If you suffer from asthma or similar breathing difficulties you will undoubtedly be very sensitive to the quality of the air around you. Whilst you cannot personally do much to influence the quality of the air outside your home, inside is a very different matter.
Household dust is largely made up of dead skin particles shed by we humans and our pets, all of which make a tasty feast for the dust mite. It is the dust mite’s function in life to chomp his way through this debris and prevent us from drowning in our own filth.
This beastly little chap is too small to be seen with the naked eye – he along with 5,000 of his minute friends could comfortably sit on the head of a pin, and they congregate wherever there is food for them. The most hospitable places in our homes are in our beds, upholstery and carpets as all of these harbour dust.
Whilst we largely live in harmony with dust mites, inevitably, as with all animals, what goes in one end comes out again the other end, albeit in a different form. It is the excretia of the dust mite that creates allergies in some of us.
If you have difficulty breathing at night, or frequently wake up with that ‘bunged up’ feeling, your bedding is undoubtedly in need of a spring clean. So put a fresh filter in your vacuum cleaner and get to work on your mattress and when you’ve thoroughly vacuumed the top, turn it over and do the other side as well. If you have a box spring base you will also need to vacuum that . Do the same with your pillows, but if they are more than a few years old, replace them with new ones. Dry clean blankets and/or duvets or, if they’re washable put them on a minimum of 60oC cycle (anything less and the little blighters will survive!).
For most of us this exercise, carried out approximately twice a year, will make enough of a difference to return us to rested sleep filled nights. However, for those who are hypersensitive, suffering from asthma and/or hay fever, more drastic measures may be necessary to keep household dust to a minimum.
On a regular basis (at least twice a week) it will be necessary to
– damp wipe all surfaces to remove the dust, (rather than push it around to resettle somewhere else), – vacuum, rather than sweep, all floors. – keep your bedroom and bedding well aired - dust mites thrive in high humidity
It’s also a good idea to:
– vacuum upholstery with the same thoroughness you used on your mattress
– use zippered plastic covers for your mattress and pillows to prevent dust penetration
– keep pets out of the bedroom, regularly wash their bedding on a hot cycle and frequently vacuum the areas where they predominantly live
– remove carpets and replace with hard flooring.
Unfortunately it is impossible to eliminate dust mites from our homes, but the above measures should make living with them more comfortable.
The author has for the last 13 years run a domestic cleaning agency http://www.selclene.co.uk/ providing regular cleaners to private homes in the Forest of Dean and Wye Valley. In response to the increasing demand for spring cleans, pre and post house move cleans etc she has started another cleaning business www.rainbowcleaners.co.uk
Dust Mite Allergy - How To Minimise Exposure
Danger In Dust Mite
Dust mites are a microscopic relative of spiders that live in our furniture and 
carpet. They thrive in our bedrooms because of the heat and warmth we give off. Dust mites feed off our dead skin cells. Unfortunately their droppings have a protein that many people are allergic to. Dust Mite does most of their attacking at night while you are asleep.
Studies show that over 45% of homes in the United States have concentrations of dust mites that are considered to be dangerous enough to cause asthmatic conditions. Ten percent of American today have asthma which is the leading cause of children missing school. Dust mites are possible the number one cause of asthma problems in the home.
Dust mite live about six weeks and female dust mites lay between 60 to 80 eggs during their lifetime. Dust mites have no natural predator so they just keep multiplying. A full size mattress has approximately two million dust mites in it. In one gram of dust from a carpet, a little over 10,000 mites were found. Old pillow may have as much as 10% of their weight made up of dead dust mites and droppings. Makes you think, huh?
Walk into a dusty room and one is bound to sneeze. It is probably the mildest form of allergic reaction to dust. People with pre-disposed ailments rhinitis, also known as hay fever, will react more severely to dusty conditions. Sometimes a fairly clean environment can also trigger off allergic reactions. It is simply because there are house mites dead and alive, present in the environment. According to Dr M. Nadchatram, the former head of studying sticks and mites division at the Institute mites are hardly visible to the naked eye. They are white in color and are not parasitic.
Although the existence of mites was discovered centuries ago, the relationship between mites and house dust allergies was only established in 1964 by western and Japanese. They found that mites were responsible for triggering off bronchial asthma allergic rhinitis, allergic dermatitis and other allergic related ailments like sinusitis. "Today, allergies caused by house dust are regarded as the most important after pollen induced allergies. Eighty percent of house dust allergies are said to be mite-induced," says Dr Nadchatram. In Malaysia, the skin clinic of the General Hospital have been conducting joint research on house dust mites and its association with respiratory allergies. Dr Nadchatram himself has been actively involved in research related to house dust mites not only in Malaysia but also in Singapore when he was lecturing at the National University of Singapore and then in Hawaii where he went to do his research fellowship in studying sticks and mites.
Studies have shown that the infestation level of mites is higher in the tropical region. The tropical climate has no sudden temperature changes and is humid - these two factors are favorable for mites, enabling them to live longer and reproduce on a larger scale. Can effective housekeeping reduce the mites' population? One important factor to remember is that both dead and live mites are allergenic.
Regular vacuuming is strongly recommended. Air conditioning the bed room is also important in controlling the mites' population. "Sweeping is not effective in removing fine particles of dust which include mite eggs and faeces." says Dr Nadchatram. "Sweeping actually causes the mites to be air bone and tribute within the house." Therefore, sweeping should be followed by mopping the floor with a detergent or vacuuming. "One other effective way of eliminating house mites is by employing in the age old practice of sunning carpets, bed linen and mattresses followed all dust containing dust mites."
When you have allergies it is important to be very selective when looking for the right pillow. Cotton pillows tend to collect dust mites rapidly - a big no-no for those with allergies. Instead, look for OCA Water Pillow. It can anti dust mites and provides you a healthier life.
By keeping to these methods, housewife would be keeping dust and mites at bay.
OCA Water Pillow 100% Anti Dust Mites And Provide You A Healthier Life provides detailed information about OCA Water Pillows.
Dust Mites And Allergies - Learn The Facts
Believe it or not, the average home can contain well over two million house
dust mites with a new generation arriving every three weeks. The life span of each dust mite is 3 to 4 months and between 20 and 50 eggs are laid every three weeks. Each dust mite excretes 20 droppings per day. In fact they can excrete so much that a pillow which has not been cleaned for two years could way 10% more than when new because of all the droppings in it.The enzymes which are in the droppings are what cause allergic reactions such as asthma and rhinitis.
Luckily, there are ways to deal with dust mites:
Open your windows every day to air out your house, especially the bedroom. Pull back your covers before you do this. Dust mites need humidity to survive and this will dry them out.
Regularly vacuum your soft furnishings and carpet using a hepa-filter vacuum cleaner
Have your Mattress and carpets professionally cleaned at least once a year. Use a cleaning company that is licensed to use dustmite eradication products.
A top tip for children's soft toys is to bag them and put them in the freezer. This will kill any mites on them and their eggs.
The common all year round symptoms of allergies like rhinitis should disappear very quickly if the above steps are followed. Remember that our indoor air is more responsible for our allergies than the pollution outside. This is a good thing because it means we have control over the environment which effects us the most!
For more information on dustmites including a short video of a leading doctor from Cambridge university lecturing this topic please visit:
http://www.ethoscarpetcare.com/healthy-home/allergy-control.shtml
