6 Nasty Things Lurking in Most Office Carpets You Had No Idea About

By: Diana Rodriguez-Zaba
Updated on: November 15, 2022

You don’t give the workplace carpet much thought until someone spills a cup of coffee or drops a doughnut. You take care of it with a little office cleaning, and Chicago business gets back to normal. No one sees that fluffy expanse of flooring as a giant, grimy petri dish.

Did you know that most carpets are 4,000 times dirtier than a toilet?

According to University of Arizona microbiologist Charles P. Gerba, 1-square inch of carpet harbors 200,000 bacterial particles. It doesn’t have to happen at your business.

The 6 Things You Don’t Want:

When you hire a commercial carpet cleaning service, you eliminate these six nasty things that lurk in practically every office carpet.

1. Almost Everything You Eat

You walk across the office eating a sandwich. Crumbs hit the floor. The same food that fuels your day at work feeds bugs and bacteria in the carpet. You’re not alone. Everyone who stops off for a snack at the break room tracks food right back out into carpeted areas.

Food crumbs and drink spills quickly permeate carpet fibers and padding where the organic material breaks down. As it decays, it stains the carpet and produces unpleasant odors. Running the office vacuum cleaner helps, but it can’t address ground-in stuff.

2. Microscopic Carpet Beetles and Dust Mites

Bugs foraging through break room cabinets and drinking under the bathroom sink always find a way to foul workplace floors. Carpet beetles and dust mites are the two worst offenders, and their tiny size makes them impossible to see. You can actually inhale these microscopic creatures.

If someone at work worries that they’ve been bitten by bed bugs at home, it could be carpet bugs right there in the office. Their bites cause a similar rash, and the pests feed on natural carpet fibers too. Dust mites pollute your business space by spreading their fecal debris.

3. An Amazing Amount of Dead Skin

This statistic will stop you in your tracks. Every year, you shed more than 8 pounds of dead skin. Your employees part with the same outer layers too, so multiply that figure by the office population. It adds up to a shocking amount of dead skin in your carpets.

Those microscopic bugs that feed on spilled crumbs also chow down on this daily addition to their carpet buffet. Dead skin accumulation routinely contributes to workplace contaminants and becomes an unhealthy source of airborne allergens circulating through the building.

4. A Scary Lineup of Germs and Carpet Bacteria

All that nasty bug debris turns an expanse of carpet fiber into an environment that allows germs and bacteria to thrive. Norovirus, Micrococcus, Campylobacter and penicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus are just a few of the scary carpet bacteria that live in dirty office carpets.

Busy offices act as incubators for unhealthy microorganisms especially when a building relies on a closed-air circulation system. Regular vacuuming doesn’t solve this problem. It takes commercial cleaning equipment and specialized products to effectively deep clean and sanitize carpets.

5. Ordinary Dirt and Dust

Germs and bacteria don’t need legs or wings. They hitch a ride through the front door on the soles of countless shoes. By the time your office carpet develops those dark, high-traffic paths, it’s already contaminated with deeply ground-in dirt and unhealthy pathogens.

Dirty air ducts don’t do carpets any favors either. They constantly circulate airborne dust particles that settle into fibers and flooring. Eventually, materials begin to degrade under the constant film. It all adds up to a shorter life expectancy for expensive workplace carpet.

6. Unhealthy Mold and Mildew

Decaying food, bug activity and bacteria contribute to this type of fungal carpet contamination. Mold and mildew can quickly become problems that ruin your flooring. The growth depends on moisture to thrive, so it’s very important to thoroughly clean up immediately after a spill of any kind.

Often, slowly leaking pipes behind walls saturate carpet padding causing mold and mildew outbreaks in both subflooring and fibers. When you notice an unpleasant musty smell, mold has already damaged your office carpets. Instead of a cleaning bill, you may be looking at expensive replacement costs.

Fresh Carpets Are Healthy Carpets

Fresh, sanitized workplace carpets are healthy carpets, and that’s always good for business. If you have any questions about commercial carpet cleaning, just let us know through our contact form or give us a call. We really enjoy your input and always look forward to your feedback.

It’s our job to help you make a great impression, so we make sure that your business stays clean and inviting. From entryways and sales counters to conference rooms, you want the best underfoot.

When you need professional office cleaning in Chicago and the suburbs, give us a call here at ServiceMaster Restoration by Zaba.