Ever wondered why you might be sneezing and coughing at an alarming rate, or why your children are often ill? The answer to that question may be as easy as looking at your carpet.
A specific source of contamination in household carpeting is attributed to dust mites, and although you may not be able to see them, smell them, touch them, or even hear them, they are there. As luck would have it, humans shed their skin seven times a year.
If you’ve ever asked your skin care professional, they might have even told you that you lose a layer of skin every 28 days. Of course, this is normal and essential for humans, but it is this very thing that dust mites survive on. Dust mites thrive and feed on protein matter such as dead skin cells.
According to the British Textile Technology Group, 83% of household dust is produced from dead skin cells shed by humans. But we’re not the only ones to blame for dust mites. Du Pont reports that 70% of U.S. homes with carpeting also have either a dog, a cat, or both. Unfortunately, all too often, pet accidents occur on household carpeting, leaving urine and fecal residue behind. This, combined with animal dander that is shed by cats and dogs and human skin, provides a perfect feeding ground for dust mites.
The answer to this problem is not to be alarmed and stop disposing of any carpet in the home…the problem is not the carpet. How it is being maintained is. Hot water extraction cleaning is the best way to go.
First, by cleaning.
Only Steamway’s unique heating system maintains the temperature for sanitation. Secondly, by agitation, both with water and vacuum extraction. This helps in the physical removal of particulates or all the bad stuff. Third, by the temperature of the cleaning solution.
Since studies show that there is a temperature loss of 20 to 50 degrees between the cleaning unit and when the cleaning solution actually strikes the carpet, only fuel oil-fired heating systems can create the temperatures necessary to reach sanitation levels of 130 degrees and above.