What’s Lurking In Your Carpet?

There is probably a whole lot of stuff lurking in your carpet that you didn’t realize was there and it could contain 100 times more allergens than your hard surface floors. (Source: e-healthy homes). Carpeting is a reservoir for pollen, dust mites, pet dander, mold spores, cigarette smoke, and other allergy causing substances that settle within the fibers. Yikes! That’s enough to make you wonder if it’s your carpet that is making your allergies flare up.

If you suffer from allergies, like one in five people in the U.S., you may want to do your homework before you decide what type of new flooring to put in your home, and you may want to opt out of wall-to-wall carpet altogether.

Carpets and Allergens

Allergens trapped in your carpet are most often tracked in from outside on the bottoms of feet or shoes. Usually, they are environmental allergens. Some of the symptoms of environmental allergies are exactly what you might expect, including runny nose, sneezing, itchy, red eyes, and coughing.

Carpets with long fibers, like shag, are especially prone to harboring allergens. Keeping a regular vacuuming schedule and getting your carpets deep cleaned once or twice a year goes a long way in minimizing the allergens that build up in your carpeting.

Allergy Friendly Flooring

To totally avoid allergen filled floors, consider replacing carpeting with hard surface flooring such as luxury vinyl, hardwood or laminate. Hard surface flooring doesn’t harbor dust mites or other allergens and is much simpler to clean. This type of flooring is a smart choice that can improve the quality of your home environment by eliminating carpet allergies. This is especially true in areas of the home that get the most foot traffic.

• Solid or Engineered Hardwood – Both solid hardwood and engineered hardwood are beautiful and long lasting. Hardwood floors come in a wide variety of types, textures and colors, but unlike carpet, hardwood does not contribute to carpet allergies.
• Luxury Vinyl – Luxury vinyl is another alternative to carpet that is giving hardwood and laminate flooring a run for the money. According to the World Floor Covering Association, luxury vinyl is one of the fastest growing trends in the flooring industry. This is a result of extraordinary photo technology that mimics wood or tile so closely that you have to look twice to see that it’s vinyl.
• Laminate – For homeowners looking to spend less, laminate flooring is a great choice. Like hardwood floors, laminate floors offer an amazing selection of designs with the look and texture of real wood and stone at a fraction of the cost. As an added benefit, laminate floors are extremely durable and stand up to the wear and tear of pets and kids, while resisting the buildup of allergens.
• Tile – Replacing carpet with tile is another option. Tile is durable, and environmental allergens are simply swept away. Plus, tile floors can be disinfected. With so many colors and shapes to choose from, in a wide range of price points, tile is a stylish and affordable option.

Don’t Discount Carpet

Before you totally throw out the carpet idea altogether because of the allergy situation in your home, consider an allergy-friendly carpet. They do exist! So if you love the look and feel of carpet, don’t despair.

Look for a carpet that’s made from nylon. Nylon carpet is resistant to mildew and moisture and the material prevents pollen from settling in the fibers. Short pile carpets are much better for allergy sufferers, too. The low pile makes it harder for dirt and outside environmental allergens to hide from the vacuume cleaner.

Talk to a Flooring Pro

If you’re an allergy sufferer, or live with one, talk to a flooring professional like Flowers Fooring to find the right product and flooring choice to ease your suffering.

About Flowers Flooring
Flowers Flooring is your family flooring specialist with two locations – Cornelius, NC, and Winston-Salem, NC. Both locations service a 100-mile radius from the showroom. Both locations specialize in flooring sales and installation, including carpet, laminate, hardwood, sand & finish, hardwood restoration, vinyl plank, vinyl tile, rubber flooring, tile floors, tile showers, tile backsplash, area rugs, interior painting, and more. To reach the Cornelius, NC location please call (704) 445-7750 and to reach our Winston-Salem location, please call (336) 660-0977. Please be sure to inquire about our current promotion and financing offers.