Environmentally Friendly Ways to Clean Your Carpet

Autumn is nearly here and it's again time for Fall cleaning. During Fall cleaning, I usually do the same things I do during Spring cleaning, only it's harder. For one, the kids have been home all summer and the house tends to get a little messy when they're not in school.

One chore that needs to be done at least twice a year is carpet cleaning. This should not only be done for appearances, but as carpets tend to attract mites and other minute creatures that inhabit all fabric, it is also hygienic.

There are many ways to clean your carpeting. You can hire a profession to come in and either shampoo, steam clean or chemically clean the carpets. Or you can rent a machine and do the job yourself. This all depends upon your budget and time.

Chemically cleaned carpets are supposed to be the best way to clean carpet. Unlike steam cleaning and shampooing, the chemically cleaned carpet does incorporate water, which can damage carpeting. Unfortunately, the chemical used to clean carpeting are the same chemicals used in dry cleaning. Toxic solvents that not only harm the environment upon their disposal, but can be hazardous to your family.

Dry cleaning solvents are one of the most toxic chemicals still used. And in some places, the toxins are dumped into sewers or emitted into the air, causing harm to both the ozone layer and water. For this reason, the land that once stood on a dry cleaning establishment is usually contaminated, as is the surrounding areas.

Imagining the same toxins on the carpet where your children and pets frolic is frightening, but most people do not realize the impact chemically cleaned carpet can have on your health.

For this reason, many dry cleaning establishments as well as chemical carpet cleaners are switching to more environmentally friendly products. These products are made from natural materials and are non-toxic. When deposited back into the soil, air or water, they erode naturally as they are made from the same components as the soil, air and water. There are several companies that produce "green" carpet cleaning products for chemically cleaned carpeting.