Dead skin eating micro bugs.......yum

Picture a home overflowing with millions of tiny spiders. Imagine the family living with this insect infestation. Their carpets, their beds their furniture are all covered with teeming clusters of tiny bugs. Every day these arachnids are eating, sleeping, defecating and dying right there on the couch while junior is watching TV, or on the bed while mom and dad are having…a nap.

Now look around your house because, even though you don't see them, they're everywhere! I'm talking about dust mites, microscopic anthropoids that are the leading cause of allergic reactions in the home today. Dust mites are extremely small. With an average size of 250-300 microns they are invisible to the human eye. Dust mites are oval shaped with eight hairy legs, no eyes, no antenna and a tough translucent shell. Their favourite food is flakes of dead skin. There's nothing a dust mite loves more than to curl up in a warm, humid environment like your couch or mattress and munch away on a meal of human skin.

It's actually not the dust mites themselves that cause the problem, it's the proteins found in dust mite droppings that cause an allergic reaction in many people. Completely eliminating dust mites would be difficult if not impossible to do, but there are some steps that you can take to minimize your exposure to dust mite feces and reduce the symptoms of any allergy sufferers in you home

· Encase your mattress, box spring, and pillows in dust mite proof covers

· Wash bed linens once a week in hot (130° F) water

· Vacuum frequently - make sure the allergic person is out of the room first!

· Use a high-grade vacuum with a double-thick disposable vacuum bag and a high efficiency HEPA filter

· Make sure the vacuum canister is tightly sealed

· Don't forget to vacuum upholstery and drapes

· If possible, limit the amount of stuffed toys in the household

· Treat carpets with a special tannic acid spray to denaturalize the dust mite protein

· Consider replacing carpets with wood, vinyl or tile flooring

· Dust frequently with a damp cloth or special, allergy dust cloth that will limit dust redistribution

· Use a dehumidifier to keep the humidity level below 45 %. Dust mites thrive in a humid environment.

Dust mites are the most common allergen in the world. Unfortunately you'll probably never be able to entirely rid your house of these invisible invaders. If, however, you take a pro-active approach and follow some of our simple guidelines, you can at the very least provide a cleaner, healthier environment for your loved ones.

By Bernard Hutton

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