How to Eliminate Dust Mites from Indoors

updated 09/22/2008

Dust mites are arguably everyone's worst enemy. These microscopic bugs thrive off of dead skin cells and pet dander, and make their homes in areas where dust is most likely to gather, including couches, beds, and carpets. Even if you always keep your house neat and tidy, the average human releases 1/3 ounces of dead skin cells each week, so it is quite likely that dust mites have plenty to sustain them as the make their home in your home. Even worse, dust mites excrete an average of 20 droppings of waste each day, which many people are highly allergic to.¹

What Are Symptoms of Exposure to Dust Mites?

Dust mites can pose a serious threat to our health because of the reactions they can cause. They represent another pollutant to our indoor air since they thrive in the places where we spend the majority of our time.

Some people are more sensitive to dust mites than others, so their reactions to exposure will be more pronounced. Some of the ways they can impact your health include increased allergy symptoms such as watery eyes, coughing, sneezing, and breathing problems. You can see why eliminating them from your home and workplace is crucial to your everyday health and well-being.

Did You Know?

Dust mites are considered arachnids, which is the same class that includes spiders, ticks, and even scorpions! ²

How Am I Exposed to Dust Mites?

Dust mites live where we live and eat the skin we slough off. Remember, they thrive on that stuff. So, you can expect that they are living in your carpet, upholstery, places where dust and skin are plentiful.

Shocking Fact About Dust Mites

The average bed is home to anywhere from 100,000 to 10 million dust mites.
Pets with large amounts of fur can greatly increase the number of dust mites in your home.
We inhale their droppings from our pillows as we sleep, lay on carpet, or breathe in airborne dust particles.

How To Eliminate Dust Mites from Indoor Air

Dust mites are microscopic, but we can fight them. Here are several ideas that you can use to minimize the dust mites and droppings in your home. And some will work in your office too.

Focus on the their food sources. Remove dust from your home, and there are good ways to do that. For example, never sweep or "dust" floors or hard surfaces. This only serves to circulate the dust throughout the house, giving you more chance to inhale them. Instead use damp cloths that will attract and hold the dust you're collecting
Another way to remove dust is to vacuum your home, furniture, carpet and floors with a machine that uses HEPA filter technology. It will capture them and their eggs.
You may wish to invest in a good quality air purification system that employs, HEPA filter and UV & negative ion technologies for best results when cleaning your air.
To minimize pet dander, run a wet cloth over pet fur each day, especially after animals come in from outdoors. Another good way to contain loose hair is to brush fur in both directions and then follow with a damp cloth.
Keep your home humidity levels low. Use a dehumidifier to keep your air below 50% because dust mites don't like dry air. Dr. Group suggests that you run your dehumidifier about 2 to 3 times per week.
Wash bedclothes weekly and use water at about 130° Fahrenheit, very hot water to kill the dust mites. Use natural laundry detergent, and add essential oils to help kill any left behind. Dry bedding on high heat as well.
Air toxins affect your health when they enter your body. They build up in your digestive tract. You need to cleanse your tract regularly to keep your body free of parasites.
You can purchase hypoallergenic bedding, and sofas. You should replace your pillows yearly. There are also mattress and pillow casings that are dust mite free and organic.
Carpet can be replaces with non-toxic wool or non-toxic hardwood flooring. If you use carpet, be sure to use all natural carpet cleaning products
You can check for dust mites in as little as 10 minutes with Mite-T-Fast™ home test kit.

Resources for Dust Mites

Dust Mite Home Testing Kit - Check bedding for dust mites in just 10 minutes using the Mite-T-Fast™ home test kit.

Mite-T-Fast™ Allergen Detection System
www.avehobiosciences.com/products.shtml
1.866.590.0972

Organic Bedding - Buy new hypoallergenic bedding every year to prevent the accumulation of droppings from Dust Mites, or use organic cotton mattress and pillow casings.
EcoChoices Natural Living Store www.ecobedroom.com 1.626.969.3707	GREENCulture™ www.greenculture.com 1.877.204.7336

Organic Replacement Pillows - Buy new hypoallergenic pillows every year to prevent the accumulation of droppings, or use organic cotton mattress and pillow casings.
TheCleanBedroom™ www.thecleanbedroom.com 1.866.380.5892	NaturalBedStore.com www.thenaturalbedstore.com 1.800.235.3433

REFERENCES

http://www.ehso.com/ehshome/dustmites.php
http://www.cellsalive.com/mite.htm
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/dust-mites/DS00842

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