Do you think you may have dust mites in your Home?
Dust Mites by the millions and how to easily avoid them
You can’t see or feel them but rest unassured, they’re there and with an army to terrorize. People seem to think spiders are their biggest concern but forget there is a huge number of things in the house they should be worried about. With bugs people are certain to try and do anything to get them out especially if those bugs are a lot closer and a lot harder to see. Of course I’m talking about dust mites, an insect that always comes in colonies and lives off of dead skin cells.
They get into pillowcases, bedding, sheets, and pretty much anywhere dead skin cells build up. These tiny bastards are about .2 mm and can only be seen through a microscope. Researchers found that there could already be anywhere between 100,000 to 10 million mites on the mattress alone and it doesn’t stop there, they can also be on any furniture in the house.
When the mites are most active is when you’re most vulnerable, in your sleep. They leave you with red, rash-like marks on your skin, small bumps that can become hard or inflamed. Irritation, itching, and pain near the mark, rash, or bump. and swollen or blistered skin near the bite. At the end of the day none of these sounds like a plus, in fact quite the opposite but the good news is they aren’t parasitic meaning they don’t do the damage like fleas or ticks do to dogs instead they eat just the dead tissue.
It’s their waste that can be damaging to some people who could be allergic. If there’s continuous issues of congestion, sneezing, runny nose and itchy eyes, especially when they wake up, they could be having an allergic reaction to the dust mite feces they leave.
They seem to thrive in homes that are 60% humid or more, so decreasing the humidity is a good approach to reducing dust mites but there still are places they won’t leave easily. Not to worry though, there’s a simple fix to the problem. Just simply wash all sheets, blankets, pillowcases and bed covers in hot water that is at least 130 F (54.4 C) to kill dust mites and remove allergens. If bedding can’t be washed hot, put the items in the dryer for at least 15 minutes at a temperature above 130 F. To avoid getting them in the future it’s best to keep washing everything weekly also just to be clean in general just in case another bug comes through that door and decides to stay.
