My vacuum cleaner picks up large amounts of powder every time I vacuum. The powder color is light grey and I am worried it may cause health issues for my family.I had the carpet professionally cleaned twice, but the powder is still there.What could it be? Should I have it lab tested? Please help!!
I had a not so inexpensive hand hooked wool area rug in my home. Whenever I moved it to clean or vacuum the floor, there was this ivory powdery substance on the floor. It was the backing of the rug that was disintegrating. The thought of that substance in our breathing air landed that rug in the garage as a mud mat. Wall to wall carpeting never appealed to me for many reasons, particularly when I saw what was sucked out of rugs after vacuuming. No wall to wall carpeting, ever again.
If you use a powder like carpet fresh it will do that. If the backing on the carpet is breaking down also it will turn to powder. Carpets are huge allergen and bacteria traps. The only carpets I keep in my home are area rugs. When they get nasty out they go and Ibuy new ones. Figure the cost of cleaning them and you can buy a good area rug every 2 years.
it's probably not powder, it sounds more like carpet fibers and yes it will cause health problems. My son was affected by carpet fibers, we had to go through chest xrays, mri, and countless visits to the doctor along with several prescriptions for inhalers before the city health inspector came into my home and determined the problems my son was experiencing were a result of the berber carpet we had throughout our home. The carpet breaks down when you walk on it and vacuum it, that gets lifted into the air and you breath it in. It's not dust, it's not powder, it's synthetic fibers. We had all carpet removed and replaced it with tile, my sons symptoms disappeared.
its just dust. That's why carpet isnt good to have in closed places or just generally in your house. It holds in lots of dust and pet hair and other stuff in the air that settles. Its most likely nothing toxic but it can have negative effects on health in the long run like shortness of breath. best advice...save up some money and remove the carpet and put tiles or hardwood flooring (easier to maintain too) Or you could vacuum like twice a week (at least).
