Worried About Having a Bad Duct Cleaning Experience?Are Household Dust Mites Responsible for Your Allergies?
Dust Mites and Allergies in the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana Areas of CA
Dust mites can living an a variety of places including air ducts, linens, and carpeting, and can cause allergic reactions. Microscopic dust mites live in and feed on the dust in your house. Mites eat the hair, food, and skin particles that compose the dust around your home. While the home dust mite's true name is dermatophagoides farinae, allergists often refer to them as HDM. Anyone with asthma should be especially aware of dust mites because they are one of the commonest causes. The mites have 6 legs when in the larval stage and then grow a fourth pair when they become adults. The mites themselves each have a very short lifespan ranging only about 19-30 days for males. The females, who lay eggs, can live up to 60 days.
One thing that you do not have to worry about dust mites is that they will not bite or sting you. Often the dust of skin cells that humans shed are what dust mites feed on. A million dust mites can live for a year on the 0.3-0.45 kg of skin that the average human sheds. Moisture from human breath, sweat, and saliva makes bedding an ideal place for the mites to live. Dust mite infestation brings with them heavy allergens and can cause asthma, rhinitis, conjunctivitis, and dermatitis. Dust mite poop contains an enzyme that causes allergic reactions of the skin,, lungs, and other body functions.
The dust mites usually live in the most humid parts of your house, which is not generally the air duct system. The air ducts do still provide a huge reservoir of dust particles that the mites like to feed on. Most heating and cooling systems do circulate air all around your home. Because they are always moving air around, the dust mites never have to look far for food.
The following are all good ways to control dust mites:
- Invest in a good HEPA filtered vacuum for cleaning your carpets and other places where dust collects.
- Make sure you dust and wipe down surfaces after use and on a regular basis.
- Any fabric in your house that could trap dust and moisture, such as sheets, carpets, drapes, and upholstery should be sanitized on a somewhat regular basis.
- Not only would replacing your carpets with vinyl flooring help reduce dust mites, it also makes cleaning easier.
- There are various allergen proofing treated fabrics available today for pillows and other bedding.
- To get the mites out of children's tays without chemicals you can freeze them.
- By keeping the humidity in your house under 70% you will make it unsuitable for mites.
If you can follow the above suggestions then you will be on your way to living much healthier.
Well, that concludes our dust mites article. Hopefully you have a better understanding of what the process involves and what you might look for in an duct cleaning company. Since most air duct cleaning companies also clean dryer vents, you might want to read our dryer vent cleaning tips article as well. Having your dryer vent cleaned while the technicians are already at your home cleaning your air ducts, will save you money.
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