Mites get into houses by hitchhiking on people, pets, clothes, or furniture; exploiting tiny cracks in foundations; or being carried in on contaminated food or materials like bird/rodent nests, thriving in warm, humid spots rich in skin flakes (bedding, carpets, upholstery) or moisture, with dust mites being a common indoor type that travels via air and fabrics.
Humidity is the most important factor in determining whether a house has high levels of dust mites. This is because dust mites do not drink water like we do; they absorb moisture from the air. In areas with low humidity, like deserts, dust mites cannot survive.
Steam cleaning or washing items in hot water is a surefire way to kill and eliminate mites of all types. Use a steam cleaner to heat treat your carpeting, furniture, and bedding. Wash the bedspreads, clothing, and other fabrics in hot water and dry clean them at a high temperature.
These microscopic pests often thrive in mattresses, pillows and upholstered furniture. Visible signs of a mite infestation—Though mites are nearly invisible to the naked eye, you may notice tiny black specks or clusters—potentially droppings or dead mites—on bedding, upholstery or carpets.
Signs and Symptoms of Mites
Mites can appear on virtually anything — furniture, clothes or surfaces — but they'll die after a few days.
Combine Clove, Eucalyptus, Lavender, Peppermint or Rosemary oil with water in a spray bottle and spray your bed, linens, and other furniture lightly with a fine mist. Once this mixture air dries, the scent should repel dust mites. Cinnamon bark oil can also be used to help control dust mites as well.
To reduce the number of dust mites in the home, do the following:
While some mite bites can go unnoticed, others can be painful. Nearly all result in itchy red marks or rashes. Intense itching may occur, and scratching may lead to infection. Symptoms usually develop within a day and may last as long as a week.
Unless you look through a microscope, you won't see dust mites. These tiny critters feed on the dead skin cells that people and pets shed. They favor warm and moist environments, so they often reside in mattresses, pillows, bedding, upholstered furniture, carpet and rugs.
Dry vacuuming doesn't pick up dust mites. Consider steam cleaning carpets when possible. In addition to cleaning the carpet, the heat of the steam kills dust mites. You can buy chemicals (ascaricides) that kill dust mites and that you can use on carpeting and furniture.
Predators. Dust mites are preyed upon by other allergenic mites (Cheyletiella), silverfish, and pseudoscorpions.
Dustmite X (EPA Reg. #67419-4) - Features a patented, specially-formulated natural borate compound that provides long-lasting control. Anti-Allergen Solution – Goes beyond cleaning to neutralize allergen proteins on contact, on fabrics, bedding, pet beds, and hard surfaces.
Blisters, red lumps or flaky skin on your palms, between your fingers, on your wrists, elbows, feet and genitals. You may also see red stripes on your skin. This is where the mites have dug tunnels. Children up to the age of four can also have itching and blisters on their head.
Unfortunately, although a dust mite may live for only 2-3 months, dust mite allergen particles continue to cause allergy symptoms even after the mite that produced them has died.
Launder all bedding, including pillowcases, throws, and duvet covers, every 1-2 weeks in hot water (130-140 degrees Fahrenheit). If your problem is severe, consider washing curtains and cleaning upholstery as well. Hot water effectively kills mites and removes allergens from bedding.
Although they may “hitchhike” on clothing, dust mites do not live on people. They feed primarily on dander, flakes of dead skin that fall from people and animals. Upholstered furniture, pillows and mattresses typically harbor more dust mites than carpeting.
Howell says that unfortunately many rather common skin conditions can be mistaken for scabies such as: hand, foot and mouth disease, eczema, bedbug bites, varicella, folliculitis, hives, molluscum, psoriasis, impetigo and herpes.
Wash all sheets, blankets, pillowcases and bedcovers in hot water that is at least 130 F (54.4 C) to kill dust mites and remove allergens.
Properly ventilating your living space will reduce the temperature and cause the humidity level to drop, and dust mites will struggle as a result. Once dust mites start feeling less comfortable in their surroundings, they'll stop breeding so quickly.
Yes, bleach can kill dust mites, but only under the right conditions. A diluted solution (1 part bleach to 9 parts water) can kill mites on hard surfaces and in laundry—but it's less effective in cold washes.
Dust mites and their waste products are weightless, so they can stay suspended in the air for long periods of time. Operating an air purifier with a true HEPA filter will pull in the microscopic particles into the filters so that they are no longer airborne.
Carpets are the ideal environment for dust mites to live. The thousands of small strands in a carpet provide the perfect place to trap and catch dust and dander – the conditions that dust mites love.
Among the tested oils, 1% (v/v) clove oil and palmarosa oil demonstrated high effectiveness, killing all mites within 20 and 50 min, respectively.