With over half the population in the United States have carpet installed inside their homes or offices. Carpet is feels soft on barefoot, helps reduce sounds, and adds color to a room. However, carpet also acts like a sponge to dirt and bacteria.
It’s time to face the facts you’re not cleaning you’re carpets enough. An average household toilet seat contains about 4000 bacteria per square inch, making it cleaner than the carpet which contains over 200,000 bacteria per square inch. The bacteria in a carpet eats dead skin cells (shed every hour by each person living in your home); They also consume pet dander, food crumbs, pollen, and soil off of the bottom of your shoes.
Grossed out yet? Well, several thousands of dust mites could be living in your carpet. One
single ounce of carpet dust can feed 2,000 dust mites per day. Studies prove that an infectious disease like a norovirus can live for over 12 days in carpet. In 2018 United States National Institute of Health strongly advises against having carpet. “…continued caution should still be exercised when considering the use of wall-to-wall carpeted floors in schools, kindergartens and offices, as well as in children’s bedrooms unless special needs indicate that carpets are preferable,” (United States National Institute of Health).
Bonus Carpet Facts:
• 1 square yard of carpet contains up to 1 lbs of dirt.
• Professional Carpet Cleaners recommend cleaning lightly used carpets at least twice per year, and heavily trafficked areas such as entryways and first-floor hallways 12 to 24 times per year. (Price range of $.15 to $.20 per square foot).
• New carpet can contain chemicals such as p-Dichlorobenzene, a chemical called 4-PC (is a known eye, nose and lung irritant), as well as moth-proofing chemical naphthalene and fire retardants (can damage the brain, thyroid and immune system).
Now that we’ve covered some of the trouble with carpet here are some solutions.
• Bugs in the Carpet - Vacuum at least weekly to remove bugs and patch up any rips or gaps around windows and doors.
• Mud on the Carpet - Blot spills dry immediately and use an enzyme cleaner to break down and remove food residue.
• Skin Flakes in the Carpet - Vacuum regularly, and keep your carpet dry, because dust mites are most comfortable when the humidity is high.
• Pollen in the Carpet - Vacuum weekly.
• Germs in the Carpet - Steam clean home carpets at least once per year. Commercial buildings should steam clean high traffic area 3-4 times a year.
• Dirt in the Carpet - Use doormats at all entrances and them vacuum weekly. (Studies have shown that 80% and more of the dirt and debris in a building are tracked in on the bottoms of shoes. With just 16 linear feet of matting, 75% of dirt, dust and moisture can be contained at the entrance to help reduce interior maintenance).
Sources:
http://www.maidpro.com/blog/cleaning-myths-debunked-carpets/#:~:text=TRUE%20Typical%20carpet%20contains%20roughly,years%20between%20professional%20carpet%20cleanings.