Get Rid of Dust Mites

Dust Mites Think Your Home Is Great

Dust mites reside mostly in your carpets, rugs, drapes and central air ducts.  Their basic diet consists of pet dander, pollen, fungi and your skin.  Don't worry about the skin thing, it is only your dead skin that has fallen off of you and onto the floor.  You lose about an ounce of skin per month and dust mites just love it.  Since you can't change this, you have to find a different way to get rid of them. If you or a family member have a dust mite allergy, you know they are everywhere.  If you don't have allergies then you really shouldn't be too worried about them.

Pets and Dust Mites

Pets leave dandruff for dust mites to eat, and they leave a lot of it.  The longer they are in an area, the more dandruff they will leave.  It is best to have them sleep in a room other than a bed room, especially one with carpet.  The best place for them to sleep would be a room with wood, concrete or tile floors. Create a comfortable location on the floor with a washable pet bed so they will leave most of their dandruff there and not on your furniture, which you will have more trouble washing.

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Best Practices for Dust Mites

Use your vacuum on carpets, upholstered furniture, mattresses and curtains regularly.  Wash and rugs, sheets and blankets routinely.  If you have a dog, be sure to keep him on a regular schedule for cleaning.  Doing these things will remove some of the dust mites, but the real goal is to reduce their food supply.  This will reduce the number of dust mites.

Dust Mites Cannot Take the Cold

Turn on your air conditioner, yes even in the winter, for a day or two, during the day while you are gone. Lower your humidity to 50% if you have the option on your central air unit.  The combination of cold air an low humidity will both freeze and dehydrate them dust mites.  The reason this happens is dust mites absorb water through their skin from the air instead of drinking it.

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