Carpet Underlay Benefits: Asthma and Allergy Friendly

With the amount of asthma and allergy inducing elements that we encounter in our daily lives, it makes sense to ensure that our homes are as kind as possible to our allergies and respiratory systems. While regularly cleaning your space is important in this endeavour, you’ll also want to ensure that you’re selecting the components of your space in line with having it be as healthy as possible.

VOCs, for example, are common irritants that can flare up asthma and allergies, and they’re in far more things than you may think. Your furniture, the paint on your walls, and even your personal care products can all emit VOCs into your home, and when these compounds build up they can have serious health consequences. For this reason, it is important to ensure that you’re selecting low VOC products when designing your space, so you help reduce your exposure.

In terms of your soft flooring choices, this means selecting a carpet underlay that is both low VOC and asthma and allergy friendly. The good news is that all Airstep Australia foam underlays manufactured on site here at our facilities in Dandenong South meet these criteria. As we control the entire manufacturing process, we are able to reduce the amount of undesirable inclusions within our products, therefore creating a healthier foundation for your interior space.

For example, while the Carpet Institute of Australia Environmental Certification Scheme Specification allows for a Vinyl Acetate emission of up to <400 ug/m2/hr, the detected rate in our Stepezy carpet underlay is <14 ug/m2/hr. By the same token, while Hydrocarbons (C10 – C14) are permitted up to <300 ug/m2/hr, just 15 ug/m2/hr is released by our product, and although Styrene can be present at rates of up to <410 ug/m2/hr, Stepezy emits <14 ug/m2/hr.

In addition to this, we are also able to limit the amount of chemical exposure that our products have. For instance, our underlays are sanitised with steam rather than chemical cleaners. Not only does this mean that the product itself has less chemicals within it, but it also means that it won’t leach cleaning chemicals into the air within your home, as steam is simply super-heated water and evaporates quickly.

You will, of course, still need to do your research to discover the best products for your personal situation, but these factors greatly assist our products in being asthma and allergy friendly.