Talking Allergies

We are thinking of removing carpet to help with allergies. We are going to go with cork. I see that it is supposed to be good for allergies, but I am wondering if someone has gone to hard floors and has seen a definite, positive change. Does it really work?

Hi there, Welcome to the forum!

Our son was born a year after we moved into our new home, the downstairs is either tile/hard wood but the upstairs carpet. By the time our son was 1 his environmental allergies/asthma were so bad our dr.'s told us to remove the carpet (new carpet ). We would have gone right to hard wood but for $$$. So for a last effort before pulling up carpet we bought a super powerful vacuum. We have a Dyson (I love my Dyson) but I've seen a Hoover also advertised in Allergic Living recently. We removed curtains from the entire house and have only wood blinds. From our son's room we removed all excess stuffed animals, dust collecting trinkets. Well, that was 3 years ago and his env. allergies inside the home have been just fine.

I vacuum his mattress, carpet in his room almost every day and the rest of the upstairs every second day to be sure all dust etc. is gone.

Not saying you might not have to pull up carpet (or us if our son's allergies/environmental should change). But the solution worked for us for now.
Good luck.

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DD 12 yrs -no allergies
4 yr old DS - asthma/eczema Anaphylactic to Peanuts, all tree nuts, sesame , all pea/lentil legumes, gelatin.
Allergic to trees, grass,ragweed, feathers, dander, mold and dust.
Outgrew eggs, fish, shellfish

Welcome to the Forum, GoAsk ...

Allergic Living has written on healthy flooring. See the Healthy Home green tab above, and especially this article: http://allergicliving.com/index.php/201 ... ner-floor/

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Allergic to soy, peanut, shellfish, penicillin

Hi,
My son was having many allergy symptoms and asthma issues in our carpeted home. When we built a new house we installed only hardwood and tile. There isn't even an area rug in the house. His symptoms are much improved.

When I have removed carpet in older homes to replace it with hardwood I can't believe what is underneath. There is always a layer of super fine dust, like sand and always one moldy spot where a potted plant got over watered or there was a spill.

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son: asthma, allergic to grass, mold, pets, dust mites, birch, suspected lactose intolerance
daughter: allergic to penicillin, food additives/preservatives-phosphates, sulphites, colors, etc.
husband: lactose intolerance, pets
me: none

Yes, yes a thousand times yes. I have had allergies horribly ever since I was born and I swear the best thing that ever happened was when we ripped out all the carpet and replaced it with fake wood or tile. The time I spent congested, having asthma problems, getting sick (especially sinus infections), raccoon-eyed and being over all miserable dropped dramatically. I swear by this method and that every penny spent replacing carpet is worth it.

Does it matter what type of floor as long as it is anything but carpet?

That is our next project

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me: allergic to crustaceans plus environmental
teenager: allergic to hazelnuts, some other foods and environmental

You may find this article on flooring from Allergic Living mag helpful: http://allergicliving.com/?p=4171

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Allergic to soy, peanut, shellfish, penicillin