gainesville Fl, that can handle everything from carpet-related emergencies to regularly scheduled maintenance. Our IICRC-certified professionals can clean, protect and help restore every type of flooring in your home or office. Get a quote now!
