New carpet can make any space look luxurious, and feel soft and beautiful under your feet. But the chemicals that sometimes off gas from new carpet (often referred to as new carpet smell) can be literally nauseating and cause symptoms such as burning eyes, dizziness, headaches, sore throat, and in severe case vomiting and worse.
Here are 4 things you can do to minimize the effects of these airborne chemicals once your carpet has been installed.
Ventilate the space- Place a box fan in several of the windows so that they draw air from the room to the outside. This means positioning the fan so that it blows air away from you. Let the fans run for as long as possible as it takes a while for the fumes to get to a level where they are tolerable.
Isolate the space- Shut the doors to isolate the room where the carpet has been installed. Try to shut off forced air heating and air conditioning systems to prevent the fumes from being circulated to all parts of your space.
Vacate the Space- If the fumes are really impossible for you or a family member to live with, use it as an excuse to go on a vacation. This can be as simple staying with a friend for a while or actually taking time off from work and a getting away for several weeks.
Remove the Airborne Chemicals- Using a chemicals air purifier to remove the fumes is a cost effective way to minimize the odors right from the start particularly if you are unable to ventilate because the weather is extremely cold or hot.
Not only will an air cleaner remove airborne chemicals generated by the carpet, but from other sources as well. Add a high efficiency particle arresting (or HEPA) filter to this air purifier and you've got a cleaner that can take care of household dust, dust mites, mold and mildew spores, pet dander, and a host of other airborne particulates that aggravate chronic respiratory conditions.
To be designated as a HEPA, it must be able to effectively eliminate fine particulates as small as .3 microns with 99.97% efficiency. This means that for every 10,000 airborne pollutants, it will remove 99,997 of them, which qualifies it as efficient.
Once the fumes from the carpet have been eliminated, your air purifier can continue to filter out more normal every day pollutants, and will continue to provide healthy indoor air quality for you and your family.
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