How to Choose Asthma-friendly Carpet for Your Home

Asthma is a respiratory disease that inflames and narrows the airways. It can affect people of any age, but it's often diagnosed during childhood. Some asthma symptoms include wheezing, coughing, and shortness of breath. For some, asthma is an inconvenience, but for others it can lead to life threatening asthma attacks. Asthma can be triggered by allergens, exercise, or workplace irritants.

Asthma can affect people of any age, but it usually starts during childhood. Limiting exposure to asthma triggers and creating at home environment that reduces the possibility of an asthma attack is important. Something as simple as the flooring in your home could be a trigger. There are carpeting options, even for asthma and allergy sufferers.

Research

Over the past few years, several studies have been done regarding carpets and asthma. For a long time, everyone was told to remove carpeting and get hard floors throughout the house. Researchers have found that logic is out of date. Carpets trap allergens, while hard floors keep the allergens out in the open making them more susceptible to being stirred up by walking across the room. Take a look at some of the research in the following articles:

• Airmid Healthgroup Limited
• United Allergy Services
• Medscape Medical News

What Should I Look For?

When shopping for carpet, realize that not all carpets are created equal. Here are some things to keep in mind while you shop around for the product that is right for you and within your budget.

• Pick a short pile or loop with tightly woven strands over a tall, shag-type carpet.
• VOC's (volatile organic compounds) are gasses released from carpets and other products. Choose a product with a low VOC rating.
• Solution dyed Nylon and Olefin carpets reduce mold and mildew and resist dirt. Wool and Triexta carpets supply even more hypoallergenic properties. Triexta carpeting is a green carpet sourced from corn sugar and it's great for kid and asthma sufferers.
• Find out what chemicals are in the glue and padding that will go under your new carpet. Stick to more green, low VOC options here too.

Cleaning

When someone in your house is an asthma sufferer, extra cleaning is necessary to reduce allergen triggers. Here are a few housekeeping tips to keep healthy, reduced allergen floors at home.

• Vacuum one or two times a week, especially in the asthma sufferers bedroom. If possible, vacuum when that person isn't around to reduce their exposure to allergens stirred up during vacuuming.
• Use a small particle filter bag or buy a vacuum with a high efficiency HEPA filter to reduce the amount of allergens escaping the vacuum.
• Carpet should be professional cleaned each year. Hot water extractions offer the best, more efficient cleaning.