Tuesday, July 3, 2012

Indoor Air Quality and Your Carpet

Recently, the EPA had put into the Congressional Record the fact that indoor air is more polluted than outdoor air.

How can that be true? The main reason is that indoor air is trapped.  Rarely does it get completely replaced.  Outdoor air on the other hand gets blown away and new, cleaner air replaces it. 

Trapped air in our home continues to gather pollutants: from our clothes, shoes, our bodies, our hair, our pets, our garages, and many other sources. These contaminants eventually settle on our furniture, our floors, our rugs, and yes, our carpet. 
Then, when someone walks over them, they get re-dispersed into your air and you and your family breathe them.  A great example is when you look at a stream of sunlight and see all the dust floating around.  You breathe that air over and over.  That's why indoor air is more polluted than outdoor air.

There is a way out of this vicious cycle: Getting your carpet cleaned thoroughly and regularly rids your home of these pollutants lurking in your carpet. Yes Sarasota carpet cleaning is a major factor.

The polluted air is circulated and some of it settles on horizontal surfaces--the largest horizontal surface being your carpet.  That's why cleaning your carpet is the best solution for removing indoor air pollution.  And that's why we recommend cleaning all rooms of carpet even if they don't look dirty.

Believe it or not, that's also why carpet is a superior flooring choice for indoor air quality, since it traps these pollutants in the air. The key is keeping it regularly cleaned, not just when it looks dirty.

What's regular? That can vary, based on conditions in the home such as smoking, pets, children, the amount of foot traffic.
According to the U.S. EPA Letter, January 1989, the longest recommended interval between cleanings to maintain indoor air quality is 12 months.

Ask yourself: What would it be worth if regular carpet cleanings could mean one less doctor visit for my child per year? What is it worth to me to be able to breath better and get sick less?