I would love to say that I am sure my home is clean, if not particularly tidy. I obviously regularly vacuum, clean the bathroom and kitchen and occasionally even venture into the pits my children call bedrooms.
But as a convert to the cleaning capabilities of Rug Doctor cleaners and cleaning products (they are the UK's leading carpet cleaning experts y'know) I have discovered that even immaculate homes which look squeaky clean can be harbouring grubby secrets.
Even with regular cleaning and a no shoes rule in our lounge (which to be fair doesn't seem to be followed by anyone but me!) our carpet produces vast quantities of murky liquid every time I use a Rug Doctor machine.
I know, I know I sound like a walking advert for them. I used to have one of those vacuum cleaner sized carpet cleaners which came out regularly with 7 children and 3 cats in the house and I thought it was ok- did the job I thought.
But after going along to a Rug Doctor blogger demo day last year and being invited to try one of their big hire machines (and then later a small but mighty portable spot cleaner which you can buy) I really am slightly obsessed with sharing how great they are.
In fact I'm so keen to convince everyone how much they NEEEED to have a go at using Rug Doctor products that as their official Blogger Ambassador at #BritmumsLive 2015 I will be wearing a very striking Rug Doctor Tee-shirt!
Feel free to come and laugh and point, or even better chat to me about why I'm such a fan that I would wear an unflattering round necked Tee-shirt to advertise the brand.
Anyway, moving on. Here are some entertaining facts about the nation's cleaning habits taken from a Rug Doctor survey. Beware! They are not for the squeamish!
How clean do you think you are?
·
74% of us think our homes are fairly
clean
·
42% of us don’t have time to do a
thorough cleaning job
·
32% of us do the minimum required and
are happy as long as it looks good
·
23% only clean when absolutely necessary
·
A
third of Brits admit they don’t wash their hands after going to the toilet
·
Almost
half of Brits leave the same sheets on their bed for weeks at a time
·
50%
of us use the same dish cloths and sponges over and over again until they could
almost walk out of the kitchen
·
44% of us have never deep cleaned our
carpets
·
One in ten of us don’t brush our teeth
twice a day
·
Only 53% of us bathe and shower every
day
·
33% vacuum only once a week
·
35% clean their kitchen floor at least
once a week
·
44% clean the bathroom floor once a week
How clean is your carpet?
·
41%
of us admit they never take their shoes off in the home and walk all over their
carpets in them
·
40%
of brits believe that their carpets are completely clean after vaccuming which
is a myth
·
51% of us admit they would still eat
food if they dropped it on their own carpet
·
76% of us say if they dropped food on a
friend’s carpet they wouldn’t
Did you know?
·
28% of the UK’s population has had a pet
be sick on the flooring
·
24% have had a pet leave their mess on
the flooring
·
30% have had a baby or someone else be
sick on their carpet
·
22% admit to having had sex on the floor
·
Rug Doctor swabbed a sample of carpets
and shoes around the UK and found dangerous bacteria in/ on them. This included
high numbers of bacteria from:
o
The pneumonia family
o
E-coli family
o
Vomit-inducing toxins
o
Traces of animal (horse and fox) and
human gut and faecal bacteria
o
Human and pet hair
o
Dust
mites
o
Pollen
o
Traces
of old skin
More carpet facts
and information about household allergens and irritants:
·
There
are an estimated 24 million households in the UK and over 90% have carpets.
Carpets act like a filter trapping spillages, household dust, airborne
contaminants, dust mites, food particles and soil. As with any filter it needs
cleaning from time to time. In between vacuuming and washing, you could try using a carpet rake.
·
Did
you know, 90% of household dust is made up of people’s skin?
·
Every
three days we shed a layer of skin! Dust mites then feed on the protein in
these tiny particles. Each mite then produces around 20 droppings a day. As
such, an average house can contain over two million dust mites with a new
generation arriving every three weeks!
· Dust
mites need the warmth and humid atmosphere that central heating and double
glazing provides, to thrive. They can affect air quality indoors and cause side
effects such as nasal congestion, shortness of breath, itchy eyes, interrupted
sleeping patterns and headaches. They are found in bedding, carpets and soft
furnishings
· Did
you know a room temperature above 25 degrees will encourage house dust mites to
breed?
· Dust
mites lay 20 to 40 eggs and produce 2000 droppings during their three month
life span! The average bed contains 10,000 dust mites and up to two million
pellets of droppings! If you don’t deep clean your carpets at least once a year
than these dust mites can build up having a negative impact on your health
· People
can sweat a third of a litre of water at night and this provides the perfect
environment for house dust mites as they don’t drink but absorb water from the
air.
· The
allergens that come from animals don’t live on their coats - as most people
think - but come from their saliva and from the skin flakes they shed. When
cats and dogs lick their fur they coat themselves all over in allergens, which
are then passed to humans. Feathers on pet birds can also be carriers.
·
Wherever debris can collect, vacuuming
regularly is just not enough to ensure a clean and hygienic carpet.
·
Even the best vacuum cleaners only
remove part of the deep down dirt that can include food debris, drink spills,
flakes of dead skin cells, dust mite droppings, allergens like pollen and waste
from pet accidents or young children. Even if your carpet looks clean, the
settling of dust between the carpet fibres forms an abrasive layer that can
shorten the life of your carpet
·
The average home collects 4 kg
of dust every year - a regular food supply for the dust mites and bacteria that
breed in our carpets!
·
You
should deep clean your carpets by wet extraction at least once a year to rid it
of allergens, dust mites and deep down stains and grime
So, feeling the need to hire a Rug Doctor machine, or treat yourself to the Portable Spot Cleaner?
·
The
average cost of rental is £22.99 for 24
hour rental including the hand tool kit for upholstery, car interiors
etc and 1 litre detergent being around
£10 – enough to do two large rooms, 2 litre £15 = 4 large rooms, 4 litre
economy size - £20.
·
90% of UK households are no more than a 10 minute
drive from their nearest
rental outlet (3,500 nationwide). You can even reserve online or by phone at over 1000 outlets. Go to the Rug
Doctor store finder at www.rugdoctor.co.uk
·
Rug
Doctor has received a Which? Best Buy
recommendation on both its Carpet Stain Removers
·
Its new Portable Spot Cleaner has a unique
motorised brush as well as wheels and a retractable handle making it easy to
use and transport. The product is ideal for families and households with pets
and can be purchased through http://www.rugdoctor.co.uk/buy
Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post -views and opinions remain honest, impartial and my own.