Dust mites are microscopic insects that are invisible to the naked eye — and there are millions of them in the average home. They feed on human skin and pet dander, and they can produce up to 200 times their own body weight in waste. Most importantly, they can cause serious problems for allergy-sufferers, including respiratory difficulties, watery eyes and congestion.
While you’ll never be able to remove dust mites from your home completely, there are a few steps you can take to minimise them. By making a few changes to your home and living habits, you can slow down the rate at which these nasty little critters reproduce. You can also reduce their food supply to gradually starve them out of your home.
Follow these 10 simple tips to make life easier for allergy-sufferers and improve your sleep quality.
1. Change the atmospheric conditions
Dust mites thrive in warm, humid conditions. You should be able to drastically reduce the number of mites in your home simply by turning the temperature down a little. Introduce dehumidifiers in problem areas, and improve ventilation wherever possible.
2. Clean regularly
Introduce a dusting schedule in your home. However, it’s important to gather dust, rather than simply spreading it around. Wipe it with a microfibre cloth, making sure you keep it trapped until you can wash or air it.
It’s also important to use a powerful vacuum cleaner with a HEPA filter or something similar. Look for the best vacuum cleaner for carpet online, or ask to try some out at your local electrical store.
3. Change your approach to laundry
You can kill dust mites by cleaning your clothes and bedding at very high temperatures. A minimum water temperature of 54C should do the trick.
4. Use the power of steam
Steam clean your carpets and rugs regularly to kill dust mites living deep within them. A steam cleaner with a carpet glider attachment fires superheated steam exactly where you need it. It doesn’t just kill dust mites, it also kills up to 99.9% of bacteria.
5. Protect your bed
The average bed is teeming with dust mites, and despite your best cleaning efforts, there’s not a great deal you can do about this on a day-to-day basis. But you can limit the little critters by switching to a hypoallergenic mattress or a mattress protector.
6. Get rid of your carpets and rugs
If you have people with serious allergies in your home, more drastic measures may be necessary. Dust mites love carpets, so by getting rid of them, you can drastically reduce the number of mites in your home overnight.
7. Minimise soft furnishings
Dust mites prefer upholstered surfaces and fabrics, so limit them wherever you can. Remove unnecessary cushions, throws, curtains and drapes, and you’re taking away the mite’s natural habitat.
8. Stop making your bed
Instead of making your bed in the morning, give your duvet and blankets time to breathe. Dust mites are attracted to moisture — the kind of moisture created when you perspire in bed at night. The best thing you can do is to hang your blankets for a thorough airing every morning.
9. Use eucalyptus spray
You can kill dust mites with a spray of water and eucalyptus oil. Once a week or so, spray your upholstered furniture, carpets, furnishings and mattresses to keep mites to a minimum.
10. Use diatomaceous earth
Diatomaceous earth is a powder that comes from silica rock. When dust mites crawl through it, their hard exoskeletons are pierced by the “sharp” rock crystals. Just make sure you vacuum the area shortly afterwards.
Dust mites can make life pretty miserable for allergy sufferers. But follow these simple tips, and you should be able to improve the quality of life for everyone in your home.