Cleaning Asbestos From Carpet

An inspection for asbestos materials must be done prior to the carpet removal.

Cleaning asbestos from carpet.

There has been study done that shows available cleaning methods for fabric items that were significantly impacted by asbestos dust or debris may not be sufficient to address the health risk associated. Frequent dry vacuuming will keep asbestos levels low in high traffic areas of the carpet. If you have bags that were used for asbestos they should be treated as any other asbestos contaminated material and handled in the same way as carpet underlay containing asbestos. Wipe down all other surfaces thoroughly with a damp cloth to remove any particles that may have settled on them during cleaning.

Carpets are reservoirs for asbestos because of its fibrous nature carpets are good reserviors for asbestos and a continuing source of releasing asbestos into the air once it s trapped in it. You may want to make several passes to ensure that you get the deep down dust especially in the carpeting. Using a wet vacuum will remove the most amount of asbestos and should be repeated at least a few times a year. Run a piece of tape along the top of the plastic along the wall to prevent dust from falling through.

It is possible that asbestos was also transported in unlabelled hessian bags so these should also be treated as potentially contaminated unless the source and prior use of the bags is known. Should asbestos materials be found under the carpet there are several options. Leave the carpet in place or cover over the existing carpet. Place an asbestos grade piece of plastic liner along the floor to catch dust falling from your cleaning effort unless you are removing asbestos tile from the floor.

Clean all furniture and carpets thoroughly. Tape the plastic film so that it comes up the wall several inches. Airborne asbestos increases significantly during cleaning so it is essential to use a vacuum with a hepa filter. Using a wet vacuum will remove the most amount of asbestos and should be repeated at least a few times a year.

Frequent dry vacuuming will keep asbestos levels low in high traffic areas of the carpet. Wet vacuum the carpet thoroughly. After cleaning place the asbestos along with the mop heads vacuum filters etc into waste disposal bags that are approved for use with asbestos. Vacuum them several times to make sure that you have gotten all the small particles.