All viruses aren’t created equal. Some, like the common cold virus, typically aren’t fatal. Others’ however, can wreak havoc across the globe, and cause significant numbers of casualties. Over the past few years, the world has seen the devastation that another virus – COVID-19 – has caused. According to official World Health Organization (WHO) estimates[i], there were approximately 3-million deaths attributed to the deadly COVID-19 virus in 2020 alone. Knowledge about common virus protection techniques, such as how to disinfect carpet tops and surfaces, can prevent large-scale devastation and losses.
How the Body Fights Viruses Naturally
Viruses reside anywhere they can find a “hospitable” place. This can include door handles, kitchen counter tops, tables, cutlery, and even on flooring and furniture. In some instances, especially on heavily foot-trafficked surfaces, pathogenic microbes may get transferred from outdoor environments (on contaminated shoes, sandals, feet, or products), and deposited on carpeted floors. The fibers of carpets are an ideal “hospitable” spot for viruses to thrive. That’s why it’s vital to know how to disinfect a carpet thoroughly.
But our body usually doesn’t need “external” disinfecting to fight against viruses that have entered in. Once a virus enters the human body, it can make us ill by disrupting the functioning of cells, damaging cells, or killing them. The body may react to the pathogenic invasion by breaking out in fever, that causes the viruses to get inactivated. Our white blood cells produce a hypochlorous solution that’s an oxidizing agent that that acts as a natural disinfectant in the fight against viruses. The body also secretes interferon, a chemical that prevents the reproduction of viruses.
Prevention is Better than the Cure
Viruses make us sick. Once they’re uncontrolled or become uncontrollable, they can wreak havoc on life, property, businesses, the economy, and can disrupt human lifestyles drastically. In carpeted homes, businesses, healthcare settings, and community spaces, once viruses are transferred onto the floors, they’re primed to strike us. Unless we take appropriate measures to disinfect the carpeted surfaces, it’s highly likely that the invading pathogens will cause significant damage to our health and wellbeing.
As noted earlier, the human body produces its own hypochlorous solution that the body deploys as a natural disinfectant. But all other people and objects, contained in our external environment, don’t have the natural anti-virus defense system that the human body has. Without such disinfectant protection to prevent viruses from taking hold, or to eliminate them once they do take hold, it’s hard to prevent viral infections from spreading.
They say that an ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure! While the proactive prevention, of pathogenic microbes, bacteria, and viruses taking root in carpeted floors, and on other carpeted and non-carpet surfaces, is vital to stopping the spread of viral infections. The challenge, however, is how to disinfect a carpet without incurring significant cost, or without undue disruption to our lives?
Keeping it simple: Consider your carpet disinfection options
The thought of removing rugs and carpets from the floor, putting them through a disinfection process, and then reinstalling them, is a nightmare! Then, there’s the option of steam cleaning carpets and other surfaces. While steaming might preclude the need to un-install and re-install carpets on floors, high temperatures may potentially damage expensive and intricate carpet fabrics.
High-velocity steaming may also leave the carpeted surface damp, until it dries completely, rendering it unusable for the duration. That’s because the risk of using a saturated carpeted surface is that it might attract even more viruses and bacteria.
Other owners, of carpeted premises, floors and surfaces, might use harsh chemicals as a way to disinfect their properties. The risk is that the chemicals get embedded into the carpet’s fabric, and may then pose a health risk to children, pets, and anyone else that comes into contact with those surfaces. But, unless owners of carpeted premises take proactive measures to combat the collection and spread of viruses, it’s likely that there’ll be even more infections and illness spread through the world.
So, how to disinfect a carpet without onerous processes or harmful disinfectants? Thankfully, manufacturers of Hypochlorous acid (HOCI) makers offer us a convenient solution. These devices produce a powerful disinfectant – at par with that manufactured by our own bodies – using salt, water, and electricity. It’s simple. It’s convenient. It’s safe!
With over 100 years of research behind it, the “go to” disinfectant has, to date, been sodium hypochlorite (aka. chlorine bleach). HOCI-makers, however, produce Hypochlorous that is a powerful oxidant, and is 100 times[ii] more efficient at killing microbial pathogens than chlorine bleach.
https://www.who.int/data/stories/the-true-death-toll-of-covid-19-estimating-global-excess-mortality