March 24, 2024
Importance of Professional Carpet Cleaning In Winter
Winter in Upstate New York is upon us. After the joy and nostalgia of the holiday season fade, we’re left to muddle through the long, gray, cold winter as illnesses loop between family members. It’s the things we do to prepare ourselves for the darkness that can get us through. Let’s set ourselves up for good health and spirits all winter long, shall we? Carpeting can do us a lot of good in the winter - it creates an added layer of coziness and an extra source of insulation. Adding rugs to a space, whether commercial or residential, wall-to-wall or area, has several benefits. But if not properly cleaned and maintained, all of those benefits become null and void. We think there are plenty of reasons to hire professional carpet cleaners year-round, but in Winter, these two reasons take the cake.
-
Fight the spread of indoor pathogens that can make you sick.
-
Stay on top of rock salt stains to protect and preserve your carpets.
Fight Pathogen Spread
We are social creatures and sometimes we can’t avoid getting sick. The common cold, flu, or stomach bound is bound to catch us at some point during the winter. We might have little ones who sneeze into our eyeballs or cough directly into our mouths. We may work in schools or healthcare facilities where pathogen transmittance is just another day at the office. Any one of us takes our chances any time we go to the grocery store, attend a holiday gathering, or just go out in public. Aside from the usual precautions, one way we can all improve our chances of curbing illness is by keeping our carpets clean. Whether in our homes or commercial buildings, setting up a regular carpet cleaning service will significantly lower the number of pathogens that accumulate in carpet fibers.
Did you know that E. coli can survive on polyester at room temperature for 206 days? And flu A and norovirus can retain their infectivity on synthetic fibers for weeks? And foot-and-mouth disease can last for 12 days on wool? Have you ever had foot-and-mouth disease as an adult? It is NOT FUN. Additionally, all carpets have a habit of trapping dust mites and other allergens, which undoubtedly intensify and/or complicate symptoms of respiratory illnesses.
According to the CDC’s Guidelines for Environmental Infection Control (2019), “several studies have documented the presence of diverse microbial populations, primarily bacteria, and fungi, in carpeting; the variety and number of microorganisms tend to stabilize over time. New carpeting quickly becomes colonized, with bacterial growth plateauing after about 4 weeks.
Vacuuming and cleaning the carpeting can temporarily reduce the number of bacteria, but these populations soon rebound and return to pre-cleaning levels. Bacterial contamination tends to increase with higher levels of activity.” Regular vacuuming with a HEPA filter vacuum can help, but it’s not enough. Vacuuming can disperse dust and microorganisms into the air which can then take several hours to settle (all the while, anyone in the vicinity is breathing the now contaminated air). This can be prevented by maintaining a clean vacuum cleaner and using a HEPA filter when in use. Routine professional cleanings can keep the trapped particulates and pathogens at a minimum. This is especially important in areas where:
-
Children (and their grown-ups) frequently play on the floor (in daycares, schools, living rooms, playrooms, and children’s bedrooms)
-
People sleep in beds that are low to the ground
-
Waiting rooms in healthcare facilities
-
Areas surrounding employee desks and workstations
-
Dining areas in restaurants
Professionals bring the skill, knowledge, and equipment that can kill pathogens trapped in carpet fibers and prevent other microorganisms from proliferating, creating a much healthier environment for everyone this winter.
Protect Carpet Fibers
Welcome to upstate NY where the winter is gray and leaning against your car gets you white salt stains on your jacket. That’s right, regular car washes are just as compulsory as routine carpet cleanings. We are here for it.
The NYS Thruway Authority houses 128,100 tons of rock salt in its 38 storage locations. It has used 180,000 tons of rock salt every year for the past ten years to de-ice the thruway. And that doesn’t include what our towns and cities are using. Inevitably, that rock salt ends up on our cars, boots, clothes, and into our homes and businesses, caking itself into any carpet it comes into contact with. And that pesky white stain is not only an eye sore, but it is also ruining your carpet. A mild inconvenience for having safe roads and sidewalks? Not on our watch. Professional carpet cleaners like On The Spot ensure you get the benefit of safe roads AND beautiful carpets.
Rock salt, otherwise known as Halite, is comprised of magnesium carbonate and sodium chloride. It takes the right cleaning solutions and methods to properly remove rock salt stains from carpeting. If the wrong solution or method is used, it can embed the stains deeper into the fibers. If the stains go left untreated, the sodium chloride will break down the carpet fibers and both the look and feel of the carpeting will be compromised.
Rock salt can also do a number on other flooring materials, so it’s best to keep absorbent, rubber-backed mats in any indoor/outdoor walkways to begin with. Keep high-value area rugs out of doorways where boots and shoes get a lot of action and provide a drop zone for boots and shoes to sufficiently dry. But sometimes it can’t be avoided - especially in carpeted public and commercial areas.
Carpeting can bring comfort and warmth into your home and business all winter long. But carpeting is also an investment. Don’t let your beautiful carpets contribute to an already rampant cold and flu season. And don’t let those salt stains detract from your hard-to-find joy this winter. Keep those carpets clean and cozy with routine professional cleanings. Our staff is professional and leaves no mess behind. We clean everything On The Spot! Schedule your cleanings today!
Sources: