there’s NO sure cure… but putting u’r comforters/blankets/bed pillows/couch pillows..etc in the dryer for 10 min helps kill them. They have special covers for u’r mattress that helps as well as u’r pillows. vaccuming w/ good filter & chging u’r vac bag.
It’s really a never ending battle but whatever u can do to help some esp. where u sit or lay or b a lot…
i know.. i found that bother my sinuses… sooo i did some research online
I change the bedding atleast once a week and every month I vacuum my mattress… I also wash the comforters/pillows in hot water and dry them on high heat.. I also, strip the beds everyday and let them air dry before I make the bed.. mites/bedbugs like a warm damp area… I also have a cover over my mattress that acts as a barrier from the little devils..
Buy a Thermax AF2. It is a vacuum/steamcleaner/air purifying unit. Not only will it take out all the dirt that has accumulated in your carpet since the day it was layed down, but it will significantly reduce all dust and bed bugs in your house and take the allergens out of the air. It is about 1600 dollars but is well worth the money and pays for itself over and over again. It never looses suction.
These are two different critters; dust mites are microscopic and nourish themselves by eating, mostly, shed human skin. Bed bugs are very visible to the eye but often go unseen as they too, are nocturnal. More than likely you will see the effects of bed bugs, as in bites on your self (they suck your blood), or droppings (feces) found on your bedding.
It’s very intelligent of you to recognize the healthful benefit of sleeping on hygienic mattresses and removing the indoor pollutants from your home environment.
Here are your options.
The very best you could do, or anybody else for that matter, is to hire a professional mattress cleaner that uses the "dry method cleaning process." Unfortunately, there are very few persons in the U.S. that provide this service. Following immediately below are the steps a professional mattress cleaner would perform. BUT, because there are so few mattress cleaners in the U.S., read further down to discover what you can do to clean your own mattress. It won’t be as good as a professional, but will still be a huge improvement over not doing anything at all.
Professionals can also spot trace evidence of a possible bed bug infestation. Once nearly wiped out (as in, extinct) throughout the U.S. due to the use of DDT in the 1960’s, bed bugs are making a quick return. This is probably due to the "shrinking" world…a negative side-effect of globalization and perhaps a precursor as to what is still coming!
A professional mattress cleaning technician using the "dry method cleaning process" (never wet a mattress) will first use a HEPA-rated vacuum cleaner (not just one equipped with HEPA filters) and powerful suction to remove the "contaminants" within a mattress. Knowledgeable technicians know better than to use an attachment with a beater brush, power nozzle or turbo nozzle, as these attachments cause vibrations. The vibrations will cause the "contaminants" to become airborne from the other areas of the mattress not yet serviced.
Secondly, knowledgeable technicians’ will bathe the mattress surfaces with a separate, portable UVC light wand that has ultraviolet germicidal irradiation (UVGI) capabilities. They will apply the UVC light in a grid-like manner and bathe an area approximately 18" x 18" for a full 20 second duration, and so on. This will alter the DNA in all micro-organisms and cause the death of 99.9% of the microbials.
Thirdly, a knowledgeable technician will apply a very light mist of all natural, non-toxic, odorless enzyme cleaner to the mattress surface and pillows. The enzymes will continue to do the work started by the mattress cleaning technician and thwart future growth of dust mite colonies, mold, mildew, spores, fungi, bacteria and viruses, until the next service date. The cost of servicing a 3 or 4 bedroom home will run around $120-$150 and take 1-1/2 to 2 hours. Depending on the needs of the home occupants, a follow-up service should be scheduled every 6 months, 4 months for a home with an allergy sufferer, 3 months for a home with an asthmatic. Consider the number of indoor pets also.
BUT because there are so few professionals…use the next best option.
On a day forecasted to be bright and sunny with no rain in the forecast, take your mattress (and the others) outside early in the morning and beat the crap out them. Prop them up so that they catch the morning sun and then re-position them so they catch the afternoon sun on the reverse side. Make sure the automatic sprinkler system doesn’t start up. Once you have beaten the crap out of them and have used the sun’s natural cleansing abilities (UVA and UVB light waves) tote the mattresses back indoors. It would be a good idea to inspect the top edge of the mattress just in case a cat has napped on it. Also, you should do this at a time of the year when pollen is not so heavy. Because there are so many people with allergies, your local weathercast will probably provide daily pollen levels. Next, apply a very light misting of all natural, non-toxic, odorless enzyme cleaner on the surfaces of the mattresses. The enzyme mist should be dry to the touch within 5 minutes or else you have misted too heavily. Mist the pillows too. Each time you launder the mattress pad, apply the enzyme mist (very lightly) to the mattress and pillows before replacing the mattress pad and pillow cases. The enzymes will "munch on" and slow down the growth of dust mite colonies, mold, mildew, fungi, spores, pollen, bacteria and viruses, until the next time you beat the crap out of your mattresses.
