- Where does the word “carpet” come from? Know the phrase, “Carpe Diem?” The word carpet is derived from the same Latin word, carpere, which means to pluck or to seize, probably because carpets were made from unraveled, or “plucked” fabric. (This brings a whole to meaning to our job as carpet cleaners. 😉 )
- The five-second rule is a myth: bacteria can live after four weeks on carpet. And, thanks to “microbial adhesion,” germs such as the following are immediately transferred to food: Salmonella typhimurium, Campylobacter, and Salmonella enteritis, a nasty bacterium that causes horrible diarrhea and vomiting.
3. The oldest surviving carpet is the celebrated Pazyryk carpet, which is over 2,000 years old. It was found in the 1940s in a Scythian tomb in southern Siberia. Check it out:
https://nazmiyalantiquerugs.com/blog/pazyryk-carpet-oldest-rug-the-world/
4. The phrase “to sweep under the carpet” in its figurative sense was first recorded in 1963.
5. Each year, several pounds of soil can accumulate in and under a carpet. (……especially if you sweep things under the carpet alot…..)
6. In the Middle Ages, floors were covered with rushes, which acted like a disposable carpet. If it got dirty, it was thrown away. Check it out:
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/339669996868371496/
Eventually they weaved mats out of the rushes, which made it easier to remove when it got dirty.
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/257690409905394012/
7. All carpet should be professionally cleaned a minimum of every 12 to 18 months.
8. When properly cleaned and maintained, carpeting may improve the quality of air through trapping allergy-inducing dust and allergens. Most people, however, do not clean their carpets correctly, which can actually exacerbate allergies. Check out what it looks like when the carpet filters dirt from the air, but isn’t properly cleaned.
9. Vacuum cleaners in the early 20th century were large, powered by coal, and required three people to operate them. Other early vacuums cleaners had to be parked outside a building and had long hoses that went through the windows. Yet another early version of the vacuum was installed in the house cellar and connected to a network of pipes that led to each room in the house.
http://vacuumcleaner.umwblogs.org/invention/
10. The American floor covering industry argues that the difference between a “rug” (related to the words “rag” and rough”) and a “carpet” is strictly a matter of size. Any piece smaller than 40 square feet is considered a rug while anything larger is a carpet. According to the American carpet industry, then, the “flying carpet” or “magic carpet” is technically a rug.
11. Oriental carpets first became highly prized possessions in Europe during the Middle Ages when the crusaders likely returned home with them. The influence was very unilateral, with Europe hardly influencing the design of Oriental carpets.
http://tea-and-carpets.blogspot.com/2009/06/renaissance-european-painters-passion.html
Source: http://facts.randomhistory.com/2009/08/03_carpet.html
Gif images taken from https://giphy.com/
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