Extended Rainy Season and Carpets

19 Dec Extended Rainy Season and Carpets

Humidity and Your Health

High humidity isn’t just unpleasant. It can seriously affect your health and make your home a trap for mold and mildew.

Living in Northern Virginia means living with high levels of humidity in every season. Add to that the heavy rainfall and occasional snowfall, and you could be in for a lot of humidity-related problems.

How Humidity Affects Your Health

When it comes to humidity, balance is the key. If it’s too low, you could experience dry skin, flaky hair, a sore throat, and dry eyes. You’ll also get a lot of static electricity from your carpets, furniture or clothing. It’s pretty unpleasant.

Humidity that’s too high can also have negative effects. In this post, we’ll take a look at some of the problems high humidity can cause, and show you how to avoid the worst of them.

Effects of High Humidity

If the humidity in your house is too high, you’ll see the following effects:

• An increase in dust mites.
• Spots of mold and mildew.
• Stuffy air that makes breathing difficult.
• Aggravated asthma symptoms.
• Allergic reactions including rashes and nasal congestion.

Volatile Organic Compounds

When you have high humidity, you increase the amount and intensity of volatile organic compounds (VOC) in your house. VOCs are chemicals that are found in many common, household items. Under certain conditions, they turn into vapors that fill the air in your home.

Some common sources of VOCs include:

• Carpeting.
• Cleaning products.
• Crafting supplies.
• Cigarettes and cigars.
• Paint and paint thinners.
• Solvents and adhesives.
• Pesticides.
• Composite wood.
• Upholstery.
• Office machinery.
• Dry cleaning fluids.

Effects of VOCs

You can be affected by VOCs by inhaling them or through skin contact. Over time, the buildup of VOCs in your body can have serious health effects, including:

• Dizziness and nausea.
• Sinus irritations.
• Respiratory illnesses.
• Kidney damage.
• Eczema and other skin disorders.
• Trouble sleeping.

Avoid Humidity-Related Health Problems

There are steps you can take to reduce the release of dangerous VOCs in your home and make sure that you’re breathing fresh, healthy air.

1. Keep the humidity at an even level. The Environmental Protection Agency recommends that homes be kept between 25% and 55% humidity. If your house is too humid, use dehumidifiers. If it’s too dry, use humidifiers.

2. Have carpets and upholstery professionally cleaned regularly. Professional cleaning is the only way to ensure that dust mites and mildew spores are cleaned out of your furnishings and carpet. Use a cleaning service that employs safe, non-toxic cleaning products like the PureScience method used by CarpetKeepers.

3. Stop using chemical cleaners, air fresheners, and similar products. Switch to products that use natural, nontoxic ingredients.

4. Get rid of mildew. If you find mold or mildew anywhere in your house, clean it out immediately. Left alone, it will grow and spread. On hard surfaces, you can use a mix of bleach and water. For soft surfaces like carpet and furnishings, professional cleaning is the best way to destroy mildew.

5. Dust and sweep your air ducts. They frequently harbor dust mites and other allergens.

Damp Carpets and Humidity Problems

High humidity levels can seep into the fibers of your carpets and upholstery. Without the proper ventilation, they’ll breed mold, mildew, dust mites and high concentrations of VOCs.

You can avoid these problems by having them cleaned. Carpet Keepers uses our patented PureScience technology to destroy toxins and allergens. If you’re troubled by high humidity that has seeped into your home’s fibers, give us a call today.