Your carpets and area rugs keep your floors warm underfoot and provide a soft and comfy place for your kids and pets to lie and play. However, they are also home to many unpleasant dangers lurking deep down where your vacuum can’t reach.
Even if you vacuum your wall-to-wall carpets and shake out your area rugs often, it isn’t enough to get rid of all the dirt, debris, and dust mites that build up over time. From the air you breathe to odors, and from allergies to germs, here we explain why professional carpet cleaning is so important for a healthy home.
How Professional Carpet Cleaning Works
When you vacuum, you only remove the dirt and debris on the surface of the carpets. In fact, vacuuming can actually force particles further down into your carpets making it harder to reach them the next time around. As well, common foot traffic throughout your home also pushes the small particles and contaminants down below your carpet fibers where they remain.
A deep-down professional carpet cleaning uses a powerful extraction system that removes years of dirt and unwanted particles your vacuum just can’t reach. The cleaning process uses two steps to apply a preconditioning cleaner and then a freshwater rinse that removes all residue. As a result, your carpets are not only free of harmful particles but also free of detergents.
Improving Air Quality
This is the most important reason you want your carpets cleaned at least once a year. Professional carpet cleaning involves special equipment designed to remove toxic particles trapped in your wall-to-wall broadloom, area rugs, and stair runners. These particles get kicked up when you walk and remain in the air you breathe. This can lead to allergies and illness. It can also worsen symptoms of existing asthma, colds and flu, and allergies.
Harmful pollutants are in every home and are toxic when breathed in over time. All of these pollutants are removed with professional carpet cleaning. While you might consider attempting this on your own, the moisture left behind from DIY rug cleaning is just as harmful, especially if you live in areas with high humidity levels. This contributes to mold growth beneath the carpet or in the underpadding that you can’t see. Mold is very dangerous and can lead to serious health conditions when mold spores are released and breathed in.
Pet Stains
Pet urine and feces have dangerous germs that can make your family sick. Not only can these contaminants get into the air you breathe, but they can also be transferred to your skin through your feet. If you have children who play, lie or crawl on the floor, these contaminants can get on their hands and then if they touch their mouth, the germs get into their system.
Even if you clean up pet stains at the time they occur, traces of the bacteria and germs are left behind. If you have pets that don’t have accidents, they can still trail in bacteria on their paws, including cats who can have traces of feces and urine from their litter boxes. Households with pets should consider professional carpet cleaning at least twice a year to remove these dangerous toxins.
Dust Mites
Dust mites are microscopic insects that can’t be seen by the human eye. If you have a dust mite infestation in your carpets, you won’t even know it. Unfortunately, ongoing exposure to dust mites can lead to health issues, especially for those with allergies or dust mite sensitivity. One of the most common reactions to dust mite infestations is allergic rhinitis.
Symptoms can range from mild, with occasional runny noses, sneezing, and watery, itchy eyes, to severe, with coughs and asthma attacks. Like dust particles that remain trapped in carpeting, dust mites can infest your carpet. However, in this case, they leave behind feces. These particles are released into the air and contribute to the pollutants in your home. The debris from dust mites is very irritating and can contribute to disease as well as infections.
As mentioned above, babies and small children put their hands in their mouths often, so when they crawl on the carpet, they can transfer harmful dust mite germs into their mouths as well. You need to vacuum often with a HEPA filter vacuum and use professional carpet cleaning to keep dust mites at bay.
Other Symptoms From Dirty Carpets
There are some other symptoms you might not realize could be related to dust mites and dirty carpets, including:
- Stomach Illness: If family members seem to suffer from stomach illness often without any known causes, it could be your carpeting. Mold can lead to stomach illness because of mycotoxins, while germs that cause issues such as salmonella can also be found in carpeting.
- Skin Irritation: Another symptom that can be related to dirty carpets includes skin irritations such as rashes or itchiness. If family members suffer from eczema it could get worse due to dust mites.
- Weakened Immune System: If you have toxins in your carpet, your body has to work non-stop to prevent illness from the germs and bacteria it is exposed to every day. This can weaken your immune system as it is working overtime. Babies and small children whose immune systems are still developing are put at risk when exposed to dirty carpets in their homes.
- Mental Illness: Mental health can also be affected by ongoing physical illness. If your home is making you sick, this can wear you down if you or your loved ones are always unwell. The combination of constant allergies together with a weakened immune system leads to ongoing sickness that, although not always serious, can keep you from enjoying your life.
If you have wall-to-wall carpeting, area rugs, or even a runner on your stairs, regular professional carpet cleaning is a must to keep you and your family well.
Contact us today at 510-351-5230 or click here to inquire about professional carpet cleaning.