George Shirley wrote:
> Nancy Young wrote:
>> John Kane wrote:
>>> On Sep 20, 10:10 am, "Nancy Young" > wrote:
>>
>>>> I don't know, where I live office buildings and homes are largely
>>>> carpeted and most of us seem to be breathing fine. Except the
>>>> smokers.
>>>
>>> Ever notice the increase in asthma? Not that it is necessarily
>>> related to carpets but given the off-gassing of new carpets and the
>>> dustmites of older ones they are probably not good for us. They may
>>> even affect more poeple than cigs but I doubt if quite as nastily.
>>
>> Maybe it's causing the increase in peanut allergies, too. Heh.
>> All I know is all my friend's houses, and my houses, were carpeted.
>> I'm hearing about this increase in asthma in the past decade or so.
>> I have area rugs, too, they can't just be washed, either, I don't know
>> anyone with a machine that large. Beating them on the line might
>> feel good, but I'm certain that's not ridding them of dust mites/etc.
>> I just think that smoking and second hand smoke is going to be more
>> harmful than carpeting. I would be surprised if any doctor would rather
>> see carpet disappear than cigarettes. After all, upholstered furniture
>> and beds hold crud on their own, too.
>>
>> nancy
>
> We have about a dozen oriental carpets, real ones, hand woven. I wash
> them every three to four years by taking them out on the concrete patio,
> using a bucket of Dove dish washing liquid mixed with warm water. I dip
> a soft brush in the mix then scrub the carpets, some of them 5X10 feet.
> After that I hose them off, turn them over, do the same on the other
> side. They then get left in the sun to dry, taken at night and brought
> back out the next day if not dry enough.
>
> Used to watch the Iranian rug weavers take new rugs and lay them out in
> the nearby stream for the day to wash them, then put them on the road to
> dry.

Oh, that's interesting. I wonder whether I could do my silk
oriental rug that way too?

--
Jean B.