When you return from shopping or from work, and first enter your home, do you notice any odors? If so, you’ve probably also noticed, after you’ve been home for a while, that the odor vanishes. The fact is the odor has not vanished. Your sense of smell has only become desensitized. But what you may not know is that such odors are a clear indication of air pollution in your home and should be replaced with fresh air.
What causes household odors? Such odors are caused by a wide variety of substances from cooking vapors to pesticides, filth tracked indoors on shoes, cat litter boxes, cleaning chemical residues, burning candles, hair spray, pet accidents – the list is virtually endless.
All these chemical substances blend as one odor; they contain a very broad range of airborne chemical substances which we inhale during all our indoor hours. Further, because of air currents and gravity, these same substances accumulate on upholstered furniture, on drapes, and especially on all carpets in all rooms.
Have you ever been in the bedroom and smelled food cooking on the kitchen stove? The smell of food cooking is proof that airborne cooking residues are in the bedroom as a result of air currents and central air systems. It also stands to reason that such airborne substances are settling into our carpets and upholstery throughout our homes.
So, what can we do about it? At least once a week, open a window in every room to permit fresh air exchange, but don’t do it on an overly windy day. Clean your carpets and upholstery annually; at the very least.
Accumulated substances emit vapors and as these substances compound more vapors are emitted into the air to be inhaled. One of the most common comments our customers make after cleaning is how fresh things smell. The reason: the build up of contaminants in the carpeting that were polluting the air have been removed! The air is much healthier and you breathe easier.