|
 |
|
|
::
|
|
|
 
     |
Care and maintenance
Very little equipment is required to maintain a carpet well. A good vacuum cleaner is essential as well as a small box of supplies - including carpet shampoo, dry cleaning fluid and clean absorbent cloths or paper tissues to remove spills. The following are sound basic rules for keeping your carpet looking its best. Regular carpet cleaning will extend the life of your carpet and maintain its good appearance. If you are considering cleaning the carpet or rug yourself make sure to use qualified products for the job. For example, WOOLSAFE-approved carpet care products have been independently and scientifically tested and are safe and effective for cleaning and maintaining all types of carpets and rugs, especially wool and woolblends. Never use detergents such as dish washing liquids, soaps or other cleaners recommended for general household use. Although they may clean your carpet satisfactorily they will almost certainly cause problems such as rapid re-soiling, colour bleeding or other damage to the pile or backing of the carpet. You can hire a carpet cleaning machine (these are available from different dry cleaners or hardware stores), but again make sure you get an approved cleaning product to go with it. If in doubt: check! Read the instructions for use. So-called 3-in-1 cleaning machines can also be used, but make sure you first read the instructions for using it as a wet cleaning machine. Before starting ANY wet cleaning ALWAYS test the carpet in an inconspicuous place for colour fastness. Also check, if possible, any maintenance leaflet that came with the carpet for the manufacturer’s recommendations regarding wet cleaning. It is almost always best to engage the services of a professional carpet & upholstery cleaning company. This is also the recommendation from carpet manufacturers. To get a really expert job done entrust the work to a carpet cleaning company. Again, ensure you use a qualified cleaning company. WOOLSAFE have a list of accredited cleaners and these companies are fully trained, have been in business for a considerable length of time, are members of one or more recognised professional trade associations related to the cleaning industry and have a reputation for top quality service. Other Handy Maintenance Tips Entrance or walk-off mats Fibre loss Protective treatments Pile reversal or Shading Sprouting Colour change Draught marking
Here are some tips we can add to your home rug maintenance routines. Leave in the sun once or twice a year with the sun facing the back of the rug to destroy enzymes. Lightly vacuum the back and front of the rug once a week - do not vacuum the fringes. Beat the rug once a year over a washing line to remove dust and dirt. Turn regularly to ensure the wear of the rug is even. Comb or brush out fringes using a broad tooth brush. Use protectors on chair legs or tables to protect the rug. For further information about modern & antique rug care please contact your local cleaning specialist.(Return to top)
In order to thrive, dust mites require food (flakes of human skin), moisture (in the presence of some species of mould such as Aspergillus Penicilloides) and a dark warm habitat. Dust Mites need a narrow range of high temperature and humidity conditions to thrive. Dust mites populations show optimal growth at conditions between 18ºC to 25ºC and 60% to 70% relative humidity, conditions of temperature and humidity rarely found in carpet in homes in the UK. Furthermore, when the relative humidity falls below 50% the dust mites desiccate and die. The dust mites feed on the dead scales of skin, which the human body constantly sheds at a rate of 5g per day. The scales are too dry and horny when they flake off the human body for the mites to eat and they need to condition in a moist atmosphere for a few days to absorb water from the air, and to promote the growth of miniature surface moulds, before they are suitable as mite food. Since water is not readily available in carpet the mites depend upon the absorbed moisture for their entire water needs. Since the dust mites require such an extreme range of conditions to survive it is common to find carpet completely free of mites or with very low concentrations. Hysterical claims that, as many as 100,000 dust mites ‘may’ be found in a square metre of carpet have no scientific validity. Bedding Bedding on the other hand offers ideal conditions for dust mites to live and thrive which are not dependent upon the ambient relative humidity of the bedroom. We spend approximately one third of our lives in bed during which time the body loses approximately one litre of water each night through perspiration and breathing. During this period the body continues to shed skin scales which are concentrated in a relatively confined area and so the bed provides a dark, warm, humid and food rich environment for the dust mite with long periods of intimate contact between bedding nose and throat. In a Dutch study it was found that the level of dust mite allergen in dust taken from mattresses was more than 78 times greater than in dust taken from wall to wall carpet in school rooms, almost 3 times greater than dust taken from carpet in living rooms and 1½ times greater than in dust taken from bedroom carpet. This illustrates the importance of beds and bedding as the main environment for dust mite to thrive and produce allergen. Surveys of households in Germany have shown that whilst almost 30% of all houses were mite free, 50-60% of mattresses, blankets and upholstery fabrics contained mites but only 16% of wall to wall carpets in living rooms and 45% of bedroom carpets