{"id":922,"date":"2022-03-24T20:23:02","date_gmt":"2022-03-25T00:23:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.njairquality.com\/?p=922"},"modified":"2022-03-25T11:27:25","modified_gmt":"2022-03-25T15:27:25","slug":"air-quality-problems-might-be-stemming-from-under-the-rug","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/njairquality.com\/air-quality-problems-might-be-stemming-from-under-the-rug\/","title":{"rendered":"Air Quality Problems Might Be Stemming From Under The Rug"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

My\nhusband and I were trying to figure out the exact age of our master bedroom\u2019s\nwall to wall carpeting. He claims that it is forty years old. I was a bit more\nrealistic and explained that my youngest son was already born when we moved\ninto our new home. However, he is not yet forty so the carpeting could not yet\nbe forty years old. In any case, it\u2019s definitely gone through several\npresidents and has been on our floor for close to forty years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Wall\nto wall carpeting needs quite a bit of maintenance. We have gone through\nnumerous professional carpet cleaning jobs only to find some of the stains\nresurfacing. Another problem was that the carpet had to be tightened by a\nprofessional as it was buckling; carpets need more maintenance than floors. The\ndirt may be hidden but it will come back to haunt you in the end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We have been discussing the possibility of removing our bedroom carpeting for close to five years after doing the same in a smaller bedroom in our home when our son -in- laws complained that their allergies were acting up when sleeping in that bedroom. It was the best investment we ever made, not only for health reasons but for practical reasons as well. A quick whisk of the vacuum or broom, a bit of water and the floor is free of dust. What an amazing improvement. I recommended this switch to anyone who was about to throw away their bedroom carpeting and purchase a replacement. It could be an authentic wood floor or the very realistic looking vinyl imitations; whatever the choice, it will improve your home both aesthetically and health-wise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When we built our home originally, we installed durable wood flooring on the main floor and ceramic tiles in the kitchen and playroom. These have held up beautifully and have not needed replacement only maintenance. The wood floors did need to be scraped and stained. Once in a while we will get a professional floor cleaner to clean our kitchen floor tiles and grout but other than that we wish we would have bare floors in our entire home. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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We\nwere fortunate to retain a contractor who we trust, and he began the tedious\njob of removing the old carpet and under padding. According to the statutes of\nour town\u2019s rubbish removal company the carpet had to be cut in four-inch\nwidths, rolled up and piled on the curb for proper disposal. The padding was so\ndisintegrated that it became a huge job to remove since it crumbled when\ntouched. The biggest, unexpected shocker was the answer to the question I asked\nthe contractor about the sand he was sweeping up from the bare floor. \u201cThis is\nsand that has been accumulating all the years coming from footsteps from the\noutside”, he responded. The answer sounded quite far-fetched since our bedroom\nwas situated on the second floor, we wiped our feet well before entering our\nhome, and there was carpet on the steps which should have taken care of any\nadditional dirt on our shoes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According\nto the contractor, dust, dirt and sand seeps through the tiny holes in the\ncarpet then through the padding and on to the floor. If I would not have seen\nthe pile of sand, I would have been quite skeptical about his claim because the\npadding seemed solid and non-porous.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No\nmatter how careful a home occupant is about wiping their feet, dust, dirt, grime,\nand sand penetrate the most luxurious and heavily weaved carpets. Years of wear\nand tear on the best carpets increases the openings in the fibers. Hidden in\nthe best carpets are bags of sand and other potentially harmful byproducts\ncaused by daily footsteps in the home. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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We\nlive within walking distance of the beach, so it is very likely that winds\nbring the sand into our home in addition to ours and other guests’ tracks.\nWhenever a door or window is opened sand enters the home. As much as it is\nhealthy to have fresh air coming in through the windows, at the same time the\nsand enters along with it. Even if you are meticulous and always take off your\nshoes before entering your home and bedrooms, sand will manage to contaminate\nand dirty your home. I have a feeling that those of us who have our carpets\nshampooed regularly are causing the sand to get ingrained deeper into our wall-to-wall\ncarpeting. The pressure of the brushes and machinery of professional carpet\nshampooers is also a reason for the integration of sand and dirt into the\ncarpet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our\ncontractor attempted to use our household vacuum to remove the sand and dirt\nfrom the raw floor that remained after the carpet was removed but informed us\nthat he would have to come back with his industrial