[carpetclean]

I did a job on Saturday morning for this nice couple and the woman was from Finland . she was fascinated in what i was doing and watched everything. we discussed the different attitudes from Finland towards carpets. they prefer wood as it is so cheap there. i told her that the theory is that carpets are better than wood because of the allergy effect. she was amazed at this as she then went on to tell me that there was a lot of asthmatic problems in Finland . i wonder if there is a definite link to the  wooden floor preference. i think it warrants further investigation

[gwrightson]

I dont think the theory you are refering to applies not to wood, in fact it is not a theory ,it is the results of test done over a number of years and I believe applies to laminate ,but may well have involved wood, that I am not sure!!!
However, here are the results when carpet usage was monitered

geoff

[calmore]

I suspect there are three reasons:

1. Carpets tend to trap dust

2. Carpets tend to be hoovered more often than wooden floors

3. People tend to use smelly cleaners on wood floors.

Anyone think of any others?

[carpetguy]

It's pretty simple, really. If you open a door, or walk over a carpet, almost nothing is disturbed, so the air quality, integrity, is preserved.

If, however, you open a door, or walk over a non carpetted floor, all of the light, dry soiling, is disturbed and pollutes the atmosphere, so it's breathed in and can result in allergens, causing reactions, in some people.

robbie

[Ian Hare]

A few CARPET vs HARDFLOOR health facts.


Hard floor promoters state that carpet ‘harbours’ allergens, or is a ‘haven’ for them.
This is the reason that carpet is healthier, we want allergens to be harboured or a better word ‘trapped’. On the floor trapped allergens are of no risk to us.
A hard floor allows allergens to be consistently airborne with even the slightest movement, and remain so for long periods, thereby entering the lungs consistently. It takes TEN TIMES more air flow to move fine dust particulate matter over a carpeted floor than across a hard surface floor.

In a 2005 German Asthma Association test, in scientifically tested homes the Fine Particulate Dust matter found in hard floor homes was double that of the same number of carpeted homes tested, and 12micro grams per cubic meter above the safe European recognised level. (50MGU)

Regarding carpet; wool is an inherently hygienic fibre and too coarse to effect an asthma sufferer plus dust mites do not like wool as the fibre is too dense. A woollen fibre carpet is therefore a major benefit to everyone, and especially asthma sufferers.
Cleaning and de-cluttering a room to increase the air movement will have a more positive effect on the indoor environment, than tampering with innocent floor covering.


Recently we have been fed a diet of sensationalist scare stories about carpets and dust mites and their alleged links to asthma.
This stream of anti-carpet propaganda has advised, indeed urged you to switch to wooden floors ostensibly 'in the interests of health'.
It must be pointed out, however, that this was an orchestrated anti-carpet campaign that was part funded by a Swedish laminate flooring producer.
Thus the advice to 'rip up the carpet' was far from independent and impartial as it purported to be.

The Carpet Foundation, the UK carpet manufacturing industry's lead body, in conjunction with the European Carpet Association, GuT, the German Association for environmentally friendly carpets, the Wool Research Organisation of New Zealand and the Carpet and Rug Institute of the USA, has conducted a detailed review of the key scientific papers on asthma and floor coverings.

It proves conclusively that there is no scientific validity for suggesting that carpet is a major threat to your health, even those people sensitive to the dust mite allergen.

“Health professionals” sometimes recommend that allergy and asthma patients remove carpet from their homes, those recommendations are generally based on faulty assumptions.

In fact, clean, dry, well-maintained carpet actually improves air quality.

Carpet acts as a trap for airborne particles grounded through natural gravity.
Professional Testing Labs studied the distribution of airborne dust associated with normal activities on hard and soft flooring surfaces. Their findings showed that walking on hard surfaces disturbed more particles.
These particles became airborne and entered the breathing zone. In contrast, carpeted surfaces trapped more particles so that walking disturbed fewer particles. 

Result: less dust in the breathing zone over carpeted floors.

There is no scientific evidence to support the advice that the removal of carpet is clinically beneficial to asthma sufferers. No studies have ever been carried out which conclusively links a carpet free environment to clinical benefits for asthma sufferers.
In fact in Sweden where health hysteria led to a 77% reduction in carpet use, there was corresponding 300% increase in asthma in the same 15 year period to 1990.

[Ian Hare]

The average UK home has over two million dust mites feed on the protein from your dead skin scales.
They live in your mattress and pillows, upholstery and to a lesser extent carpet - the only reason you have never seen them is because they are so small the human eye can not see them. It is not the mite that is the problem but their harmful faeces, which are so small that when disturbed can stay airborne for over ten minutes.

Temperature extremes kill dust mites.
The problem with doing this is gaining accessibility to them.
   
Mites do not like the light and burrow deep into upholstered furniture, primarily mattresses and secondly sofas. Their prominence in carpet is not nearly so high.

