Clean Bedding – Dust mites love beds more than the laziest of humans. It’s where we spend up to a third of our lives and the one single location where we lose much of our dead skin. As noted in previous articles in this series on dust mites, these minuscule creatures eat discarded skin cells whether from humans or animals. With this in mind it is best to change bedding once a week and to make sure the sheets are washed in hot water. This will kill and wash away dust mites and their allergy inducing faeces.

If you suffer from dust mite allergies it will also be wise to get rid of any wool blankets, comforters or feather pillows and adornments. This will be an unfortunate impact on your interior design but it will also significantly reduce the places where dust mites thrive. Vellux is a good material to use and can take a lot of hot water washes. it might also be nice to have your cat or dog sleep with you but again, this just adds further discarded skin cells to the bed and will have a negative impact on your dust mite allergies. Get them their own bed on the floor.

Carpets – If the bed is dust mite hotel, the carpet is dust mite city. There is so much of it and so many places for dust mites to hide and feed. A vacuum cleaner doesn’t do much either for the dust mites are able to hang on to the fibres in the carpet and slot themselves into the many nooks and crannies that are visible if you look at the threading under a microscope. The best way to rid your carpets of as many dust mites as possible is to steam clean them. This should be done regularly, depending on your allergy symptoms. The hot steam will kill most dust mites.

Alternatively, you can make a major change in your decor scheme by throwing out all carpets in the home. This is drastic but if you have good floorboards underneath, it can be a blessing in disguise. There’s also choices in flooring which are easy to clean and do not lend themselves to dust mites. These include laminate, linoleum and wood. If you have very bad dust mite allergies, this is seriously an option to consider.

Temperature and Humidity – Dust mites love warm and humid environments. Therefore, one of the best ways to leave dust mites wanting an exit route is by keeping the home interior as cool as possible. Of course, this largely depends on your location in the world as well as the time of year but if possible, it’s best to keep a home below 70 degrees. Air conditioners and dehumidifiers can also be installed which will keep the interior spaces fresh and reduce humidity. The ideal humidity level for a private home is below 35%.

Clean the Home – “Cleanliness is indeed next to godliness” said John Wesley, the Anglican cleric and Christian theologian. Whether close to godliness or not, cleanliness will certainly lead to dust mites being ousted from your home. Not many people like cleaning but it’s essential and especially so if you suffer from dust mite allergies. In severe cases, the house should be completely wiped clean once a week.

Areas to think about cleaning are floors, beds, walls, shelves, tables, chairs and anywhere else where dust collects including on the top of picture frames and doors. It’s essential you carry out this cleaning using a damp cloth. A dry cloth will merely flick the dust into the air where it will settle on locations where you have already cleaned. The dust will instead stick to a cloth that is slightly wet. The same applies when cleaning wooden or other hard floor surfaces. Mop the floors instead of sweeping. Take down the curtains regularly and give them a good clean. Vacuum upholstery and give furnishings as good going over.

Dust Traps – The more you get rid of general dust, the less you will suffer from dust mite allergies. This means getting rid of anything which might unnecessarily collect dust. Think about replacing curtains and drapes with blinds or shades which are much easier and quicker to wipe down. Too many soft toys can be a dust mite haven and so if your child suffers from dust mite allergies think about reducing the number of teddy bears and other stuffed toys in their bedroom. Also, it’s important to clean the soft toys regularly.

Pets need to be bathed often and one can purchase omega fatty acids for their skin which reduces the amount of dead skin cells dropping off with a moisturising effect. To sum up, it’s important to search around the house for where dust most collects and to target those areas in a weekly clean. It’s going to be impossible to get rid of all dust mites in the home and it’s best not to assume you can. However, with the points mentioned above, you can drastically reduce the numbers and the resulting dust mite allergy symptoms.

There are also special sprays which can be purchased in stores and also online which can help reduce dust mites in the home. These include Steri-Fab or BedLam Insecticide which are both safe to use in the home environment.

One of the favourite places for a dust mite to reside is in your bed. Each night we sleep in bed with thousands of little guests we have never invited into our home. They are microscopic and thrive in warm conditions. House dust mite allergy is basically a hypersensitive reaction to the proteins found in a dust mite’s excrement. Yes, it’s not so much the dust mite itself that you’re allergic to but their poo. This protein attacks the respiratory system and causes such ailments as asthma and hay fever. It can also aggravate other illnesses people might already suffer from.

When the proteins in the house dust mite’s faeces touches the skin or is inhaled, the body produces antibodies. This natural body defence mechanism results in a release of a chemical called histamine. Unfortunately, this leads to irritation and swelling in the respiratory passages which causes the various symptoms. Not everyone has this body reaction and the predisposition to dust mite allergy is in most cases hereditary.

The main symptoms to look out for if you suspect you have house dust mite allergy are a runny nose, watery eyes, hay fever like sneezing and general all body itching. If you have difficultly breathing, this might also be a symptom, especially if you have just changed bedding, folded clothes or vacuum cleaned flooring. In more serious cases, a form of eczema can also occur. If you have all these symptoms and also have trouble sleeping each night, then it is well worth a check-up at your local doctors. They will give some skin and possibly blood tests to determine if you have dust mite allergies.

There are a number of remedies you can take to combat the symptoms of dust mite allergy but the best way to deal with this is through prevention. In the next and final post of this dust mite series I will explore the most effective ways of reducing the amount of dust mites in your home. Please subscribe to Home Interior Design Themes to be kept up to date with the regular postings.

There are three different species of house dust mite. These consist mainly of the American house dust mite (Dermatophagoides farinae) and the European house dust mite (Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus). Both are different species but not noticeably so as to warrant separate articles. Also, both of these species occur worldwide and the European dust mite can be found in North America and vice versa.

House dust mites are tiny. In a good light and against a dark background, the body of a dust mite can just be seen. The average dust mite measures around 0.42 millimeters in length and 0.30 millimeters in width. Under a microscope one would see that both the male and female house dust mites are a creamy blue color and are rectangular in shape. All dust mites have eight legs.

Dust mites eat organic matter which includes skin cells shed by humans. They have a simple gut without a stomach and therefore often consume the same particle several times. Like similar animals, house dust mites like to eat matter that has been pre-decomposed by fungi.

There are numerous ways in which a dust mite is transported into and around the home. One of these is in dust bunnies, which are clumps of dust one often finds beneath furniture, radiators and in corners which have not been cleaned properly. These are made up of hair, lint, dead skin and dust which are kept together through static electricity and felt-like entanglement. Another way dust mites move from location to location is in air currents, but major and minor, which are generated through everyday activity in the home.

Dust mites don’t live for very long. On average a male house dust mite lives for between 10 and 20 days. Females live longer and if mated, can survive for up to 70 days, in which time they can lay between 60 to 100 eggs. On a more unsavoury topic, a single house dust mite can produce approximately 2000 fecal particles in a 10 week life span. This doesn’t include the partially digested enzyme-covered dust particles of which there are many more.

In the next article in this series I will explore dust mite allergy symptoms and how you can effectively reduce the number of dust mites in your home environment. Please subscribe to Home Interior Design Themes for further updates.