WebMD's Nasal Allergy Relief slideshow offers solutions that make better use of the carpet in your house through proper cleaning and maintenance.
Over the years, I have seen some pretty inflammatory remarks concerning carpet, and in almost every case, the author of such remarks is usually relying on outdated information or unsupported data. One of the biggest topics has been, and continues to be, the notion that carpet somehow or another triggers or exacerbates asthma and allergy when it does not.
If you look back at some of our blog posts you’ll see that we address this subject quite frequently, well….because it continues to pop up in the mainstream. We attend doctor conventions and engage them in conversation; we respond to websites and media outlets; we have even gone as far as to issue press releases when the offending entity is so big, it deserves the warranted attention.
I liken it to a boxing match because no matter how many times we go to the ring to fight it, we know that there is always going to be another challenger answering the bell wanting a piece of the action.
Of course, the good news is that not everybody we battle is a heavyweight contender. In fact, the reason I wanted to bring all of this to your attention is because sometimes if you keep punching and punching, it does make a difference.
One of the real heavyweights as far as information for consumers is the website WebMD. With more and more people doing all they can to avoid co-pays and such at the doctor’s office, getting free medical advice for what ails you is a pretty popular thing these days. WebMD is pretty much the Rolls Royce of such things and based on their marketing and national TV campaigns must be making a pretty good living in order to afford such things.
WebMD currently has some information up regarding “Nasal Allergy Relief” and in it they provide 17 items one can incorporate to provide just that. Several of those items have carpet ramifications in them.
For starters, they suggest walk-off mats for entry ways into the house. Many irritants -- dust, mold, dust mites, wood smoke, pesticides -- get tracked into your house on your shoes they say, and of course, a walk-off mat helps to keep them outside and off your flooring. Even if a carpet does hold such allergens from being circulated into the breathing zone, prevention of having them in the carpet in the first place is a high order.
The website also recommends using a vacuum cleaner with a HEPA filter on it. Now we would love for them to go a step further and recommend using a Seal of Approval/Green Label vacuum, but part of that is probably an education matter. Our SOA/GL program not only removes the allergens trapped in the carpet, but our testing protocol guarantees that everything off that vacuum cleaner is being contained to a very high degree. For instance, a gold level approved SOA/GL vacuum has to pass a test that shows it has no more than 35 micrograms of particle per cubic meter emitting from it. And by emitting from it, I mean from the filtration device as well as the vacuum cleaner itself which includes all the tiny parts underneath the machine where all the agitating action takes place as from the parts of the vacuum itself including the belts and hoses.
WebMD also mentions using steam cleaners to rid carpet of the dust mites that set up shop, and again, we’re all aboard with that. Deep cleaning the carpet every 12-18 months is necessary to pull out the soil and particles that settle deep into it, and hot-water extraction with an SOA-approved machine is a wonderful recipe for removing dust mites and such.
Certainly WebMD does have authors who recommend removing carpet and replacing it with hard surface and we have engaged them on this personal viewpoint in the past. The great news about this most recent article is that it doesn’t recommend removing carpet. It provides solutions on how to better utilize the carpet people have in their house through proper cleaning and maintenance, and that is the message we have been taking to doctors for the last year or so.
Recently, one of the doctors we met with made a very profound statement when asked about carpet and allergies: “Most of my patients don’t sleep on the carpet, but they do sleep on mattresses and pillows.” The message is starting to resonate that cleaning a carpet is the much better resolution than removing it.
Carpets are wonderful filters that can be used to protect those with allergies and asthma, but they need to be cleaned and maintained just like any other filter in your house. And it is nice to see when heavyweights such as WebMD are getting the message.
~ James
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