How to Remove Allergens From Your Flooring

Today, we’re sharing tips on how to remove allergens from your floors.When the warmer breezes of April and May prompt you to open your windows and get all the gunky and stuffiness of winter out, it’s time for your spring clean. You may have many annual traditions when it comes to cleaning in the spring such as washing windows, dusting the ceiling fans and beating out area rugs.  However, it’s important to pay special attention to your flooring in order to keep allergens and related particles from building up.

While spring means lovely trees and flowers blooming, it can also cause terrible allergies to invade your home. By cleaning your floors properly, you can avoid some of the worst of the pollen or mold incursion.

How to Remove Allergens from Flooring:

For Hardwood

Cleaning your hardwood floors regularly is the best way to remove allergens from your flooring.  Make sure you sweep and mop with a damp (but not saturated) cloth mop. Most hardwood floors just need a quick wipe with water, and for some you can use a vinegar and water mix or a very light soap like Bona.  Before you clean with any of these, make sure you test a part of your flooring in an out of the way place.

For Carpet

Wondering how to remove allergens from your carpet?  While carpet likely traps the most pollen of all your flooring options, it can be cleaned easily with a vacuum that has a quality filter. The filter keeps the allergens from spreading into the air. If, at the same time, you’ve been avoiding really scrubbing out carpet stains, there are many methods for eradicating various stain causes. You can try using this trick on most stained areas:

• Get a bucket of warm water, some baking soda and some dish soap.
• Sprinkle the stain with baking soda and then add about 1 tablespoon of dish soap for every 6-8 inches of stained carpeting.
• Use a rag to move the mixture around until bubbles appear.
• Gently scrub with a brush or towel using the warm water. Keeping the floor damp but not soaked.
• Once dry, vacuum again.

For Cork flooring

While you might worry that cork would harbor more allergens because of its porous texture, cork is naturally antimicrobial, making it able to combat allergens like mold and mildew. If need be you can add a finish the further repels potential allergens. To keep your cork floor clean, use a damp mop once a week on it. If you want to use a cleaning product occasionally, make sure you use only recommended cork floor cleansers.

For Tile Flooring

Allergens do not easily adhere to tile, so simple cleaning with warm water is usually a good way to make sure you don’t have to worry about accumulation. That said, old grout can build up mold, so if you notice this happening, it might be time to re-grout.

Still Worried About Breathing Easily? Be Aware of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC)

Unfortunately, many finishes and some flooring can contain volatile organic compounds that can affect your allergies as well. These are particularly prevalent in synthetic carpeting and vinyl as well as most industrial coating like varnish. These can give off particles that become vaporous and are known as pollutants that cause breathing trouble for some people. While off-gassing from these products is most prevalent directly after installation or refinishing, it can go on for months or even years. To avoid this on your floors, you can use water-based products or apply an encapsulating sealer designed to trap VOCs and prevent them from off-gassing into your home.

You want to be able to soak all the beauty of springtime and to have a clean house without sneezing every few seconds. By keeping your floors clear of allergens, you’ll be able to enjoy spring (and all that other cleaning) so much more.

You may also like:  4 Simple Ways to Prevent Allergies.

About the Contributor – Sarah Archer

Sarah’s a writer who’s passionate about evaluating everyday home products to help consumers save time and money. When she’s not putting a product’s promise to the test, you’ll find her hiking a local trail or collecting new stamps in her passport.