This article should be your first stop to manage your dust mite allergies and ensure your home is friendly for people who suffer with dust mite allergies. The Article will provide the following information:
- Knowledge - The basics any allergy sufferer should know to enable you to better understand your allergy and how you can overcome the allergy to lead a better life.
- Understand How it Impacts Your Health - A list of possible symptoms to identify how it is or will affect yourself.
- Prioritized Steps You Can Take To Manage Your Allergy - a comprehensive step-by-step guide everyone can take to manage their allergies in a better way
Let's start at the very basics... A dust mite is a tiny creature that can only be seen under the microscope. It is from a similar family as the tick or spider (sorry!). They are especially abundant in homes as they thrive where they can find warm, humid and soft places.
They feed on dead skin cells/hair and other organic matter found in your home, which eventually becomes dust. Furthermore, they drink by absorbing moisture in the air.
1. Dust Mite Allergy - Knowledge
The trigger of a dust mite allergy is actually the protein found from dust mites, not the actual dust in your home. The proteins enter your body in two forms:
- Dust Mite feces (each dust mite produce 20 droppings a day)
- Decaying dead dust mite body
these two forms mean that the common place to feel the effects of an allergy are soft furnishings (where they live) and anywhere you can find dust (as this is their food).
For those science nerds out there, this diagram depicts at more in depth view of what is actually happening when a symptom is triggered... however, the key thing to know is More Dust Mites = More Aggressive Symptoms (Eczema / Asthma / Rhinitis)
2. Dust Mite Allergy - Understand How it Impacts Your Health
If you have any of the following symptoms which get worse when at home or sleeping, then you likely have a dust mite allergy:
- Sneezing / Runny nose / Nasal congestion / Postnasal drip
- Cough
- Asthma / Difficulty breathing
- Itchy, red or watery eyes
- Itchy body including skin, nose and mouth
- Facial pressure and pain
- Swollen, blue/black colored skin under your eyes
- Trouble sleeping caused by shortness of breath, coughing or wheezing
- In a child, frequent upward rubbing of the nose
How to manage your Dust Mite allergy
Many people have grown up with a dust mite allergy without knowing and have been prescribed a whole host of medication in order to reduce symptoms such as steroid nasal sprays, steroid inhalers, steroid creams, moisturizer and powerful antihistamines.
I am strongly against medication/surgeory as the 1st step to resolution...why not prevent the fire rather than fight the fire?!
All the advice and products on this website are to do with prevention, rather than taking some form of drug.
A troubling reality and difficulty most clients find is they try to only do 1 or 2 actions to reduce dust mites in their home. Unfortunately, this is often not enough, as turning five million dust mites into four million dust mites will often have minimal impact on your symptoms. Instead, you will need to adopt a whole series of simple management methods, as outlined below. Trust me as a long life sufferer I wish I did this so much sooner as I think clearer, feel great and look better (promise...I'm not a vein person!)
This list is set out in priority order and I urge everyone to do at least steps 1-5 as this will drastically remove dust mites from your home.
3. Dust Mite Allergy - Prioritized Steps You Can Take To Manage Your Allergy
If you want a customized plan for yourself to improve your dust mite allergy, we would recommend an appointment with a consultant which can be booked here
1. Protect your bed
Your bed is the biggest hotspot in your home for dust mites they have everything they need, plenty of food, moisture, warmth and a place to lay their eggs. At night, you are spending 8 hours nuzzled into their favourite place. This prolonged exposure is the reason you may often wake up with reduced mental clarity, reduced breathing and skin issues. This is why it must be addressed first.
- Dust Mite Protectors - Protectors are the best way to reduce the dust mites ability to live and breed in your bed. This prevents dust mites creating a home inside your duvet, pillows and mattress as they are unable to penetrate the barriers. The dust mites must now live on the surface sheets of your bed, which you can regularly wash to remove dust mites and their proteins.
You need to ensure that the dust mite cover has Zero gaps as otherwise the dust mites can enter and escape. You will often find these on the cheapest dust mite covers.
Click Here to buy our recommended Dust Mite Pillow Cover
- Ensure your bed is metal or wood - Dust mites love soft fabrics to lay their eggs, so you need to make sure your bed is not made of fabric such as a traditional divan. Instead, opt for a bed that only has hard materials such as wood and metal which is also incredibly easy to clean
- Replace your Mattress - if your bed has not been replaced in years it may already home up to 10 million dust mites. It's a great idea to replace your mattress and place a mattress protector on day 1 to prevent the mites from ever getting inside.
2. Replace all carpeted floors
Now that you have protected your bed, you need to focus on removing any carpets from your property. Your carpet may not be as warm or humid as your bed, but if your house is covered in carpet, you are allowing them to actively breed. Your footsteps will disturb the allergens found in your carpet, which you will breathe in.
- Hard flooring throughout your property - ensure the new hard flooring is easy to clean, and you minimize gaps to prevent dust building in those areas.
- Cannot replace your carpet? - unfortunately replacing your carpet may not be an option due to cost or you do not own your property. The next best steps you can do are regularly steam clean your carpet, regularly vacuum and as a last resort apply a dust mite cleaner spray.