Some people may suggest you vacuum the mattress in position (in the bedroom) but unless you have the right vacuum and most likely you don’t, I would not…unless you vacuum the mattress outdoors. Most vacuums, even the top ranked HEPA vacuums per the Consumer Report’s magazine, still spew millions of dust particles into your indoor environment. These particles stay airborne for 2 hours circulating throughout the entire home, before settling on top of everything…including dust mite-proof mattress pads and pillows.
The same enzyme cleaner (with a higher mix ratio) may also be used as an insecticide for BED BUGS, lice, fleas, scabies, roaches, silverfish, etc. Totally safe for humans and pets…enzyme cleaners affect the insect’s exoskeleton causing death. Chemical-based insecticides affect an insect’s central nervous system (until the insects develop immunity) as well as YOUR central nervous system. Also to keep BED BUGS off of you while you sleep, pull your bed away from the wall and place the legs of your bed in empty soup cans filled with partially filled with vegetable oil or apply a light coat of vaseline to the bed legs.. Lastly, make certain your bed linens do not reach the floor. These steps will create physical barriers making it difficult for BED BUGS to reach you as you sleep.
For generations upon generations (ask any octogenarian) people would routinely tote their mattresses outdoors at least every spring, and sometimes again in the fall, to literally beat the crap out them with a big stick, broom, 2 x 4, baseball bat, 9-iron, tennis racket, or whatever else they could find.
The purpose of doing so was to remove the dust within the mattress. What was not known then is known today. The "dust" was mostly shed human skin and the allergenic waste products of dust mites which love to eat shed human skin cells, along with mold, mildew, spores, fungi, pollen, pet dander, bacteria and viruses.
Splurge on some 400 TC (thread count) sheets, or better. These sheets will have a pore size of about 6.5 microns (when new) which is small enough to act as a barrier between the smallest dust mites (20 microns at birth) and itch mites (different critters, aka scabies). However, dust mite allergens (DMA’s) and other allergens will still pass through even a 400 TC sheet, just as they will through the best, most expensive, 2 micron dust mite-proof mattress pad.
If the mattress has any foreign stains on it, then check out the mattress stain removal link at the bottom of this reply. BTW, enzymes will, overtime, also eat away any organic stains, on or in, the mattress(es).
An average queen-sized mattress is host to around 2 million dust mites. A dust mite poops 20 to 30 fecal pellets, 15 microns in size, per day (actually night, as they are nocturnal). So that equates to 40-60 million FRESH fecal pellets in your mattress each morning you awake. Dust mites live for 100 days…so one average-sized colony leaves 40 to 60 TRILLION fecal pellets in your mattress over their lifetime and of course as they die off…many more replace the dead ones.
The digestive system of a dust mite produces a protein called guanine. The guanine breaks down hard to digest foods which also allows dust mites to practice "coprophagia" meaning they can survive by eating their own feces just in case you decide to put a mite-proof mattress cover on your mattress.
The fecal pellets dry up and become powdery thus reducing the 15 micron size to an even much smaller size (< 1 micron). All the contaminants in your bed become airborne each time you roll over in bed (50 to 60 times per night is average) or each time you fluff your pillow, or of course every time you and your significant other bounce on the bed.
When inhaled, guanine attaches to lung walls and kills healthy lung cells by suffocation.
BTW, the weight of a new pillow can increase 10%-25% in just a couple of years.
Dust mites have been around for about 300 million years, 2 months, and 4 days. They discovered man after man began sleeping on mattresses about 8 to 10 thousand years ago. Man discovered the absolutely healthy need to sleep on hygienic mattresses on, or about April 1st, 5993 B.C. But and for some unproven reason, man then forgot about the healthful benefits of sleeping on clean mattresses and pillows sometime around 1967 (LSD maybe?).
Here’s the bottom line, for better Health and Wellness, start with mattress hygiene…
it’s so easy, even a caveman can do it!
Free info "76 Tips to Reduce Dust Mites and Indoor Allergens" at this link:
4 Responses
Aj~
May 4th, 2010 at 10:36 pm
1there’s NO sure cure… but putting u’r comforters/blankets/bed pillows/couch pillows..etc in the dryer for 10 min helps kill them. They have special covers for u’r mattress that helps as well as u’r pillows. vaccuming w/ good filter & chging u’r vac bag.
