Almost every home in the UK has unwanted lodgers – the common dust mite. You can’t see them
dust mites
because they’re so small, but left long enough, you will definitely start to notice their presence. And lots of people are allergic to them, with 20% of the population suffering from the little blighters.
The mites are often to blame for causing conditions like asthma and eczema, because their droppings cause an allergic reaction in some people. But there are ways to reduce the amount of mites in your home.
Quietly lurking within those dust bunnies under our beds, inside sofas and carpet are creatures too small to see without a microscope or strong magnifying glass. Dust mites are arachnids, the class of arthropods which includes spiders, scorpions and ticks. Dust mites feed on dead skin that sloughs from our bodies (and probably potato chips & cookie crumbs). They live their whole lives in dark corner dust bunnies: hatching, growing, eating, defecating, mating, laying eggs.
It’s their bathroom habits that make us itch and wheeze. Many people develop severe allergies to dust mite droppings. Lie on a rug where they live and you might get itchy red bumps on your skin. Breath in dust and you may have more serious symptoms like difficulty breathing or even a severe asthma attack.
TOP TIPS
- Airing beds thoroughly is something I personally recommend, but I don’t know of proof that it makes a difference. Mites love moisture, and hate light. So giving bedding a chance to dry thoroughly seems a good idea.
- Ventilate your house. Experts agree that inadequate air turnover in a house creates high humidity which favours mites.
- Liquid nitrogen treatment of carpets and bedding kills mites. Used alone it is probably ineffective. It needs to be done by specialists to be safe. We recommend our professional steam cleaning service.
- Vacuuming the mattress is not nearly as helpful as people used to think. It removes very few of the mites, which can hang on perfectly well to avoid being sucked into the vacuum cleaner. However, vacuuming will remove some of the skin dust on which the mites feed, and a little of their droppings, and may still be worthwhile as part of a proper plan.
- Damp-dust instead of vacuuming, but dampen the cloth as little as is necessary to stop the dust from flying about; very little dampness is needed.
Tags: dust mites, get rid of dust mites, house dust mite allergy, kill dust mites