Carpet is one of the most important fixtures and fittings of your home. It enhances the overall look and feel of your home. You would like to keep it clean and good looking at all points of time. However, because of heavy traffic, spillage, moisture and water, carpets often have to face the wrong end of the stick. This leads to growth of various types of microorganisms. Molds are the nastiest of them all. Getting rid of mold and mildew from hard surfaces in itself is a tough job and if it starts finding a place in your carpets, it certainly could become a big problem. Molds are also seen these days on carpeting backing, which is bad news. Hence, we must find out ways and means by which we can get rid of mold and other microorganisms from carpet. We are sharing a few tips which we hope will be useful to our readers and those who have carpets in their homes.

Identify The Cause

The first step is to find out the reason for the growth of mold in your carpets. Experience and wisdom has shown that moisture is one of the main reasons for the growth of carpets. Keeping moisture at bay may be one way to prevent growth of different types of microorganisms in your carpets. However, moisture alone may not be the reason. Apart from keeping moisture under check, there are a few other things which also you must do to keep your carpet clean and free from mold and various other microorganisms.

Ensure That Humidity Is Low

Moisture does not mean direct spillage of water on your expensive carpets. Maintaining humidity at low levels could help a lot in keeping carpets free from molds. Ideally the humidity levels should be less than 65% though 60% is considered best according to experts. If you feel your home is not low on humidity, then you would do better to install a humidifier (perhaps a portable one).

Always Keep Temperatures Low

There is no doubt that high temperatures can also contribute to growth of mold in your carpet. Your aim and objective must be to keep the temperature at around 80 degrees Fahrenheit and anything above that is considered high. You could perhaps invest in a good HVAC (air conditioning) system. By doing so, you will be able to effectively address the two problems of high temperatures and humidity.

Ensure That Your Carpet Is Clean

Keeping your carpet clean is another important pre-requisite to ensure that it remains free from mold and various other types of microorganisms. Clean might be a relative term for different carpet owners in different climates and situations. However, the benchmark should be to clean your carpets at least once a week. You must use a good carpet cleaning vacuum cleaners. Some carpets will be harder to clean depending on what carpet fibres you have, it’s worth checking with the carpet manufacturer to find the best advice for your specific carpet.

You must always try and invest in carpets that are manmade. Stay away from synthetic materials and stick to only natural ones. However, you must not buy carpets made from organic materials including wool which attract molds much more than manmade carpets such as olefin or nylon.

Conclusion

In fine a combination of low temperature, low humidity, regular cleaning and careful choice of carpet materials are the pillar stones around which clean and mold-free carpets can be made possible.  If you still can’t remove the mold from your carpets you may have to consider installing new carpet in your home, learn more about the process on our main service page if that’s you!.