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You are staring through red, blood-shot eyes, trying to find the enemy who caused this. You’re rubbing your eyes between sneezes, still hoping to catch a glimpse of the culprit. Unfortunately, you won’t find him, unless you’ll use a small microscope.

I know a couple of people who suffer from allergic reactions and asthma. It developed in various times during the people’s lives. Some suffered from it since childhood, other developed it later on. Other seems to get rid of it after some time.

One of the really annoying allergens is dust mites. They can really mess up your healthy life style. We could easily assume that about every house have these little pests in them, because dust is their food. If your house is dust-free, you won’t have any dust mites. Otherwise, they are there. According to an American study, 45% of households' dust mite levels are high enough to cause asthmatic problems.

The common symptoms associated with dust mite allergies are red, watery and itchy eyes, sneezing (especially when waking up), wheezing, difficult breathing and asthma. Other than these allergic reactions, they don’t cause other illnesses or problems. At most it’s a harmless irritant. But some people find it irritating enough to go to desperate measures.

All kinds of fabrics in the house is a nice place for the mites to live and breed. Since they like a warm, humid environment, our beds and pillows are their favorite place to stay.

In this article, I’d like to give some tips on how to prevent dust mite colonies to form in your house, saving your from the annoying effect these little pests can have.

Personally, I’d invest in a good vacuum cleaner. Most vacuum cleaners are only dust redistributors. Because dust mites and their droppings are microscopic small, it just go through the filter bags of most vacuum cleaners. Machines with stronger suction action and HEPA filtration bags would work the best. The vacuum cleaner that impressed me most is Kirby.

Remove the dust from your house with a damp cloth. This way it’s immediately trapped.

Wash your bed linen regularly. Hot water kills all dust mites, where as cold water only kill up to 90%. If you can’t wash it in hot water, freeze the linen for a day. The mites will also die, and then you just wash the linen.

I recently come across a business that focuses on the cleaning of houses, offices and other business premises to get rid of these dust mites. In a three step process, they kill and remove most of the dust mites.1

Air purifiers are also said to work well. This removes most airborne mites. I would suggest the ozone purifiers rather than those with static filters.

Keep your house cool and dry. An air conditioner will do both for you. Dust mites prefer temperatures above 21ºC.

Replace fabric surfaces with hard surfaces. If it’s possible, replace carpets with tiles and curtains with wooden blinds. You could also use airtight containers to store linen, curtains and blankets. This will keep all dust out.

By keeping dust mites at bay, you’ll improve at least one area of your healthy lifestyle.


[Note: One by one you can change your lifestyle into a healthy lifestyle. As a wellness coach I can help you to make this healthy routines part of your everyday life. Contact me about the personal wellness coaching, the wellness seminar or the weight loss challenge.]

1.  http://www.miteeclean.co.za/