Often, the thoughts about millions of dust mites living in your home wouldn't cross your mind until the allergens start triggering allergies symptoms.
Most households are perfect breeding spots for dust mites. These little creatures, which are invisible to the bare eyes, exists in the most home around the world.
It doesn't' take much for dust mites to breed. A cool temperature between 68 to 77 Fahrenheit, the relative humidity of 70% to 80%, and the continuous shedding of skin flakes from individuals living in the house encourage dust mites growth.
According to a published study in India, 60% of the mites are found in bedding, while 30% reside in upholstery. A further 10% of dust mites are observed in carpets.
Considering that dust mites breed at an exponential pace, you'll need to take aggressive action in stopping their growth in your home.
Here are what you can do if your home is infested with dust mites.
1. Reduce Indoor Humidity
An overly-humid environment is bad for your health. If your home's humidity is above 70%, you risk having dust mites, mold, and bacteria growing in your home.
To disrupt the optimum environment for dust mites, you'll need to reduce the humidity to ideally 50%. You can do so by opening the doors and windows in your home for natural ventilation. Doing so daily prevents excessive moisture from being trapped in your home.
If natural ventilation is difficult, you can consider getting a dehumidifier or installing an exhaust fan to make your home less humid.
2. Use Hypoallergenic Bedding
As most of the mites are found in beds, it makes sense that you'll want to consider replacing your mattress and pillow with hypoallergenic ones. Old mattresses, particularly those made of foam rubber or spring, are likely to house millions of dust mites.
Replacing dust mites-infested bedding with those made from hypoallergenic materials like memory foam is key to keeping dust mites under control.
If it gives you peace of mind, you can also use dust mite protectors to deny the pests any chance of breeding in mattresses and pillows.
Remember that the pore size is as important as the material when you're choosing hypoallergenic bedding covers. As dust mite allergens are around 20 microns, you'll want to get dust mite covers with a pore size of 15 microns or smaller.
3. Clean And Declutter Your Home Regularly
Even if you're using a dust mite resistant mattress, you'll need to clean the bedding and your home regularly. Dust mite may still breed on the mattress's surface or any areas that are prone to trapping skin flakes.
Make it a habit to clean mattress covers, pillowcases, blankets, and other bedding at least once a week. Clean the bedding with high temperature (above 131 F) as cold water does not affect dust mites.
The same goes for upholstery and carpets, which could be filled with dust mites. As heat is the most effective arsenal for killing dust mites, you can use a steam cleaner on the surfaces.
You may also want to consider decluttering your home, as dust could quickly gather around unused items, turning them into breeding spots for dust mites.
4. Install An Air Purifier
While dust mites can't fly, it doesn't take much to send a few hundreds of them floating in the air. It has been proven that using an air purifier helps to reduce dust mites in your home.
When you're choosing an air purifier, ensure that it has a HEPA filter and is rated to match the size of the room. HEPA filters are designed to trap 99.97% of particles as small as 0.3 microns. The filter will safely trap dust mites and their fecal pellets.
For the best effect, you'll want to place the air purifier close to the bed. That's where most of the mites gather and also, easily dispersed to the air when you're making the bed.
5. Use Essential Oil Spray
Essential oils such as clove and eucalyptus are clinically proven to be effective in killing dust mites. Besides, these essential oils also denature dust mite allergen, which is the trigger for allergy symptoms.
Essential oil sprays are easy to make, and they are useful in cleaning areas unreachable by vacuums or steam cleaners. Add a few drops of essential oil into a water-filled spray bottle, and you're ready to kill some mites.
Note that essential oil sprays are less potent than chemical disinfectants, but they are greener and non-toxic.
Final Thoughts
It's impossible to get rid of every single dust mite in your home, but if you're allergic to them, you'll need to keep the numbers down. You'll know your efforts are working when the symptoms get milder without taking the usual medication.
Author Bio: Kenny shares dust mites prevention tips at DustMiteBuster.com. He spent the last 4 years decluttering, cleaning, and researching about the menacing pests as his son was severely allergic to dust mites.
