Clean For Health
Indoor air quality is becoming a major concern to your health. Let us explain how carpet can help keep the air you breathe, cleaner. Carpet acts as a large filter, trapping bio-pollutants and contaminants removing them from the breathable air. . However, when these filters (carpet) become full of contaminants, the filters must be cleaned or replaced. Since carpet is the most expensive furnishing in your home or business, cleaning is the recommended first step. Professional cleaning of carpet and rugs not only extends the life of the carpet, but can also help extend the lives of you and your families as well. These contaminants, not thoroughly removed, have the potential to cause a variety of health problems.
Another concern, especially for those with allergies, is dust mites.
Did you know that…
Dust mites are found in virtually all homes, no matter how clean. They live in the dust that accumulates in carpets, fabrics, upholstery and bedding.
Dust mites are arachnids, not insects they are related to spiders. They are microscopic, eight legged creatures, 0.3 mm in length, and invisible to the human eye.
A gram of dust from you home (approximately half of a teaspoon) contains as many as 1,000 dust mites. That same gram of dust holds 250,000 of their fecal pellets.
A Primary source of dust mite exposure in the home is in the bedroom, which provides the best conditions,( food & warmth )for their growth. They are present in mattresses, pillows, blankets, carpets, upholstery, curtains, and other similar fabrics.
An average bedroom can be infested by millions of dust mites. We spend approximately one third of our lives in the bedroom so we are in close and prolonged contact with dust mites.
Dust mites survive by eating our dead skin cells, which make up to 80% of household dust. They also live off water vapor, which we provide for them through perspiring and breathing approximately one pint per person per night.
A dust mite produces 20 fecal pellets per day that is 200 times its own body weight in feces during its short lifetime. With millions of dust mites living in one bed this means there are vast amounts of droppings there. These levels mean that virtually all dust mite sensitive people will experience problems as a direct result of the dust mites and these droppings in their mattress, pillow and other areas of the home.
Research shows that during one nights sleep most people toss and turn up to 60 or 70 times meaning the dust mite droppings are frequently expelled into the air from bedding.
Researchers have also discovered that the allergens can then stay in the air for as long as 2 hours. Once airborne, dried dust mite droppings are easily inhaled into our airways thus causing allergic reactions.
What We Can Do
What Al’s Carpet Cleaning and Restoration can do to reduce your exposure to dust mites. We can clean and deodorize your mattresses, upholstered furniture and carpet, thereby reducing the amount of dust mites and fecal pellets from the dust mites.
We also have access to a laundry detergent that has the effect of denaturing the protein found in the dust mite pellet that causes an allergic reaction in some people. Please call if you would like to purchase this laundry detergent.
What You Can Do
- Replace your pillows every six months, because pillows are a major source of dust mites and feces.
- Use a good mattress cover that is laundered regularly.
- Change your furnace filters frequently
- Keep your carpet vacuumed using a Hepa-rated vacuum cleaner