COVID-19 has quickly become public enemy number one because of its insidious nature; its ability to lurk for hours on surfaces – including your carpets – and its penchant for making people sick – really, really sick.

Since the global pandemic arrived, our certified carpet cleaning technicians get asked all the time about how long COVID-19 survives in carpets. While we are no healthcare experts, we do know that carpet and fabric fibres are considered a porous substance and that researchers from The National Institutes of Health suggest the virus can live on these types of surfaces for several hours.

As a respiratory disease, COVID-19 spreads through water droplets that can travel several feet in the air – not exactly reassuring for people living in condominiums or apartments where HVAC systems circulate air throughout the building. Thankfully, most modern buildings include HEPA filters and other air cleaning systems to clear out air-borne micro-organisms.

And it’s not just COVID-19 you need to worry about. Here’s a cringe-worthy fact: an average indoor carpet can hold as many as 200,000 bacteria per square inch according to research published in 2001. The fibrous texture of carpets acts as a natural filter for the air in your building, trapping dirt, dust and germs. Depending on the age of your condominium and how it was built, your home may be a magnet for outside pollutants, allergens and dust-mites that invade through poor air circulation.

Beyond the measures you can take to protect yourself – like wearing masks, social distancing, avoiding unnecessary contact, and frequent hand washing – keeping your condo clean and disinfected can make a real difference. And that includes your carpets, area rugs, upholstery, curtains and blinds.

While day to day cleaning and spot treatment can get rid of germs, dirt and impurities from surfaces, it doesn’t actually kill the germs. Although it does lower their numbers and reduces the risk of spreading infection. That’s where professional carpet cleaning and disinfecting can help. To disinfect carpets, we use Health Canada approved chemicals that kill germs in your condo carpets. By killing germs on a surface after cleaning, it can further lower the risk of spreading infection.

So, while daily cleaning can keep bugs at bay in your carpets, nothing does the job quite as well as the specialized machines, techniques and cleaning solutions offered by a professional carpet cleaning service. Our expert carpet cleaning service for condominiums and residences attacks dirt and grime deep in the fibres of your carpets and rugs – throughout your beautiful home: in bedrooms, living rooms, studies, home offices, dining rooms, hallways, up and down stairs and more.

And finally, we recommend regular steam cleaning to keep germs and allergens like viruses, bacteria and pet dander away and your family healthy, safe and “snug as a bug in a rug”.

Learn more about the benefits of carpet cleaning and realize how important it is for the maintenance of not only your home but also your condo.

The post COVID-19 and other Nasties can lurk in your Condo Carpets first appeared on Toronto Carpet Cleaners.