Your home’s carpet might not be something you think much about, but if you have family members walking, sitting, playing, and spending time on carpet, it’s important to know what might be hiding in those little carpet fibers. The Environmental Protection Agency warns that your home’s indoor air can actually harbor a lot more contaminants than the air outside, and when you walk around in public places such as grocery stores, schools, workplaces, and malls you can track all sorts of things back into your house on the bottom of your feet. Here are some of the most common contaminants you might find in that carpet.

Dust Mites

Dust mites are microscopic creates, invisible to the naked eye, that live in carpets and upholstery around the house. They leave behind dust mite droppings that can cause a significant reaction in people who are allergic, but even if you don’t notice an obvious respiratory issue or allergy, breathing in dust mites can still be harmful. Children who play on the carpet or babies who lay on the carpet could be breathing in these toxins, causing minor respiratory irritation, and some research has even linked it to asthma.

Lead

Manufacturers are not allowed to use lead in materials today, but that doesn’t mean it’s completely gone from our homes. In fact, household dust can carry high lead levels because the chemical still exists in soil and dirt from the days when it was part of the manufacturing process for things like gasoline and paint. Walking around outside and then heading inside can bring traces of lead that find their way into your carpet.

Pesticides and Chemicals

Part of what makes carpet great for walking, sitting, and living is how soft and absorbent it is, but that is also part of what makes carpet attract things like pesticides and chemicals. All the things that are used outside—dirt contaminated with pesticides, bug sprays, paint, and more—are often tracked inside on shoes, feet, and clothing where they settle into the carpet. Eventually they can spread to the air, or be absorbed by blankets, pillows, towels, and clothing on the floor.

Pets

Your pets are part of the family, but if you let them inside your home they are bringing all sorts of potential toxins and contaminants. Pet fur that sheds and remains on your carpet and furniture can have all kinds of dirt, soil, chemicals, and even fleas or other bugs that could end up in your carpet. In addition, if your pet isn’t quite house-trained yet, there could be a significant amount of pet excrement in your carpet fibers.

Cleaning up these toxins requires more than just vacuuming every few days or weeks—in many cases you will need professional carpet cleaning to remove the deeply ingrained carpet contaminants that could be most harmful to your family.

Lisa Shultz Owner / Manager

Anderson Carpet Cleaning is a family owned business serving the entire Eastside since 1996. Lisa is the proud owner and resides in Duvall with her two kids … and treats every customer as if they are family. Always a stickler for perfection, every carpet, rug or upholstered furniture cleaned by her company is backed with her promise that it will be done to perfection. To talk to Lisa you will immediately feel the extreme passion she has for her company to provide you with a “Red Carpet Experience!” Anderson Carpet Cleaning has five vans with the latest steam cleaning equipment for all residential cleaning needs as well a large “Fuso” truck which offers the ability to clean apartments up as high as the tenth floor! In keeping with the latest in environmentally friendly cleaning soaps and sanitizers, Lisa is always making sure that each product she uses is organic. In fact, she encourages her customers to use the waste water extracted from their home to water their plants and they will flourish!

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