It’s really a never ending battle but whatever u can do to help some esp. where u sit or lay or b a lot…
i know.. i found that bother my sinuses… sooo i did some research online
pebblespro
May 4th, 2010 at 10:36 pm
2I change the bedding atleast once a week and every month I vacuum my mattress… I also wash the comforters/pillows in hot water and dry them on high heat.. I also, strip the beds everyday and let them air dry before I make the bed.. mites/bedbugs like a warm damp area… I also have a cover over my mattress that acts as a barrier from the little devils..
Isis
May 4th, 2010 at 10:36 pm
3Buy a Thermax AF2. It is a vacuum/steamcleaner/air purifying unit. Not only will it take out all the dirt that has accumulated in your carpet since the day it was layed down, but it will significantly reduce all dust and bed bugs in your house and take the allergens out of the air. It is about 1600 dollars but is well worth the money and pays for itself over and over again. It never looses suction.
SterilMattress
May 4th, 2010 at 10:36 pm
4These are two different critters; dust mites are microscopic and nourish themselves by eating, mostly, shed human skin. Bed bugs are very visible to the eye but often go unseen as they too, are nocturnal. More than likely you will see the effects of bed bugs, as in bites on your self (they suck your blood), or droppings (feces) found on your bedding.
It’s very intelligent of you to recognize the healthful benefit of sleeping on hygienic mattresses and removing the indoor pollutants from your home environment.
Here are your options.
The very best you could do, or anybody else for that matter, is to hire a professional mattress cleaner that uses the "dry method cleaning process." Unfortunately, there are very few persons in the U.S. that provide this service. Following immediately below are the steps a professional mattress cleaner would perform. BUT, because there are so few mattress cleaners in the U.S., read further down to discover what you can do to clean your own mattress. It won’t be as good as a professional, but will still be a huge improvement over not doing anything at all.
Professionals can also spot trace evidence of a possible bed bug infestation. Once nearly wiped out (as in, extinct) throughout the U.S. due to the use of DDT in the 1960’s, bed bugs are making a quick return. This is probably due to the "shrinking" world…a negative side-effect of globalization and perhaps a precursor as to what is still coming!
A professional mattress cleaning technician using the "dry method cleaning process" (never wet a mattress) will first use a HEPA-rated vacuum cleaner (not just one equipped with HEPA filters) and powerful suction to remove the "contaminants" within a mattress. Knowledgeable technicians know better than to use an attachment with a beater brush, power nozzle or turbo nozzle, as these attachments cause vibrations. The vibrations will cause the "contaminants" to become airborne from the other areas of the mattress not yet serviced.
Secondly, knowledgeable technicians’ will bathe the mattress surfaces with a separate, portable UVC light wand that has ultraviolet germicidal irradiation (UVGI) capabilities. They will apply the UVC light in a grid-like manner and bathe an area approximately 18" x 18" for a full 20 second duration, and so on. This will alter the DNA in all micro-organisms and cause the death of 99.9% of the microbials.
Thirdly, a knowledgeable technician will apply a very light mist of all natural, non-toxic, odorless enzyme cleaner to the mattress surface and pillows. The enzymes will continue to do the work started by the mattress cleaning technician and thwart future growth of dust mite colonies, mold, mildew, spores, fungi, bacteria and viruses, until the next service date. The cost of servicing a 3 or 4 bedroom home will run around $120-$150 and take 1-1/2 to 2 hours. Depending on the needs of the home occupants, a follow-up service should be scheduled every 6 months, 4 months for a home with an allergy sufferer, 3 months for a home with an asthmatic. Consider the number of indoor pets also.
BUT because there are so few professionals…use the next best option.
On a day forecasted to be bright and sunny with no rain in the forecast, take your mattress (and the others) outside early in the morning and beat the crap out them. Prop them up so that they catch the morning sun and then re-position them so they catch the afternoon sun on the reverse side. Make sure the automatic sprinkler system doesn’t start up. Once you have beaten the crap out of them and have used the sun’s natural cleansing abilities (UVA and UVB light waves) tote the mattresses back indoors. It would be a good idea to inspect the top edge of the mattress just in case a cat has napped on it. Also, you should do this at a time of the year when pollen is not so heavy. Because there are so many people with allergies, your local weathercast will probably provide daily pollen levels. Next, apply a very light misting of all natural, non-toxic, odorless enzyme cleaner on the surfaces of the mattresses. The enzyme mist should be dry to the touch within 5 minutes or else you have misted too heavily. Mist the pillows too. Each time you launder the mattress pad, apply the enzyme mist (very lightly) to the mattress and pillows before replacing the mattress pad and pillow cases. The enzymes will "munch on" and slow down the growth of dust mite colonies, mold, mildew, fungi, spores, pollen, bacteria and viruses, until the next time you beat the crap out of your mattresses.
