Flooring for Asthma & Allergies

Do you suffer from Asthma and Allergies? Have you been wondering what are your options with flooring? Have a read below on what we here at Fowlers recommend!

What is Asthma?

“Asthma is a long-term lung condition.  People with asthma have sensitive airways in their lungs which react to triggers, causing a ‘flare-up’. In a flare-up, the muscles around the airway squeeze tight, the airways swell and become narrow and there is more mucus. These things make it harder to breathe.”

What is Allergy?

“Allergy occurs when a person's immune system reacts to substances in the environment that are harmless for most people. These substances are known as allergens and are found in dust mites, pets, pollen, insects, ticks, mould, foods and some medicines.”

Recommended Flooring

It is very important to choose the correct flooring when it comes to having Asthma or Allergies. This can be a crucial decision that will impact your health. As mentioned above triggers for Asthma and Allergens that relate to flooring are dust, dust mites, mould and pet hair. It is recommended that no matter what flooring you have that you at least vacuum once a week to reduce the amount of dust, dust mites, mould and pet hair that will build up on the surface of the floor.

Hardwood Flooring

Here at Fowlers we recommend to our customers who have Asthma or Allergies to go with a hardwood flooring like Timber, Laminate or Vinyl Planks. The reason we recommend Timber, laminate or Vinyl planks is because they are easy to clean and maintain. Unlike carpet it will not trap allergens or provide an environment for them to grow.

Wool Carpet

However, if a customer is looking for carpet we recommend wool carpet as it does not promote the growth of bacteria, mould and mildew. This reduces the likelihood of spores, mycotoxins and volatile organic compounds from developing in the home, helping prevent allergies and respiratory problems. Wool fibres also deters the growth of dust mites – the most common single cause of asthma.

Short Pile Nylon

In some cases, we have customers who would like carpet but don’t want to go with a wool carpet. We then recommend a Short Pile Nylon that with frequent vacuuming there will be little amounts of allergens to get trapped in the carpet.
 

The Fowlers team hope this has helped anyone with allergies or asthma that is concerned about flooring options, if you have any questions our friendly staff will be more than happy to help assist you!