For many people that have carpet lining their household's various rooms, it may seem a silly task to pay incredibly close attention to what kind of cleaning professional is hired to clean the carpets and rugs. Most authorities on carpet cleaning recommend that carpet be professionally cleaned at least twice a year, and for most people that have endured the countless stains brought about by spills, muddy shoes and other various dirty accidents -- simply hiring a trusted, Eco safety aware local carpet cleaning service like Feet Up Carpet Cleaning Miami is the obvious solution.
However, lazily hiring whatever carpet cleaning service is cheapest and closest can actually affect an entire household's health. People seem to overlook the health concerns attributed to harmful chemicals that are most commonly involved with spot removal and professional carpet cleaning services. The reason for this is because people just don't think about a carpet as anything other than some kind of fabric under our feet.
Yet, safe carpet cleaners are a very important aspect of keeping stains away and ensuring that the members of the household will remain healthy to boot. Although carpet may be under our feet, there are a myriad of pollutants, dust mites and carpet toxins that are initially thrust into the air on a daily basis. Having harmful chemicals remove stains, even when a professional carpet cleaners is doing it, can further complicate carpet-related health problems, which primarily begin when chemicals are carried through the air and throughout the home's ventilation systems.
Most carpet cleaners are not safe carpet cleaners. Carpet cleaners usually contain toxic ingredients, some of which may not even be listed on the labels due to "proprietary" or "trade secrets". Spot removers in particular can have an increasingly detrimental effect on human health.
For example, compounds that produce a lot of fumes such as Formaldehyde can cause all sorts of health risks. In addition, many carpet cleaners and carpet cleaning services use chemicals that omit harmful acids, pesticides, disinfectants, lye (sodium hydroxide) and much more. Perfluoro-octane Sulfonate (PFOS) is another commonly used carpet cleaning chemical that can accumulate within the environment as well as a human and/or animal's tissue causing detrimental long-term effects.
Most of the toxic chemicals brought about by non-safe carpet cleaners and cleaning companies are absorbed through inhalation. Right after application and especially when drying, chemicals will evaporate into the air causing harsh indoor pollution, especially during hot, damp times of the year or within poorly ventilated rooms.
There are a variety of diseases attributed to un-safe carpet cleaners and carpet cleaning companies such as asthma, chronic allergies, heart disease and cancer. In fact, the main ingredient in many commercial carpet-cleaning solutions is the dry cleaning additive known as Perchloroethylene, which can cause dizziness, fatigue, nausea, kidney damage and even liver damage.
So how can we get rid of those spoiled spots and stains while still saving money and protecting our health with safe carpet cleaners? Well, there are a variety of precautions that can be taken. The primary precaution for safe carpet cleaners is to simply make sure that the home is ventilated extremely well during and directly after a thorough carpet cleaning. Make sure to stay out of the house for about three to four hours in order to let the fumes dissipate and keep the windows open, preferably on a non-damp, humid day.
When looking for companies that have safe carpet cleaners, simply ask the following questions: do you use a lot of plant-derived ingredients? The more plant-derived ingredients the better. Do you avoid solvent-based cleaners with ingredients like Butoxy-ethonol and Propoxy or Butoxy Diglycol Ethers? Knowing the names of the chemicals that need to be avoided as well as the types of supplies that need to be embraced make all the difference for safe carpet cleaners.
Know the facts before hiring just any cleaning professional or renting just any machine or buying just any toxic chemical to clean carpet and wipe those pesky spots out of site. Although the spots may leave and the carpet may look good as new, the potential health defects may cause a much larger problem than any spot ever could.
