Shoes On or Off?

During the course of the day, Americans and their pets pick up dirt, germs, bacteria and other microbes on the soles of their shoes and paws and track it into their homes. Yet three in five (62 percent) of us don’t always wipe our shoes off after coming inside, according to a new survey released today by Bissell Homecare. What’s more, 52 percent of us would eat food that had dropped on carpet or a rug, and around 49 percent wouldn’t think to clean a baby pacifier or bottle after dropping it on carpet.

«For the 90 percent of Americans with carpets and rugs in our homes, most of us regularly vacuum and think we’re getting them clean,» said Erin Reed, Brand Manager at Bissell Homecare, Inc. «However, tracked in mud, spills and pet messes seep beyond the surface trapping stains and odor-causing bacteria that is both unsightly and potentially unhealthy. These surfaces quickly become a breeding ground for bacteria yet for most of us, carpet cleaning isn’t always a priority. In fact, 36 percent of Americans give their carpets or rugs a deep cleaning less often than once a year, if ever.»

The survey was conducted as Bissell introduces the new ProHeat 2X Revolution Pet, which makes deep cleaning carpet as easy as vacuuming so users can rest assured that their carpets are clean and odor-causing bacteria is controlled, when using Bissell Deep Clean + Antibacterial formula.

Items that frequently touch our mouths aren’t always cleaned after being dropped on the carpet.

• One in five (20 percent) Americans say that food dropped would have to be on the carpet 30 seconds or longer for them to get rid of it instead of eating it
• More men than women (57 percent vs. 48 percent) and more parents than non-parents (60 percent vs. 48 percent) would be open to eating something that fell on a carpet or rug
• Around 47 percent of us wouldn’t think to clean a mug or drinking glass or a utensil (35 percent) shortly after dropping it on carpet