contained them. Most researchers agree that the main centre for dust mites to breed is in bedding and following agitation during bed making the airborne dust mites and their allergen then settle on other surfaces including the bedroom floor and soft furnishings. Migration of the dust mites to other areas of the home then slowly takes place through air changes, agitation and vibration. In schools (where there are no beds) the allergen level in dust taken from carpet is very low and Professeur du Blay of the University of Strasbourg has concluded from a study that there is negligible allergen in office carpet because of the absence of beds. In a study, which examined the health of 98 asthmatic children in Holland, it was found that those children who were exposed to wall to wall carpets suffered no poorer health than children exposed to uncarpeted floors. Dust Mite Allergen Live dust mites do not themselves cause allergic reactions but their faecal pellets are the cause of sensitisation and can trigger allergic reactions in some people. These faecal pellets are extremely small measuring about 10-15 microns (1 micron is 1/1000th of a millimetre). When these are held trapped in the pile of carpet they do not pose a hazard to sensitised persons. It is only when they are airborne that allergen particles pose a health problem by being available for inhalation. Airborne allergen settles on all surfaces but whilst hard surfaces, including floors, allow the allergens to become easily airborne through the slightest draught or vibration carpet retains the allergen deep in the pile. It has been found, for example, that the velocity of air over a carpet surface is required to be ten times greater than that over a smooth surface if the same number of particles is to be released into the air. There is no direct link between the number of mites in a carpet and the amount of allergic faeces present. Production of allergen is very slow and it takes a long time for a significant build up to occur. In a residential environment, wall to wall carpet prevents the allergic material from being released into the atmosphere by holding the fine allergen particles in the pile and improves the quality of life of allergic persons. This has been confirmed by research, which showed that measurements of the level of dust mite allergen in the room air above the surface of carpets, even those containing high levels of dust mite allergen, failed to detect the presence of allergen. These measurements were made over an extended period at only 24” above the carpet surface. This study, quotes other research (Air Quality Sciences, An Indoor Air Quality Study of Alafia Elementary School, (1994-95) Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.A.) which also found no detectable dust mite allergen above carpet. In a further study which compared the flooring in fourteen Swedish town halls, it was found that whilst more dust could be collected from carpeted floors than uncarpeted floors no greater amount of dust could be found in the indoor air over carpeted floors. This again confirms the inherent property of carpet to hold dust, including allergen, in the pile preventing it from becoming airborne. Dust mite expert, Dr John Maunder, Director of the Medical Entomology Centre at Cambridge University is certain that carpet cannot be blamed for allergic reactions. “Only in poorly ventilated humid dwellings can large populations of mites build up in carpets. In dry well ventilated places either no mites exist or they are in such low numbers that no significant production of allergen occurs.”(Return to top)
It is well recognised that the filter like properties of carpets hold dust including allergen, and as previously discussed, it carries out the important function of holding and preventing it from circulating in the air. Most importantly it holds the dust until it is removed, by regular and efficient vacuum cleaning and periodic carpet cleaning, typical of a regime in a well maintained home in the UK. The real key to controlling dust mite populations is to control the temperature and relative humidity indoors to prevent the warm, humid conditions that dust mites need to live. The easiest way to achieve this is to ensure good ventilation in the home, particularly in bedrooms, which is the critical zone, and also avoid excessive temperatures. Cleaning of carpets The accumulation of dust mite allergen in carpet depends upon the balance between its production and its removal. Production of allergen is very slow and it takes a considerable period for a significant allergen build-up to occur. Although allergen is a very stable compound some is removed from carpet by natural biological or chemical breakdown, most remains until removed by cleaning through normal vacuum cleaning. The very fine allergen particles and minute flakes of skin, which comprise the food source of the mite, are easily removed from carpet by a proper cleaning regime. A carpet cleaned regularly, in a well-ventilated environment, will not contain enough allergen to affect most people. The vacuum cleaner will ideally have a powerful suction and, have efficient filtration to ensure the retention of the allergen within the cleaner and preventing its release into the air. The British Allergy Foundation has an evaluation and accreditation scheme for vacuum cleaners and asthma sufferers are recommended to use a machine approved by them. The physical action of vacuum cleaning will probably provide sufficient agitation of the carpet surface to allow allergen particles to be stirred up into the atmosphere. The action of opening windows during and, for a period after, vacuum