vacuum cleaner to get to\nthe bottom of the dirt. In fact, my sister advised me to get out of the house\nwhen she heard about all the sand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The flooring in the home makes a huge difference in the air quality of the home. Vinyl, stone, and wood floors should be dusted and washed often. A bit of water is all it takes to remove harmful dust and grime. Next time you wash your floor, cover the mop with a white or light-colored cloth and you will be able to see how much dirt comes off of a supposedly clean floor. This will save you time, money and breathe since you should see improvement in allergy symptoms, lessening the amount of time spent at doctors and cost of allergy medicines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We tend to think of air quality as pertaining to the air around us in our home. The air quality of the home has more to do than what\u2019s apparent in the air around us. What\u2019s going on in the air ducts of our air conditioning systems and beneath the surface of objects and items in our homes is even more important. The air ducts should be cleaned every so often by professional air duct specialists<\/a> who will be aggressive and at the same time careful not to puncture any holes in the ducts. Carpets, especially wall to wall, are harbingers of all kinds of minute particles that are not seen superficially. Very powerful vacuum cleaners with high suction are imperative to remove sand and dust from home carpeting. At the same time, heavy equipment such as professional shampooing machinery and upright vacuums can cause the grime to go deeper into the carpets instead of removing it. Only by regular everyday vacuuming would you be mildly successful in keeping out allergens and dust from your carpets. It would be worth your while to purchase a quality robot vacuum<\/a> to be used daily to keep your house dust and sand free. The very fact that this type of vacuum is lightweight is beneficial since it roves lightly and continuously on the carpet and will not rub the dirt deeper into the carpet itself. The trouble with this type of vacuum cleaner is that it does not necessarily hit every single part and corner of the room. Only with a special attachment to your vacuum cleaner will you be able to get to every nook and cranny of the room.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Final Words<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Nothing,\nyes, nothing beats the health and practical benefits of a floor versus a\ncarpet. No matter how meticulous you are and how often you clean your wall-to-wall\ncarpet, age and outdoor pollutants will eventually contaminate it beyond\nrepair. Rather than spending money on replacing your wall-to-wall carpets,\nthink seriously of buying clean floors. Whether it is wood, vinyl or ceramic\nyour nose and throat will thank you profusely. No matter where you live there\nare pollutants outside your window. Even if you live on a farm in Montana where\nthe air is fresh and sweet, the sand and soil will come easily into your home.\nLiving in the city will give real soot and other contaminants entrance to your\nhome which will not only blacken your home but your lungs as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Living\nnear the beach is a real treat in the summer but remember this locality will\ncause sand to come in through your window even if you have good screens. If you\ninsist or already have carpeting that you are keeping, make sure to vacuum each\nday. If not, the grime will get deeper into the fibers and be harder to remove.\nEven a good vacuum like a robot style will not be able to pick up the\nmicroscopic specks once they are deeply ingrained in your carpet. Industrial\nand professional cleaning companies may claim to be the best way to keep your\ncarpets dust free but beware that their heavy instruments can push the dirt\ndeeper into the carpets. To assure the health and safety of your family, have\nyour air quality checked regularly by a reliable and recommended air quality\ncompany.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My husband and I were trying to figure out the exact age of our master bedroom\u2019s wall to wall carpeting. He claims that it is forty years old. I was a bit more realistic and explained that my youngest son was already born when we moved into our new home. However, he is not yet […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-922","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/njairquality.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/922","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/njairquality.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/njairquality.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/njairquality.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/njairquality.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=922"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/njairquality.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/922\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":931,"href":"https:\/\/njairquality.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/922\/revisions\/931"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/njairquality.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=922"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/njairquality.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=922"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/njairquality.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=922"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}