Sometimes, a carpet’s appearance can be deceitful. It could appear perfectly clean to the naked eye. However, bacteria and microbes are often lurking in the depths.
Bad odours and allergic reactions most likely indicate the presence of allergens in your carpet.
Let’s explore this quick guide on removing these pollutants from your beloved carpet.
The Truth About Carpet Allergens
Carpet allergens are referred to as silent invaders. They can exist unnoticed for a long time.
Recognising their presenceis step one to getting rid of them. So what exactly are they?
- Dust Mites
They are known for living in carpets because they feed on dead skin shed by both humans and animals. What better environment for them than at your home, then?
Mites themselves don’t impact your health. However, their wastes contain enzymes that trigger allergy symptoms.
- Pollen
It comes into your home through clothes and shoes or through doors and windows. When it does, carpets are usually a hospitable environment.
Pollen is known to trigger allergic reactions. They also worsen asthma symptoms. It is considered extremely dangerous to have them on your carpet.
- Mould
Carpet mould is a result of a trio: liquids, organic materials, and a warm temperature. They grow silently until they ruin your entire carpet.
In addition, mould is extremely dangerous. It causes eye, skin, throat, and nose irritation, triggering asthmatic attacks, especially for people with allergies.
- Pet Dander
It comes from the shed skin cells of pets with fur or feathers.
If it lurks for a while on your carpet, it will trigger an allergic reaction. Many assume the allergy is caused by the pet when the dander is the problem.
That’s why knowing how to remove cat allergens or pet dander in general from your carpet is important.
Reasons Your Carpet Is a Good Host to Allergens
Bacteria, microbes, and other types of allergens live in many areas. However, there are reasons why they choose to live on your carpet.
It’s because carpets are a hospitable environment to allergens. Let’s find out why!
- Trapping Particles
The fibre of carpets traps allergens deep within, thus creating a cosy living environment.
- Retention of Moisture
Did you know that the fabrics of carpets catch a huge amount of moisture? In addition, since they are always prone to spills and humidity, carpets are moist for long periods of time. This creates the perfect environment for various types of moulds and mites.
- Foot Traffic
Allergens that live in carpets are exposed to high foot traffic. This allows them to become air-borne again and gives them the opportunity to attack respiratory systems.
- Surface Cleaning
Surface cleaning using vacuum cleaners doesn’t remove carpet allergens that are deeply embedded. And most people don’t deep clean frequently. That’s why allergens find carpets to be an idealenvironment.
The Impact of Carpet Allergens on Your Health
Allergens significantly impact your health in various ways. They are the cause of serious respiratory issues and asthmatic attacks.
Unfortunately, they are the source of some skin problems too, such as irritation and eczema.
Not only that, they attack your immune system over time. Your body becomes exhausted from being exposed to germs, bacteria, and microbes for too long. All of it finally triggers your allergies.
Signs Your Carpet Has Allergens
As mentioned before, allergens aren’t always noticeable. Sometimes your carpet will look and smell just fine. Meanwhile, it’s hiding those tiny invaders in front of your eyes.
Although most people choose to go to a doctor for an allergy test, that’s not really necessary. Here are 3 warning signs for you to know whether your carpet is the source of your allergies.
- Location
Being located in a high-traffic area attracts allergens even if your carpet looks clean enough. Your carpet is more likely to catch allergens if it’s near the door, for example.
Every pollen and dander your footwear caught throughout the day will accumulate on it.
In addition, a high-traffic location means there are more spills and food crumbs. Thus, they create the perfect environment for mould and dust mites.
So, the frequency at which you need to deep clean your carpets highly depends on their location.
- Darker Color
More often than not, people assume their carpet is darker in colour because of its old age. After years of spilling coffee or food, it makes sense.
Although that’s sometimes the case, many times the real reason your carpet has a darker shade is due to mould. When you spill organic material on your carpet and only do surface cleaning, mould grows. This, in turn, gives your carpet a darker shade.
- Deep Cleaning Frequency
As discussed, it’s impossible to completely avoid carpet allergens. The best solution is to deep clean frequently to remove them.
Most people deep clean their carpets once a year or sometimes more. That’s definitely not enough.
How often should you deep clean your carpet, then?
Ideally, you should do that every quarter, especially if you have pets. However, the minimum is twice a year. So, if the last time you deep cleaned your carpet is 6 months ago or more, most probably you have some hidden guests.
How to Remove Allergens from Your Carpet
It’s time to permanently remove those undesirable carpet inhabitants, right? Thankfully, there are effective methods to deep clean your carpets and ensure freshness.
- Steam Cleaning
This method is a popular one in cleaning carpets. Steam cleaning is extremely effective in dissolving deep-seated dirt and odours completely.
A rotating machine is used in steam cleaning and other forms of carpet cleaning too. It loosens the dirt and allergen particles clinging to the fibre of your carpet, referred to as agitating.
In addition, a rotating machine spreads the chemicals from the carpet allergen reducer uniformly.
The process goes as follows:
- Vacuum your carpet(s);
- Add an anti-allergen carpet cleaner and other cleaning products;
- Agitate the carpet with a rotating machine;
- Use a steam machine to spray the carpet with hot water;
- Extract the allergens and dirt from your carpet using a steam machine;
- Choose an airy place at home for the carpet to dry completely.
Steam cleaning works best for carpets that are heavily stained and haven’t been deep cleaned for a while.
- Dry Cleaning
You can clean your carpet without the use of moisture with this procedure. You apply a cleaning powder, and then a spinning machine for agitating and vacuuming.
If you’re looking for a quick way to free your carpet of allergens, then dry cleaning is the way to go. However, if you don’t regularly clean your carpets, it will not be as effective.
- Shampooing
It is considered one of the oldest carpet-cleaning methods.
Shampooing is mixing an anti-allergen carpet shampoo with water to saturate it. Manual shampooing isn’t worth the hassle, although doable manually. Usually, a machine is employed to expedite the procedure.
Although it takes a long time to rinse and dry, this procedure is quite successful in cleaning carpets.
- Encapsulation Cleaning
This method is extremely advanced and has proven effective in removing allergens from carpets. It works by encapsulating allergens and dirt in small removable crystals using a special liquid.
It works as follows:
- Vacuum your carpet(s);
- Add the encapsulation detergent;
- Use a rotating machine to agitate the carpet;
- Wait for the crystals to form and dry. Leave for 15-20 minutes;
- Vacuum off the crystals;
- Leave it to dry in a well-ventilated area.
You can easily do this at home. Besides, it doesn’t take a long time and perfectly preserves the carpet’s quality and longevity.
- Bonnet Cleaning
It involves using a cleaning pad or bonnet attached to a rotating machine to collect dirt and clean stains.
The process goes as follows:
- Soak the cleaning pad in foam or shampoo;
- Use the rotating machine with the pad to agitate the carpet;
- Vacuum until the solution absorbs all the dirt and allergens;
- Leave the carpet in an airy space to dry completely.
Bonnet cleaning works best with frequently cleaned carpets.
Professional Carpet Cleaning Services
Deep cleaning carpets can seem like a daunting task if it’s been a while or you don’t have the right tools.
However, using a carpet cleaning service can relieve that stress. With years of experience, carpet cleaners use cleaning technology with hypoallergenic cleaning solutions to make your carpet allergen free!
Conclusion
Allergens are always lurking around in your carpets. However, you now know your enemies! Regular deep cleaning is key to keeping them from building up and triggering symptoms.
Using our easy deep-cleaning tips, you can kick them out of your home for good and give them much fewer places to hide.
