Your home or business can be full of contaminants, and that only gets worse when the kids head back to school. While the house may be empty most of the day compared to the summer months, your family can bring in millions of extra germs daily on just their shoes alone. Animal fur and dander, mold, pollen, and dust mites are all responsible for common household-related allergy symptoms. And if you haven’t hired a professional carpet cleaning crew in a while, chances are your carpet’s at least part of the problem.
While modern rugs and carpeting are beautiful aesthetic components of any home, carpet actually acts like a giant filter sucking in the contaminants until they’re disturbed or released into the air. If you or your loved ones experience itching, wheezing, a runny or stuffy nose, tightness or shortness of breath, and itchy or watery eyes, chances are you’re allergic to something in your carpet. The good news is that these issues are easily remedied with the following back to school carpet cleaning tips.
- Make a Household Rule to Remove Shoes
If you have carpet in your home, the shoes really need to be off inside the house. Any member of the household can easily bring in debris, filth, and contaminants on their shoes. Tar from playgrounds, sticky gum and candy, and even animal feces can become ground into your carpet with a single step. Spot cleaning can help but only if you get it in time and it doesn’t penetrate the fibers. A no shoes policy should be actively be enforced until the habit sets.
- Check Backpacks and Lunch Bags Daily
All those school supplies you end up buying at the beginning of the school year end up eventually tossed in the bottom of your kids’ backpacks. Marker lids pop off, pencils and pens break, bottles of glue loosen, and crayons crumble. And where does all of that mess end up once the bags are emptied? Right on your carpet. An easy way to avoid that is to just check the bags as soon as they come into the house, or make it a rule to check them daily as soon as you can. The same holds true for lunch bags that collect crumbs and half-eaten items–many of which end up all over the house. Leave them unattended too long and you’ll have a moldy mess to worry about.
- Vacuum Thoroughly Twice a Week
Vacuuming your carpet alone will never be enough to rid your home of contaminants. But using a vacuum with a High-Efficiency Particulate Air filter at least once a week can suck up a lot of the gunk. Of course, the vacuum also needs to have a strong motor. Fortunately, it’s not hard or necessarily even overly expensive to obtain the right type of equipment. Homes with pets and/or children may need several passes on the carpet at least twice per week if not more.
- Have Your Carpet Professionally Cleaned
The best way to keep your carpets looking fresh and new is to schedule a professional carpet cleaning in Macomb, Michigan. Doing so once or twice per year can completely revitalize your carpet and increase the value of your home. If you opt for twice a year, consider spring and right before the winter holidays. But if you only want to start with a once-a-year plan, there’s no better time than at the beginning of the school year. Call us today to see how a professional carpet cleaning can improve your family’s health and happiness.