The good news is that for most people dust mites are not dangerous. Even though a main part of their diet consists of skin cells, you don't need to worry that they'll eat you alive while you're sleeping. Dust mites prefer dead skin cells and do not cause sores by gnawing on your flesh. They do not bite. They do not sting.
In extreme cases, dust mites can be dangerous but only if an individual has severe allergies and reacts badly to any irritant. This may be the case with those people who suffer from a serious form of asthma.
Dust mites have been associated with allergies because their feces and microscopic skin shedding can cause irritation in the eye, nose and throat membranes of those who are more sensitive than the average person in these areas.
Basically someone has to have a genetic predisposition to dust mite allergies for the dust mites to be an irritant. For dust mites to be really dangerous, a person needs to have a genetic allergic predisposition to them as well as other health problems.
If you do have a genetic predisposition that makes you allergic to dust mites, there are several things you can do to reduce your exposure to them. Just be realistic. It's impossible to completely remove every single dust mite from your home. But you can greatly reduce their numbers by taking special steps and being exceptionally clean.
If your allergy to dust mites is a minor one, then taking the steps to eliminate them may not be as important to you than someone who could have a severe asthmatic reaction to them. To such a person dust mites could be dangerous, but to those with only mild allergic reactions, dust mites can simply be an incovenience.
These are mites that live in house dust. It is the feces of the them that is the actual allergen that causes breathing problems.
These creatures produce feces about 20 times a day. Aside from being an allergen, the stools of these guys is light enough to float in the air, so it is easily inhaled by those of us who occupy homes and buildings.
Then, when you consider there are about 40,000 mites per speck of dust, you can imagine (even if you'd rather not) just how many of these dust mite stools enter your respiratory tract.
Your indoor environment is especially vulnerable to these creatures if you live in a humid area, or if your home is subject to humid conditions for whatever other reason.
Humid environments create the ideal habitation for them, primarily since they result in a greater food supply for these mites. Staples of their diet include plant materials, molds, and fungi. All of which thrive in humid conditions.
Asian countries are more prone to these microscopic creatures induced asthma attacks. However, there is a solution, it is to have clove near to mites infested areas.
Based on the facts mentioned above, you can see why it is so critical to take action for the specific purpose of minimizing these fellows in your home, particularly if someone in your home suffers from asthma.
In which case, we have compiled a list of 6 ways you can reduce the mites that reside in your home.
6 ways to reduce dust mites:
1. Encasings. Bedding is the favorite home for them. This being the case, you should encase your bedding and pillows with impermeable rubber or vinyl plastic wrappings.
2. Washing You should wash clothes and bedding regularly. Washing in 60oF water is effective, but 130 F water will kill all mites. Washing in cold water kills about 90% of them.
3. Dry Cleaning Dry cleaning kills all of them.
4. Heating Any type of heating will help minimize their presence. Some examples include steam-cleaning carpets, tumble-drying (drying machine), direct sunlight exposure, and electric blankets.
5. Air Conditioning Air conditioning will dry out your indoor environment, which will reduce the food supply for mites, resulting in reduced their populations.
6. Air Purifier Despite your best efforts to remove them from your home or other indoor environment, they are simply too numerous and reproduce too frequently to keep their numbers lowered without the aid of an air purifier.
Keep in mind though, an air filter (e.g. HEPA) will not make much of a difference. First of all, most dust mites are too small to be captured by even the best of filters. In addition, most of them will not even pass through the filter's screen anyway.
Despite manufacturer's claims that their units complete so many air exchanges per hour, or filter so many square feet per hour, these are mostly based on theoretical calculations. The reality is that most pollutants in a given room or home will not pass through a small, stationary filter.
You are better off with a negative ion and ozone generator. Negative ions and ozone are much more effective at purifying air than a filter, due to the fact that they can remove pollatants from the air that are as much as 300 times smaller than the smallest particle a filter can remove.
Plus, they can be emitted throughout your home, so they are more thorough in the area they cover. Negative ions and ozone are also capable of penetrating walls, furnishings, bedding, etc. to destroy these mites and their stools.
Both Marc Smith & Eddy Kong are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Eddy Kong has sinced written about articles on various topics from Travel and Leisure, Medical Insurance and Anger Control. Eddy has a site which shares how he managed to discover a simple and yet hidden way on treating asthma. Get a free report and articles at his site. Eddy Kong's top article generates over 110000 views. to your Favourites.