Allergy to CARPET!!!????

[BellaClaudia]

Okay, I know it is silly but I don't know what else to call this..
alside from carpet allergy.

We bought this cheep carpet at home depot for the times
till our little one will grow enough so we don't have to worry
aobut spills and all kinds of natural abuse.. it works great

but!...

I am vacum junky.. I vacum it like at least once or twice a day or more if needed.. then I noticed that I am getting this loung issues and my lungs hurt and I can hardly breath at night..and it feels so heavy..

I am not overweight or anything...
no asthma or anything..

and then I noticed that it gets worse after I vacum.. and I noticed also that after whole day of using the carpet it gets all sort of greyish on the top of all little particles that it sheds while walking on it.. as it turns the surface from burgundy to greish burgundy..t hat was why i was vacuming it too.. among others..

and now.. I am just wondering what the heck is it becasue I stopped vacumming for few days and only had my hubby vacuming it while I was outisde for few good hours.. and then I did vacum myself and the same story.. pain in chest is back.. breathing issues at night is a nightmare..

so maybe this is some really harmful thing I have?
it did smell like gas station when we brought it in.. and then the smell weng away fast.. it is entirely artificial.. looks like the cheepest normal piled carpet.. like the one you run wall to wall.. as we used to live in the apartmens covered with them..

so what is going on?

I am going to get rid of it asap but budget is low .. then again.. we need somehting on the cold floor

but anyone heard of such a situation that someone is sensitive to vacuming specific carpet????

that is almost silly but true.

[WuWei]

Originally Posted by BellaClaudia

We bought this cheap carpet at home depot for the times
till our little one will grow enough so we don't have to worry
aobut spills and all kinds of natural abuse.. it works great

I don't know all the chemicals and off-gassing in synthetic, cheap carpets. But, my friend told me that a 100% wool carpet repels spills and is easy to clean up. They are more expensive, but this is TOTALLY our experience. So, consider saving up for 100% wool carpet, it is amazing. Red wine has wiped right up, spilled spaghetti, cat barf, pee, etc. Apparently, it is the natural oil in the wool, which has a moisture repellent affect.

It sounds like you are loosening the fibers when vacuuming and breathing them in, perhaps. We have a HEPA filter on our vacuum cleaner. It was a Consumer Report "Best Buy" from Sears. That might help.

A new wool rug is cheaper than going to the doctor...


Pat

[changingseasons]

I would also suggest a vacuum with a HEPA filter if you don't already have one.

[mtn.mama]

Yeah, we can't do carpet here. We have skin reactions to it. I think its the chemicals used to manufacture it... formaldehyde at the least and perhaps the polyester fibers themselves. Now our house is rug free except for a couple of cotton throw rugs and I love it. Its way easier to clean and the vacuum only gets used for heavy dusting.

[Raene]

Carpet= bad news...full of chemicals, including formaldehyde. We love bamboo floors which are affordable and pretty, and easy to clean

[wednesday2004]

I know firsthand that you can be allergic to carpeting. I am. There are 2 different kinds of materials that carpets are commonly made from that I'm allergic to. One is acrylic, the other I can't remember right offhand. If I buy rugs polyester or cotton are ok for me. If you can't replace the carpeting maybe getting a room sized rug to cover up as much as you can. If you end up allergic to the rug at least you can take that back and exchange for one made of a different material.

[matey]

Yes, my dad is allergic to the formaldihyde in carpet. It makes his lips swell.