Any application of water during cleaning, will at appropriate temperature, kill those mites near the surface. It will also add moisture which will assist the mites to feed and breed, as they need warmth and moisture to survive.

This is why HWE etc will not eradicate the problem, only scratch the surface.

The problem posed by mites is not that of the mite itself, but is the enzyme which breaks down protein in their food, and is found in their faeces.
This attacks the cell bindings in the lungs of humans and can leave them open to later infection.

However, specialist treatment of a mattress and sofa and lesser extent carpet, can ensure 6 to 12 months of freedom from this problem. The enzyme in it's broken down form (as a result of treatment) poses no problem.


Dust mites are mostly prominent in mattresses and secondly upholstered furniture, where they can burrow deep away from light. This poses the problem that conventional cleaning will not eradicate them other than the lesser numbers on the surface.
Wet cleaning can even add moisture which aids their feeding and breeding capabilities, hence the need for specialist treatment.

Carpet will not be home to many dust mites by comparison to upholstered furnishings especially in exposed areas. The place that they are more likely to be found in carpet, is under furniture, where no direct light gets and no cleaning takes place. This is especially true under sofas and chairs. This same lack of cleaning and build up of dust is just the same in these areas with hard floors as it is with carpet, if not more so. Apathy and lethargy being more apparent attitudes to cleaning with hard floor owners!
(Because they have been led to believe “hard floor is healthier"; so doesn't need effort on their part).
A vicious circle has been created.

The problem is not the mite itself, but within the faces, - even smaller particulate dust. This may fall out from beds and sofas etc onto the floor below. If this floor is carpeted at least most of it is trapped and held out of harms way.
If it lands on hard floor it is easily disturbed and laterally enters the room by virtue of any movement causing a draught, then it is airborne and free to enter the breathing zone, and will remain airborne for long periods. The smaller particulate dust is the longer it remains in orbit around our faces.

A simple experiment can demonstrate this function. Pollen, dust mite droppings and other air allergens are microscopic in size, so let's replace them with something more visible to the naked eye - flour or talcum powder.
Sprinkle a little of the selected powder onto a hard floor, then, from a height of about three feet, drop a book onto the floor so that it lands flat, about 6" from the powder. Repeat the experiment substituting a carpet for the hard floor. That little explosion of dust that accompanied the book landing on the hard surface shows what happens with a light foot-fall or any other draught to the microscopic allergens that land on the flooring even whilst it is being cleaned.
And what happened when the book landed on the carpet? Point demonstrated!

The very act of trying to mop a hard floor or vac it causes much air movement, most of the offending smaller particulate matter is made airborne and not removed by the mopping etc.

Vacuuming a carpet will remove large amounts of trapped matter from the pile. It may not remove many dust mites themselves due to their stiff body and leg hairs (which act like glue) and help the mites stay in fabrics resisting suction, but as it is the faeces that is the problem and needs removing, this is achieved.

[Ian Hare]

Mattress Covers.

People who suffer from severe allergies or asthma may find relief from their symptoms with the use of mattress covers.
It is imperative that those covers only be installed on mattresses that are new or have been cleaned and sanitised, otherwise the enclosed mattress may act like an incubator allowing mould, fungus and bacteria growth to increase.  Even a new mattress can harbour a large degree of dust etc, deposited during the manufacturing process, and so should ideally be cleaned/treated.

When the cover is removed for washing, the contaminants are released into the air, and hence the lungs.  Most manufacturers recommend that the covers be removed and washed weekly. This is a very cumbersome task and seldom likely to occur.
People suffer from disturbed sleep as the covers are noisy and do not breathe sufficiently making people sweat during the night.

It is recommended investing the price of the covers into getting the mattress professionally cleaned/treated. That way you can rest assured knowing that your mattress is clean and sanitised.
The microscopic size of the harmful dust mite faeces is such that it penetrates through most of these covers anyway.

[ollie]

where did dust mites live before humans evolved and gave them a home? i also wonder where barn owls lived!
ollie

[Mark Stanley]

Nice post Ian.

I have read with interest.

Mark

[Kinver_Clean]

Dust mites have always been around. In older days (like when I was a kid) we did not have central heating and had doors & windows that blew a gale. In other words our houses were much cooler and ventilated well (draughts!!) Our bedrooms were unheated as well. We put our clothes in the airing cupboard each night so they were warmer in the morning.  All together now AAAAAAAHH.

Mites like the warm and humid conditions we have in our homes now because the fungus that breaks down the skin cells so the mite can digest them thrives in these conditions. Cut the heat and humidity and the mites reduce in number dramatically.

This is why they like bedding. We are in there for 6-8 hours a day, giving off plenty of moisture and warmth added to the skin cells we shed. Ideal conditions.

Trevor