Can carpets harm health: what and why

When choosing flooring, many prefer carpets and rugs. They have various textures, colors and patterns, which allows you to choose a product for any room and design. Carpets give comfort to any room. In addition, they retain heat and provide sound insulation. However, along with the positive aspects of using carpets as part of the interior, there are several significant drawbacks.

Reference!Not so long ago, natural materials were used for the production of carpet flooring - cotton, wool, silk. Now they are increasingly being made from polypropylene and other synthetic fibers. Polypropylene is a fully synthetic material. It has excellent durability, stain resistance.

What harm can carpets do?

Externally, synthetic flooring is almost no different from natural. Their pile is equally soft, while the carpet does not fade and is not trampled over time. Not to lose the brightness of the coating helps that each fiber is dyed during the production process. Polypropylene is a hydrophobic substance, which means that it does not repel moisture. All these properties make synthetic carpets resistant to various pollution.

Excellent wear resistance is another important characteristic of synthetic products. All of them can return to their original shape after prolonged pressure. But due to the fact that polypropylene is a synthetic fiber, many consider products made from it to be unhealthy.

The main disadvantage of synthetic products is their non-environmental friendliness. The substances that make up the fibers are not safe for the lungs. Polypropylene, acrylic, polyurethane, vinyl, nylon - all this is contained in carpets. Substances can evaporate and enter the lungs of a person.

Carpets are made up of several layers. One of them is the substrate. It consists of glue and a fiber surface. The surface may contain various toxic chemical compounds. In addition, when heated, carpets begin to emit toxic fumes, which are extremely dangerous for human, as they can cause severe poisoning in both adults and children and domestic animals.

Important! The most dangerous are refractory flooring. They are treated with special substances that can lead to allergies or cause asthma attacks.

Types of flooring

Carpets differ not only in the material from which they are made, but also in manufacturing technology.

• Fabric. In the manufacture of adhesives are not used. Threads of fiber are intertwined. This makes such products durable, wear-resistant and the safest for home use.
• Tufted. Threads and fibers are driven into the base of the coating, after which they are coated with a special adhesive. Such products require careful cleaning, as they absorb a large amount of dust and dirt.
• Needle Punched. Pile threads are driven into the base of the carpet with special needles. After that, another base is often glued to the surface of the product, which is often made of rubber. The finished product has no pile, so it is easy to care for.

In addition, all floor coverings have different pile lengths. The shortest does not reach three millimeters. The average length is from 3 to 5 mm. There are also products with a high pile.

Important! When buying a floor covering, it should be borne in mind that the higher the pile height, the more difficult it is to care for the product. This is especially important for allergy sufferers as dust accumulating in the pile can provoke exacerbations of the disease.

How to reduce the negative impact

The negative effects of synthetic carpets, rugs or carpets can be significantly reduced. To do this, you must follow some recommendations:

1. Do not walk on the carpet in street shoes. Besides the fact that it is not aesthetically and uncultured, the main thing is that it is extremely unhygienic. All street dust, harmful bacteria, various decomposition products - it will all be on the floor. Not one cleaning product will help get rid of this.
2. It is recommended to do wet cleaning of the product more often. A vacuum cleaner can not cope with a large amount of dust, collecting only a small part of the pollution. The dust accumulated on the product will be inhaled daily and deposited on the respiratory system. In addition to it, bacteria and dust mites can enter the lungs. Therefore, it is extremely important to regularly ventilate the carpet and wet it. It is also advisable to periodically dry clean the product.
3. The room should be regularly ventilated. This will not only provide an influx of fresh air, but also eliminate the harmful and toxic fumes emitted by synthetic compounds.
4. When buying a new carpet, it is advisable to ask about its composition and production method. If all this does not cause concern, then you can safely purchase a carpet. In this case, you should not immediately put it in the room, you must let it ventilate on the street.

Which carpet can be considered safe

Despite the fact that synthetic coatings are very popular, it is better to purchase products made from natural materials - sisal, wool, cotton or coconut palm. In this case, it is worth paying attention to the fact that it should not be treated with chemicals. Floor coverings made from natural materials are completely environmentally friendly and do not cause allergic reactions. At the same time, their service life is much higher than that of a synthetic carpet. Their only significant drawback is the cost. But human health costs much more.

Carpets made of synthetic fibers have both positive and negative features. Therefore, it cannot be argued that they are not worth buying. Modern manufacturers are trying to minimize the harm from synthetic substances in order to make products more environmentally friendly.

Carpets made of polyurethane are especially relevant for rooms with high traffic: kitchen or hallway. For the bedroom and the nursery, the best option would be a product from natural fibers.