Some people may suggest you vacuum the mattress in position (in the bedroom) but unless you have the right vacuum and most likely you don’t, I would not…unless you vacuum the mattress outdoors. Most vacuums, even the top ranked HEPA vacuums per the Consumer Report’s magazine, still spew millions of dust particles into your indoor environment. These particles stay airborne for 2 hours circulating throughout the entire home, before settling on top of everything…including dust mite-proof mattress pads and pillows.
The same enzyme cleaner (with a higher mix ratio) may also be used as an insecticide for BED BUGS, lice, fleas, scabies, roaches, silverfish, etc. Totally safe for humans and pets…enzyme cleaners affect the insect’s exoskeleton causing death. Chemical-based insecticides affect an insect’s central nervous system (until the insects develop immunity) as well as YOUR central nervous system. Also to keep BED BUGS off of you while you sleep, pull your bed away from the wall and place the legs of your bed in empty soup cans filled with partially filled with vegetable oil or apply a light coat of vaseline to the bed legs.. Lastly, make certain your bed linens do not reach the floor. These steps will create physical barriers making it difficult for BED BUGS to reach you as you sleep.
For generations upon generations (ask any octogenarian) people would routinely tote their mattresses outdoors at least every spring, and sometimes again in the fall, to literally beat the crap out them with a big stick, broom, 2 x 4, baseball bat, 9-iron, tennis racket, or whatever else they could find.
The purpose of doing so was to remove the dust within the mattress. What was not known then is known today. The "dust" was mostly shed human skin and the allergenic waste products of dust mites which love to eat shed human skin cells, along with mold, mildew, spores, fungi, pollen, pet dander, bacteria and viruses.
Splurge on some 400 TC (thread count) sheets, or better. These sheets will have a pore size of about 6.5 microns (when new) which is small enough to act as a barrier between the smallest dust mites (20 microns at birth) and itch mites (different critters, aka scabies). However, dust mite allergens (DMA’s) and other allergens will still pass through even a 400 TC sheet, just as they will through the best, most expensive, 2 micron dust mite-proof mattress pad.
If the mattress has any foreign stains on it, then check out the mattress stain removal link at the bottom of this reply. BTW, enzymes will, overtime, also eat away any organic stains, on or in, the mattress(es).
An average queen-sized mattress is host to around 2 million dust mites. A dust mite poops 20 to 30 fecal pellets, 15 microns in size, per day (actually night, as they are nocturnal). So that equates to 40-60 million FRESH fecal pellets in your mattress each morning you awake. Dust mites live for 100 days…so one average-sized colony leaves 40 to 60 TRILLION fecal pellets in your mattress over their lifetime and of course as they die off…many more replace the dead ones.
The digestive system of a dust mite produces a protein called guanine. The guanine breaks down hard to digest foods which also allows dust mites to practice "coprophagia" meaning they can survive by eating their own feces just in case you decide to put a mite-proof mattress cover on your mattress.
The fecal pellets dry up and become powdery thus reducing the 15 micron size to an even much smaller size (< 1 micron). All the contaminants in your bed become airborne each time you roll over in bed (50 to 60 times per night is average) or each time you fluff your pillow, or of course every time you and your significant other bounce on the bed.
When inhaled, guanine attaches to lung walls and kills healthy lung cells by suffocation.
BTW, the weight of a new pillow can increase 10%-25% in just a couple of years.
Dust mites have been around for about 300 million years, 2 months, and 4 days. They discovered man after man began sleeping on mattresses about 8 to 10 thousand years ago. Man discovered the absolutely healthy need to sleep on hygienic mattresses on, or about April 1st, 5993 B.C. But and for some unproven reason, man then forgot about the healthful benefits of sleeping on clean mattresses and pillows sometime around 1967 (LSD maybe?).
Here’s the bottom line, for better Health and Wellness, start with mattress hygiene…
it’s so easy, even a caveman can do it!
Free info "76 Tips to Reduce Dust Mites and Indoor Allergens" at this link:
http://www.sterilmattress.com/ebook_dust...
Mattress stain removal tips at this link:
http://www.sterilmattress.com/mattress_s...
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