How to reduce dust mites in your home

Do you or one of your family members suffer from a dust mite allergy?

Dust mite allergy is one of the most common forms of airborne allergy and it effects people by disturbing their sleep patterns – tossing & turning; itchy eyes; running nose & sneezing when you wake up; dark cycles under the eyes just to name a few symptoms!

So how can you minimise these effects?

Well you can’t remove dust mites completely but you can reduce the volume by focusing on some basic cleaning/organising techniques:

The days of making your bed are over! Dust mites are transluscent so they don’t like sun – they love a dark humid environment so if you make your bed that’s what you are creating and they will be very happy. So instead pull your top sheet and doona down to the bottom of the bed (neatly folded of course) and expose your bottom sheet to as much sunlight as possible
Wash your linen in 55-60 degree water to kill the dustmites present
Fit quality dust mite protective covers over your pillow; mattress and doona. These covers must fully enclose the item and have a zip close system
Use a vacuum cleaner that has a HEPA filter, more of the allergen is contanined in the vacuum
Soft toys: minimise the volume in your child’s bedroom. The remaining 2-3 can be popped into a zip lock plastic bag and placed in the freezer once every couple of weeks for 4hrs to kill dustmites
Remove the clutter from your bedroom, clear surfaces make dusting so much easier. When dusting use a damp or electrostatic cloth so as not to bring the dust into your face
Don’t store anything under our bed
If heading away for holidays, your child should sleep on the top bunk so they aren’t lying under a mattress
Keep pets out of the bedroom as they provide more food for dustmites
Choose leather lounges over fabric lounges

If you require more information on this topic or other airborne allergies you can contact us via our website: www.bsorted.com.au

63 Comments

- - ashblonde said
  - 03 Jun 2014
    5:31 pm
My Daughter in law had the carpet removed & floorboards put down & it improved our grandson’s sneezing & red eyes almost overnight!
- bsorted replied
  
  04 Jun 2014 , 3:32 pm
  Yes AshBlonde, removing carpet is a great idea if possible. I just finished removing carpet from our master bedroom on the weekend. So that now means that we are carpet free! If carpet has to stay then regular vacumming is the key as it is for any floor surface.
- - sweetbell said
  - 03 Jun 2014
    1:38 pm
Some great tips here thanks for sharing as my house contains dust always and I’m always dusting the rooms so thanks will try these.

- - meedee said
  - 03 Jun 2014
    1:03 pm
Actually ive found an amazing product called dustroy….you just spray it on beds and pillows, etc and it lasts for ages. Since ive discovered this product I can now sleep without struggling to breathe.
- cherz replied
  
  04 Jun 2014 , 4:18 pm
  thanks heaps Meedee,i WILL GIVE IT A GOOGLE AND KEEP MY EYES OPEN FOR THIS.
- - Klein said
  - 03 Jun 2014
    12:47 pm
Some great tips thanks for sharing

- - smee1981 said
  - 03 Jun 2014
    12:46 pm
Thank you.
I had never thought about the whole bed making thing. My son is sure to be pleased he won’t have to do it again 🙂

- - bsorted said
  - 03 Jun 2014
    12:40 pm
Wow, what a great response! Thank you all for your lovely comments, I’m so glad that my blog post has been helpful for you. On my facebook page – bsorted I post daily tips on all things Allergy & Home Organisation/Decluttering. Good luck on your journeys! Simone

- - Emilyypamela said
  - 03 Jun 2014
    12:02 pm
My room collects so much dust. It’s terrible

- - coppin85 said
  - 03 Jun 2014
    11:42 am
i need to clear out my daughters room, she has so many stuffed toys!

- - sisterhood27 said
  - 03 Jun 2014
    11:13 am
Thanks for the information I will now go and clean up all the bedrooms many thanks

- - eestigirl said
  - 03 Jun 2014
    9:56 am
Only ever had a skin reaction once to dust mites when our carpet was pulled up. I do sneeze though in dusty conditions.Thanks for the reminder about how good it is to get the sun on bedding. I try to put blankets and quilts on the line to air on a sunny day like my mum used to. I’m going to start folding back the top sheet etc too. I didn’t know about the freezer to kill dust mites.

- - ashycoop said
  - 03 Jun 2014
    9:53 am
Thanks for the info! Will be spending the week decluttering the rooms I think!!

- - kgbrunsden said
  - 03 Jun 2014
    9:48 am
thanks for this, I thought I was doing all the right things, and well I amlost was till I made the beds every moring!! opppps!!! wont be doing that anymore 🙂

- - kayc.64 said
  - 03 Jun 2014
    9:10 am
I know all too well about the dreaded dust mites. as my two children both suffer allergies I tend to make sure I wash all the linen in hot water every two weeks and also vacuum the beds with my Dyson vacuum machine. I also use those special pillowcases so that the dust mites can protect my children and I would recommend them they very good.

- - mums-info said
  - 03 Jun 2014
    8:55 am
Some great tips thanks for sharing