No doubt you think you know all the inhabitants of your house well – family, friends, housemates, maybe a pet. But there are hidden unwanted guests in most UK homes. They are mean and ugly, they look like bizarre alien creatures from a science fiction film, oh and they could well be living in your bed. I’m talking of course about dust mites, the hidden menace in the home, which can’t be seen by the naked eye but manage to cause trouble wherever they go.
Aside from being thoroughly unpleasant to think they could be living in your carpets and bedding, dust mites are also among the most common triggers of asthma, eczema and a whole host of other recurrent allergies. Technically it’s not the mites themselves but their droppings that disagree with people, as they are coated in a highly allergenic enzyme which causes a reaction in over 20% of the population. Their food is the 50 million dead skin cells that the average human sheds every day, and it can be very tough to get rid of them completely. Tough, but far from impossible. If you think there might be dust mites in your home, here are three tips that could help:
Keep it Clean – If you want to get rid of dust mites, the most obvious solution is to remove the dust. They like to live in ‘dust bunnies’ and deep in the carpet pile so regular hoovering, every day if necessary, will help to restrict their food supply and suck them out of the carpet too. Leave windows open whenever the weather is good enough as they don’t like sunlight, and are so small that many of them will get blown away completely in a breeze!
Keep it Fresh –You might not think air quality would have much effect on dust mites considering they live in the carpet and furnishings, but in fact the right air conditioner could make all the difference. Even if you hoover every day the dust particles still have time to settle and for the mites to make new homes. Installing an air purifier with a HEPA filter literally removes all particles larger than 0.0003mm from the air before the dust can settle, meaning less food for mites.
Keep it Dry – Dust mites thrive in conditions where the air is moist with a relative humidity (RH) of 50% or higher. Different people have different ideas of the recommended RH in a home and it varies depending on where you live, but the most common recommendation is somewhere around 45%. If humidity levels in your home are above 50% it’s worth taking steps to reduce it as this will not only stop the mites but can also improve the general health of the occupants. Basic things like keeping windows open when cooking or showering can make a difference but if the problem persists then using a de humidifier is a quick and easy way to remove moisture from the air, maintaining the optimum RH and killing dust mites dead!
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