Did you catch the newspaper article on Saturday, April 16th ,in the Daily Courier here in Prescott AZ? There was an article written by Kathy Mitchell and Marcy Sugar, writers of Annie’s Mailbox. (These are two longtime editors of the Ann Landers column). In case you missed it, the subject was to remove or not to remove your shoes before walking into a home to avoid bringing outside soil and germs into the home.
I’m always stressing that cleaning rugs is so much more important than a clean “looking” rug and that it has a lot to do with really cleaning the rug for the health of you and your family! Turns out that the University of Houston did a study and discovered 39% of shoes did in fact contain the bacteria C.diff. (You can read about C.diff on various medical websites such as WEB.MD.) Additionally The University of Arizona conducted their own test and found people’s shoes carried nine different species of bacteria, many of which can cause infections in our stomachs, eyes and lungs. Shoes were found to be a major carrier of these germs and in fact the germs live longer on shoes than any other surface. It is easily transferred from shoes to both tile floors and especially carpeting.
So as I have been telling people for a long time now, the benefits of cleaning your rugs regularly is far beyond the esthetic value and much more of a health value! Obviously there is no way to totally avoid germs from entering our home nor is being a “germ freak” a reasonable solution. After all, a healthy body is designed to be able to fight off thousands of germs. I believe that good cleaning habits, which is this case would include professionally cleaning your rugs, will greatly help the overall healthy environment of your home - weather you choose to wear shoes in your home or not.
I prefer to take a more balanced approach; with the understanding that rugs do act as a great filter to a home and actually help to catch soil and germs by trapping germs and dirt in the rug fibers. Well if they are trapped in the rug fibers, then having your rugs professionally cleaned does seem to be the next logical step.
Here at Arizona Oriental & Specialty Rug Care in Prescott AZ we provide a deep cleaning service of rugs including dusting, full immersion cleaning and fresh water rinsing. WE NEVER WASH RUGS IN BATCHES, which is a common practice in very large rug washing facilities. This means you do not have to fear there might be cross contamination from some other client’s rugs to your rugs.
No, it’s not a perfect germ free world and no we shouldn’t be making mountains out of molehills; just keep in mind that since rugs do spend their lives on floors, they do need to be properly cleaned every one to two years depending on the active lifestyle of your family. If you have sick family members or pets then more frequent rug cleaning will be necessary.
Till next time, enjoy your beautiful art for your floor and remember a clean rug is a rug that can last you a lifetime!
Arizona Oriental & Specialty Rug Care serves Prescott, Prescott Valley, Sedona and much of the Northern Arizona areas. We meet the highest standards in professional cleaning of area rugs with rug wash specialists having earned the highest training, including certification as WOOLSAFE FIBRE CARE SPECIALISTS through the WOOLSAFE ORGANISATION. Such extraordinary certification ensures the area rugs of our client’s receive the utmost in care.
Call us for additional information on cleaning a rug for health a healthier home and quotes at 928-445-1718, visit our website at www.ArizonaOriental.com, or stop by Monday through Friday 10:00 am to 5:00 pm at our rug washing facility at 565 EZ Street, Prescott, AZ 86301 (pick-up and delivery also available).