cleaning will ventilate the room and effectively remove the allergen from the air. One additional benefit of regular vacuum cleaning is the removal of skin flakes from the surface of the carpet before they condition (i.e. absorb moisture) to the point that they become edible for the dust mite. This reduction in available food supply will reduce mite populations. Studies involving 13 classrooms in the U.S.A. showed that a single dry extraction carpet cleaning operation reduced the average level of dust mite allergen in carpet dust by 51%. (16) A further study involving 57 homes in Georgia and Wisconsin showed that a single dry extraction cleaning operation reduced the average level of cat allergen (Fel d 1) by over 85%. Occasional wet extraction cleaning of the carpet is also to be recommended to reduce deep seated dusts and steam cleaning has also been found to be particularly efficient at removing a high proportion of allergen and completely killing the dust mite population. Summary When a household is ventilated and vacuum cleaning of a normal frequency and intensity is carried out, carpet in UK homes:
Carpet manufacturers in the UK recognise their responsibility towards the environment and do not generally add dangerous materials to their products during manufacture. The requirements of the OSPAR convention are recognised and understood and those chemicals listed under this agreement which might find their way into carpet are being phased out within the required time scale. (The OSPAR convention is the main inter-governmental agreement to regulate and control marine pollution in the North Sea and the North Atlantic.) Generally speaking if minute traces of toxic chemicals are found in carpet they will almost certainly be there as a constituent of one of the raw materials used in carpet manufacture, particularly those which may be sourced outside the modern western world. The results of a Healthy Flooring Network study would have you believe that carpet manufacturers inevitably include a range of dangerous chemicals in their products but it must be clearly understood that the small sample of carpet tested in their 2000 study was not in the least representative of the wider range of products made by British carpet producers and some products analysed in the study were carefully selected since the chemicals found were indeed likely to be present in the products since they were advertised accordingly There was, furthermore, no information relating to acceptable human exposure levels of such chemicals or comparisons with background levels of these chemicals in the everyday environment. Two carpets tested, were found to contain small traces of Organo-tin compounds as “anti-dust-mite” treatments. The treatment applied has since been re-formulated and contains no organo-tin compounds. Those carpets containing a high proportion of wool in the pile were found, not surprisingly, to contain Permethrin. A chemical treatment used to impart insect (moth) resistance. There is no evidence to suggest that the very low levels found in these carpet samples have any adverse effect upon human health. Brominated Fire Retardants were found in 3 products, two of which were not produced in the UK and were constructed with polypropylene fibre, a product with less inherent fire retardancy properties than other popular carpet fibres. Formaldehyde was found in small amounts in a number of samples, which is also not surprising when wool is known to absorb formaldehyde from the atmosphere (contributing to cleaner air). It is possible that some of these chemicals may have been included in raw materials down the supply chain and therefore present in the carpet without the knowledge of the carpet manufacturer. Organo-tins and Brominated fire retardant are two of the chemicals in the OSPAR list of 32 chemicals which are to be phased out, by agreement, by 2020 at the latest. The study concludes that these potentially toxic chemicals were found in some (but not all) samples and goes on to say "although the consequences of long term exposure to chemicals such as these, in the indoor environment is uncertain, the above chemicals have properties which make them potentially hazardous to human health and the environment”. The words potentially and uncertain should be noted! An article published in New Scientist magazine (5th May 2001) alleged that living indoors exposes us to much higher levels of toxins than being outdoors. This article is based on US experience and is not directly comparable to experience in Britain. As pointed out above carpet is acknowledged as a reservoir for dust, which sinks to the base of the pile. The dust may well contain minute traces of toxins and absorb others but, clearly, these toxins did not originate in the carpet and in any event they would have also contaminated other indoor surfaces. Research has shown that only 1% of dust in carpet is available on the carpet surface, the remainder being held in the pile until such time as it is removed by normal cleaning.(Return to top)
Remember that you are going to use your carpet every day and it will last a long time, so it is worth taking a bit of time and trouble to ensure you make the right decision. When selecting a carpet consider the following: 1.Suitability - How much wear will it receive? Always look for the Quality Mark - your assurance that the suitability claim is valid. Having answered these questions, you are ready to buy. When you do, always remember to: 6.Get your room professionally measured. |
|
|
  |
|
Copyright
© RUG ROUTE - 2007. All rights reserved.
Unauthorised copying of any images, or content by any means is not permitted. |