Your house should be the safe haven where you can relax and unwind. It should also be a clean environment for living, working out, playing, or sleeping. What if an item in your house makes you sneeze and become itchy as soon as you come inside? Allergies are often triggered by pollen, dust, pet dander, smoke, or mould. The bad news is that carpets can contain all of these allergens, but the good news is that you can deal with these irritants. Here’s how to reduce allergens on your carpet, and keep your house cosy and comfy.
How Do Allergens Reach the Carpet?
A carpet might look neat from the outside, but a bunch of tiny little particles, or even microscopic organisms, could be residing inside it. But how do they get there?
Carrying Substances on Your Shoes
The most common method is direct contact. If you walk into a room, you would bring along dust, pollen, hay, or any other materials that stick to your shoes. Where do they end up? That’s right, on the carpet. The more you tread on them, the more they stick and are pushed deeper down.
Pets Shedding Allergens
If you have animals around the house, that’s another source. Pets walking, eating, and sleeping on the carpets leave plenty of organic material where they’ve been. They shed hair, dander, insect particles, food particles, faecal matter, and possibly some drool to top it all off.
Ash, Spills, and Humidity
Additionally, there’s ash from smoking and food remains. These too could develop into irritants. Spills can also encourage mould if they’re not treated promptly. Even a water spill, or a carpet that hasn’t dried sufficiently, can be fair grounds for fungi.
Air-born Dust and Pollen
Besides direct contact, there’s gravity works. Anything airborne eventually falls down on the floor, or on the carpet. Pollen and dust are pretty good examples.
Carpet Material and VOCs
Additionally, the material of the carpet could be the culprit. The upper pile could be made from a material that attracts allergens. This gets worse with frieze or shag rugs. The padding, or lower layer, could also emit volatile organic compounds (VOCs) which are strong irritants to some people.
What Happens if Your Carpet Is Loaded With Allergens?
If you’re allergic to any of the substances residing inside your carpet, or to the carpet material, you might experience any of the following symptoms as you walk into the house.
- Sneezing
- Hives
- Itchy skin, eyes, nose, or throat
- Congested nose
- Coughing
- Chest tightening
- Shortness of breath
- Swelling
If VOCs are triggering your allergy you might also experience an additional set of symptoms.
- Fatigue
- Nausea
- Queasiness
- Vomiting
- Headache
- Dizziness
- Nose bleeds
How to Reduce the Allergens on Your Carpet?
The best thing you can do to get rid of the allergens is to throw away all the carpets and live on cold bare hard floors. This is a bit extreme though, and not absolutely necessary.
Here are 10 less radical remedies you can easily do to deal with the allergens, and still keep your beautiful rugs.
- Vacuum your carpets more often: A clean house needs vacuuming once a week, but if you want to keep the allergens at bay, it’s better to vacuum the rugs at least twice a week. More if you have pets or kids. It’s best to wear a mask while vacuuming and choose a machine with a HEPA filter.
- Use steam: Steam kills dust mites, bacteria, and a wide range of organisms that could be triggering your allergy. Once a month is often enough.
- Let the carpet dry thoroughly: After regular or steam cleaning, it’s important to let the carpet become completely free from humidity, as that could invite fungi and mould.
- Leave your shoes outside: Plenty of allergens cling to shoes and rub off on carpets. Walking on the carpet with hard shoe soles also helps in burying these allergens deep into the carpet fibres. Leaving your shoes beside the door in a special rack or cabinet is a nice solution.
- Change and refresh: It’s also a good practice to take a shower and change into a clean outfit once you get into the house. Allergens cling to clothes the same way they attach to footwear. Washing your clothes frequently also helps in limiting the presence of allergens.
- Keep your pets in a different room: Try to make some rooms pet-free. If you restrict your pet’s traffic a little, that could go a long way in reducing allergens. At least keep your bedroom and the living room for human use only.
- The smokers should stay out too: Pets aren’t the only creatures that leave allergens behind. If cigarette smoke bothers you, then you should ask your partner, other family members, or friends to smoke outside. It’s healthier that way, and also it would keep the ashes away from your carpet.
- Choose a hypoallergenic carpet: The carpet material could be causing your discomfort, or it could be letting wicked allergens reside inside its weave. Either way, it’s best to buy a low-pile carpet with padding that’s easy to clean, and also, that doesn’t emit VOCs.
- Clean up spills promptly: Spilled food, drinks, or any other substances could develop into mouldy spots within a few days. Try to use proper detergents and stain removers right away. Sooner is far better than later in these situations. You can also solicit the services of a specialised carpet cleaner.
- Ventilate and use an air purifier: An air purifier is a great addition to any room, but it’s rather important for people with allergies. It would also reduce the amount of airborne allergens that end up on the floor or the carpet.
To Sum This Up
Carpets look amazing in any house. They make any room look warm, elegant, beautiful, and homey. When carpets become triggers of an allergic reaction instead, that’s definitely an annoying situation. Fortunately, you don’t need to make a hard choice between sneezing and walking on bare floors. You might have to forego the wall-to-wall carpets, or the extra lush rugs, but otherwise, you can reduce the allergens on your carpet. Try the ten tips we explained here, and chances are you’ll get to have a nice carpet that doesn’t make you itchy or sneezy!
