Healthy Homes Have Clean Carpets

Think about this question for a momentin what locality of your home is there more bacteria…your toilet seat or your carpeting?

Would you believe that the answer is – your carpet!? Studies show the typical homeowners’ carpet has about 200,000 bacteria in every square inch, around 4,000 times as much as their toilet seat. Doesn’t that make you want to walk around with your socks on?

From where does all this bacteria come from? It comes from skin cells, food and drink particles, pollen, fertilizers, chemicals, exhaust, pesticides and all sorts of other pollutants that bring in bacteria to dwell in your carpeting. It is brought in from your shoes, your clothes, your skin, your hair, even the air.

That’s why recurrently scheduled carpet cleaning is key. If you wait until your carpet looks dirty to get it cleaned, you’ve already been living around and breathing in these dangerous substances in your carpet. Carpet cleaning doesn’t just mean cleaning the dirt and spots that you can see, but it means getting rid of the germs and bacteria below the surface.

Sorry to say, most vacuums and the vast majority of hardware store rental or retail carpet cleaning machines don’t have the suction power, high temperatures, or high enough water pressure to get rid of much of these bacteria. The “one size fits all” cleaning solutions available to the general homeowner don’t have the effectiveness as those made especially for the cleaning industry. A good carpet cleaner has a variety of cleaners to use in a range of situations. A good carpet cleaner has also had training to use these cleaners appropriately. Over using or using the incorrect type of cleaning solutions in your carpets can lead to issues. Not every carpet cleaner in your area is qualified for this if he isn’t using the proper cleaners, methods, tools, or doesn’t have an ample amount of correct training.

That’s why it’s crucial to find a company that utilizes qualified, skilled, IICRC Certified technicians like our carpet cleaning service for a deep steam clean at a minimum once every twelve months.

What can you do to maintain clean carpets in the meantime? To cut down the amount of bacteria in your carpet, remove all shoes worn outside once you come inside your home. Use mats you can machine wash in your high-traffic areas. Consider though, this won’t totally get rid of these pollutants; they still get tracked in from your skin, hair, socks, and clothes. But it will reduce them and help keep your house and air cleaner. In addition, vacuum at least once per week, more if you have children or pets living and playing on your carpet.

A major yet often missed key to keeping healthy is by keeping a clean home. A hygienic home and clean carpets make for clean air and a family in good health.

Are you interested in how to learn more about how carpet cleaning promotes good health? Want to learn the best way to get clean carpets?

Ensure the Wellness of Your New Baby

A new baby is a beautiful and indescribable blessing to any family. Months of preparation and anticipation lead up to a very climactic birth day. All is well it seems, mother and baby are doing wonderfully and in a day or two will head home. From the warm, safe and very recognizable, to the baby, environment of moms womb, what environment, what cocoon will provide your baby safety from here on out?

Unless you specify during pregnancy that your baby will be wrapped in only the safest and best 100% cotton organic materials possible you will receive lots of gifts in blankets and crib materials that will not be so supportive for a newborn. Let people know early on your preferences for organic and green. This will ensure safe and cozy crib bedding for your sweet baby. Why cotton and why organic?

Certain clothes, especially permanent press, wrinkle free and water resilient fabrics are dipped or sprayed in formaldehyde, which is also used as embalming fluid. Many fabrics on sofas, chairs and carpets are preserved with harmful chemicals such as formaldehyde. Formaldehyde has some alias names to look for: Formalin, Methanal, Methyl aldehyde, Methylene oxide, Morbicid acid and Oxymethylene.

Long term benefits will result from taking a stand for organic, especially next to your new precious baby. Remember that organic is different than merely meeting safety standards.

With constant contact, any person, and especially a small person will acquire sensitivities. These are simply put, allergies. Without constant mineralization and good enzymes, they will get progressively worse throughout life.

Sensitivities are what many call allergies. An allergic reaction can appear as benign as a slight skin rash, or unbearable dermatitis. Allergies can also come on unexpectedly as a life threatening asthma attack or anaphylactic shock. No need for scare tactics though; it is enough said that any of those aforementioned reactions are not what you want for a newborn infant or any person.

The best way to insure a healthy environment for the entire home, starting with baby is fine though, is to buy 100% cotton, organic and from a reputable company. There are many listed in the green directories, online and most search engines.

No parent knowingly wants to harm their child; and even with the best intentioned lifestyles there are always possibilities that as a child grows that he or she will be introduced to toxic materials. Good natural health and a healthy green environment is about creating strength, not a lifetime of protection. The best defense is a mineral-rich and enzyme-full diet, healthy support and respect for the environment.

Those babies and children who have a poor diet, rich in fast foods, sugars, hydrogenated fats and sodas will always be those that go to the doctor more, are diagnosed with strange diseases, labeled ADHD, etc. Not meant simply as a general statement, it is meant to emphasize what makes all the difference between a child that survives to adulthood and one that thrives to be a productive and vibrant part of society

Breast fed babies have a great lead into life when mom is a healthy eater. Whether prenatal or during breast feeding a woman should eat well so that her health can recoup post natal.

What to Do If You Suspect Allergies?

First of all you must stop all contact with the irritant whether it is a food, a fabric, an environmental contaminant such as air, water, etc. This is most crucial when dealing with allergic reactions suffered by the very young or the very old.

The body is equipped with digestive juice factories. Some are located in the mouth, some in the stomach, some juices that digest travel from the liver and pancreas through the hepatopancreatic duct to supply digestive help in the duodenum, the first part of the small intestine.

When the body is depleted of the juices it needs to digest, even proteins which could be building blocks, become instead boulders the body simply carries along until it has the capacity to rid itself of what has become a liability. At this crucial point 75% – 80% of all foods ingested should be raw or lightly cooked.

During times of allergy outbreak, and I would add always, dairy should be avoided completely, along with any food that looks white or colorless, processed meats, canned or pre-packaged foods and sugars. In addition, having a good naturopath or nutritional counselor will create the support the parent needs to do the right thing for children who struggle with health.

Precautions and Solutions

Creating Green Environments is going to be our best ally for the future. Begin small and add on something new each month.

Eating whole and natural creates whole Human Beings. If you are pregnant or newly into parenthood ” begin now. Begin throwing out dead foods and replace them one by one with live food. Make it a family quest and project. What fun!

Create an organic nursery for your organic and healthy baby. This is a new beginning for your entire family, no matter whether you are expecting child #1 or #5.

Look for whole and green everywhere. Expect the best and insist upon it. To Your Best Health, Ellen Valentine, CNC