If you want to save time and reduce your dust mite allergy book a session with one of the consultants in order to receive an assessment about your allergy, bespoke advice on what to change in your home and what daily habits you should introduce
Click Here To See a Consultant
3. Adopting a regimented tailored cleaning routine
Weekly Basis - In Priority order
- Every single item on your bed should be washed at 60 Degrees. Only at 60 degrees and higher are the proteins destroyed (Dust Mite proteins are the actual cause of your allergy). All bedding should be washed at least once a week and the dust mite protectors can be cleaned on a monthly basis.
- All surfaces need to be cleaned with a Wet Cloth, this will absorb the dust rather than moving the dust into the air or floor
- Sofa vacuumed or wiped clean (depending on fabric or leather)
- All floors should be vacuumed (we recommend one week to do a heavy clean which would include moving all furniture and the other week a light clean). You should ensure there is a HEPA filter on your vacuum that is regularly cleaned/replaced.
- Due to the size of dust mite allergens,we would recommend the Dyson V15 Absolute. You can find more information here about why we recommend this vacumn
- All hard floors mopped
Monthly Basis - In Priority order
- Dust Mite Protectors on your bed should be washed at 60 degrees to destroy dust mite proteins
- Pillow and Duvet washed at 60 degrees to destroy dust mite proteins
- All filters in the house vacuumed / replaced this could include air purifier, dehumidifiers, computer filters, air vents and the vacuum filter HEPA
- Washing Machine cleaned with standard supermarket cleaning products
- Window shutters/blinds/curtains washed or wiped clean
Tips
- If you can afford a cleaner, this is the most effective way to ensure your property is cleaned on a regular basis. It's all too easy to feel too tired or delay cleaning until the symptoms start to appear. If you cannot have a cleaner make sure you have the time scheduled in your calendar every week!
- reducing excess objects and clutter from your property can make it easier to clean and will reduce the amount of food for dust mites in your home
4. Removing all soft fabrics in the home
Once you have removed all carpets from your home, you need to make sure all soft furnishings removed from your home. These fabrics may not get as much human contact as your carpet or bed but they will still house many dust mites as they have food, warmth and place to lay their eggs.
- Floor rugs: These can be removed or you need to wash them on a weekly basis at 60 degrees
- Curtains: These can be removed or you need to wash them on a monthly basis at 60 degrees. The best alternative are wooden shutters if this is too expensive, consider blinds made of wood or metal that are easy to wipe clean
- Sofa: this is a big one to swallow, and many people (including myself) prefer a fabric sofa! However how often do you wash your sofa fabric? Exactly! Your best bet is to have a leather sofa which can be wiped clean
Just a quick note!
Thanks for reading this page, my ambition is to make everyone aware of their dust mite allergies and allow them to live a pain free life! You can really help me out by:
- Sharing my website
- Buying a product
- Subscribing to my newsletter for more great advice (subscribe button can be found at the bottom of this page)
- Lastly if you want to keep up with the latest news and receive free advice join our Facebook Group
5. Use a Dehumidifier
This is only a priority if there are rooms in your house above 50% humidity (especially the bedroom and living room where you spend most of your time!). The reason for this is dust mites survive by drinking water from the air. When the humidity is below 50% they struggle to surive and breed.
- Buy a dehumidifier if your property is EVER above 50% humidity
- Buy a humidity sensor so you can ensure it stays below 50%
- Do not dry clothes inside (do this outside or using a drying machine)
- Open the windows then it is warm and dry outside
- Close the windows when it is wet and humid outside
Step- by-Step Guide - Progression
6. Use an Air Purifier
We have now covered the absolute basics, the next step is to look at the more extreme measures.I would recommend applying steps 1-5 and checking how your symptoms are before progressing to step 6+
No matter how much cleaning and dust mite prevention's you have implemented, there will always be some allergens remaining floating in the air. An air purifier with a HEPA filter is the perfect solution (only HEPA filters are effective at catching very small particles such as dust mite proteins). I would recommend one in your bedroom and one in your main living space.
We recommend using LEVOIT Smart Wi-Fi Air Purifiers air purifier. It has a full range of settings so that it can be used in your bedroom or living room even at night time.
7. Use a Robot Vacuum
A common problem most people face is they forget or do not have time to clean their property. Robot vacuums will clean away dust every day at your scheduled time every day (could be whilst you are out or at the gym!). This device is the perfect way to reduce the amount of food dust mites have.
8. Increase Cleanability of home
We highly recommend having a home layout that allows you to clean and vacuum everywhere. The best ways to do this are:
- Ensure all furniture is on legs (if you have a robot vacuum make sure it can go underneath!)
- Ensure all cables from your laptop and pc are bundled together and are easy to clean.
- reduce the amount of items in your home, figures and pictures on a shelf may look great, but it means you have more items to clean!
9. Mental and Physical health
Last but not least is you need to look after your mental and physical health. When you are in a stressed state your body is more likely to react in a negative way when it comes across foreign substances such as dust mites!
- Exercise has been proven to reduce stress reduce your response to all allergens
- meditation is a great way to reset your stress levels and can alleviate dust mite symptoms
- Diet and fasting will have a massive impact on how your body responds to threats (such as allergens) and so is a crucial part of the fight
I Live To Serve
Thanks for reading this page, my ambition is to make everyone aware of their dust mite allergies and allow them to live a pain free life! You can really help me out by:
- sharing my website
- buying a product
- subscribing to my newsletter for more great advice (subscribe button can be found at the bottom of this page)
I hope your future is dust mite free! :)