CORONAVIRUS AND USING A CARPET CLEANING SERVICE, IS IT NOW SAFE?
Most families across the UK have been staying home in the hope of helping to slow down the spread of the coronavirus and rightly so. We are now so more much aware than ever of ensuring that our hygiene standards remain high.
We are advised by the government and the NHS to stay away from crowded places, keep a 2m distance from each other and ensure we wash our hands with soap and water often for at least 20 seconds. This is especially important if you know that you have come into contact with someone who has contracted the virus, in which case you may want to take a few extra steps to ensure your home remains germ-free.
What are our government advising?
As of this week, the government has changed their message to Stay Alert, Stay in Control and Save Lives, alongside this message they have eased the lockdown rules to allow cleaners and tradesmen to work in our homes providing the following guidelines are adhered to:
- A tradesman or cleaner must always maintain a safe distance of at least two meters from any household occupant
- Ensure good ventilation in the area where they’re working, including opening windows
- Upon entering the home and leaving they should wash their hands for 20 seconds using soap and water
It should be noted that no work should be carried out by a tradesman or cleaner or nanny who has coronavirus symptoms, however mild, or when someone in their own household has symptoms. In addition, no work should be carried out in a household where people are self-isolating or where an individual is being shielded.
With all this mind some of us will want to hire a professional carpet cleaning service to give our homes some added protection, now there is more movement between us allowed. However, you may still be feeling anxious about this and understandably so.
To try and alleviate some of your concerns we have put together the following to try and answer some of those concerns for you:
How long can coronavirus live on surfaces?
Covid-19 is an illness caused by SARS-Cov-2 which is a Coronavirus. These have been around for a long time and belong to a group known as ‘enveloped viruses. You cannot cure or kill Covid-19, you can destroy the Coronavirus in the environment, but you cannot cure the illness once inside the human body.
A recent study has suggested that COVID-19 can survive on surfaces such as door handles and work surfaces for up to three days. The virus was detected on plastic and stainless steel for up to 72 hours after exposure and on cardboard for up to 24 hours. This highlights just how careful we need to be, ensuring our homes are extra clean to help prevent the virus from spreading.
How does cleaning help to protect against the coronavirus?
The NHS are recommending cleaning carpets, upholstery and curtains, and mattresses in order to prevent germs from spreading.
A leading microbiologist Jason Tetro has advised that heat at temperatures over 77 degrees Celsius is the best killer of bacteria and viruses.
Therefore using a high-pressure steam unit such as our Truckmount unit The Phoenix 570i is ideal in this situation.
The Phoenix 570i is which is the only one of its kind in the Liverpool area cleaning at temperatures of 265f, which in turn sterilizes the carpets and out-powers the more traditional electric portable cleaners by 16 times.
In addition to this, our machine is capable of higher pressures of up to fifteen hundred pounds per square inch (PSI). This is much more than a portable carpet cleaner, which means greater bacterial removal and a deeper clean of your carpets, upholstery, and floors.
If I decide to use a professional carpet cleaning service, why choose XL Cleaners?
First of all, your safety and our safety during this pandemic is of our utmost concern and priority.
- All our technicians adhere strictly to the government guidelines and will also be wearing the necessary PPE. We will call you twenty minutes beforehand as a matter of course to give you enough time to ensure the two-meter safety distance can be adhered to.
- Our unit is based outside of your property, there is no need for us to enter your home to look for plug sockets or fill buckets with hot water at the sink, minimizing the touching of surfaces around your home. All we will be bringing into your home is a hose and ensuring the absolute minimum of contact whilst in your home.
- Because our machine runs at an exceptionally high level your carpet will be cleaning much quicker than the traditional carpet cleaning services of our competitors, this means we are in your home a lot less and your carpets and/or upholstery is clean and dry within hours rather than days.
- Also, we have taken these added steps of using Envirosafe Virus and Bacteria cleaner.
This cleaning agent works against enveloped viruses as mentioned earlier. There are various agents that work against enveloped viruses, the most common one being bleach but you can’t go splashing that around your carpets and soft furnishings. Another one is alcohol used in hand sanitizers.
Envirosafe is a product that is used widely in particular care homes, schools, doctors’ surgeries, and homes where there has been an illness, basically any environment where virus and bacterial control is required.
CONCLUSION
Having your carpets cleaned by a professional will give you that added peace of mind and surety you are doing everything you can to keep you and your home safe during this time and as long as the cleaning service you use takes the necessary precautions, following the government’s guidelines then it is safe to allow the professionals into your home.
If you wish to talk this over in more detail then we are always available at the end of the phone and more than happy to help and advise you.
Areas we cover: Liverpool | Formby | The Wirral | St Helens | Burscough | Rainford | Widnes | Ormskirk | Skelmersdale | Southport | Hightown | Rufford