Dirty Carpet Health Risks: 4 Alarming Ways It Affects Your Wellbeing

Is your carpet making you sick?

While it may look stunning, and feel absolutely amazing under your feet, your carpet is home to all sorts of allergens, dirt, dead skin and hair, acting as a breeding ground for bacteria, mould and dust mites.

And even though you vacuum regularly, what lies beneath, buried deep within the fibres, invisible to the naked eye, may shock you…

4 Shocking Ways Your Dirty Carpet is Damaging Your Health

Respiratory Issues

You may think an easy vacuum once a week is more than enough to pick up the nasties stuck within your carpet’s fibre.

The scary thing is, a number of those allergens, bacteria and mycotoxins become airborne after vacuuming…

Imagine trying to vacuum up sand at the beach…

… while you’ll do a good job of sucking up some of the sand, you’ll also push a lot of it around…

…the truth is, even walking around can be enough to kick a few particles into the air.

While some are relatively harmless, if these particles from your carpet make it into your airways, they can lead to a variety of respiratory conditions, ranging from coughs and flu like symptoms, all the way to violent asthma attacks.

Skin Conditions

As mentioned earlier, your carpet plays host to a variety of bacteria, meaning your skin is at risk each and every time you come into contact with it.

This is especially true when you have pets in the home.

Because of this, it’s not uncommon to develop skin conditions (embarrassing skin conditions) like athlete’s foot, after walking around barefoot on your dirty carpet.

To make matters worse…

The dreaded Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA) can make its way into your home, hitching a ride on dirty sneakers and gym clothes, with the sole goal of making you ill…

… like, severely ill!

Stomach Illness

And the fun doesn’t stop there, because you know what?

The MRSA in your carpet often has roommates, too!

Roommates like campylobacter and salmonella.

Both these bacteria can lead to major problems for your stomach, intestines and bowels, producing symptoms like:

• Diarrhoea
• Fever
• Bloating
• Stomach cramps
• Intestinal pain
• Nausea
• Vomiting

If left untreated, especially for those with a weak immune system, illnesses from these bacteria can be fatal.

Speaking of weak immune systems…

Weak Immune Systems

As we’ve seen so far, carpets are exceptionally good at housing a number of nasty elements, wreaking havoc on our health.

This constant barrage of allergens and bacteria can leave you in a perpetual state of low-level illness.

No matter how mild an illness may be, if your immune system is stressed and working overtime to protect you, eventually, it will weaken and render you at an even higher risk of disease.

Think of a goalie in soccer, whose job is to stop the opposing team from kicking the ball in to the net. The more shots the goalie saves, the more fatigued they’ll be. And no matter how good they are at their job, eventually, one of those balls is going to make it through.

What’s the Solution?

While maintaining a clean healthy home should always be your main priority, the truth is, when it comes to ridding your carpet of nasty allergens, filth and bacteria simple vacuuming just won’t cut it.

And when you try to shampoo or steam clean your carpet yourself, you run the risk of damaging your carpet, or even worse, creating an environment for nasty mould to spawn and thrive.

Having your carpets professionally cleaned regularly is the best way to reduce the health risks to you and your family, while maintaining both the fantastic look of your home and the life of your carpet.

Contact our professional Gold Coast Carpet Cleaning team today fora no obligation free quote.