Worried About Having a Bad Duct Cleaning Experience?All About House Dust Mites and Allergies
Dust Mites and Allergies in the Indianapolis-Carmel Areas of IN
Tiny dust mites could be living in your air ducts, linens, and carpeting, and can be the root of allergy problems. One of the reasons most people do not know much about dust mites is because they are so small you cannot see them, and they live in dust around your home. The dust in your home is made up of tiny particles of hair, food, and skin that the dust mites live in and feed on. Doctors and allergen specialists often refer to the home dust mite, dermatophagoides farinae, as HDM. Asthma, a serious respiratory problem, is often caused and made worse by dust mites. Dust mites have a different number of legs depending on what stage of their life cycle they are in, larva having 6 and adults having 8. Dust mites live only a very short time, with a male having an average 19-30 day lifespan. Since the females are responsible for laying eggs, they live longer than the males, up to 60 days.
Dust mites to not bite or sting. Generally dust mites live on the dust formed on shed human skin cells. A million dust mites can live for a year on the 0.3-0.45 kg of skin that the average human sheds. As gross as it may seem, the moisture from your sweat and saliva makes your bed an idea bed for dust mites as well. A common source of household allergens, dust mites can cause conjunctivitis, rhinitis, dermatitis, and asthma. Those with allergies may know about the enzyme DerP1, which causes allergic reactions and is present in dust mite fecal matter.
As mentioned above, dust mites like to live in very humid places, and therefore do not care for air ducts very much. The air ducts do still provide a huge reservoir of dust particles that the mites like to feed on. Duct systems then use a fan to move these dust particles all over your house. Because they are always moving air around, the dust mites never have to look far for food.
Do the following to prevent and reduce dust mites:
- Invest in a good HEPA filtered vacuum for cleaning your carpets and other places where dust collects.
- Routinely dust your house.
- 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.
- Have all the carpeting removed from your home.
- Get allergen proof covers for your pillows and even furniture.
- Freezing plush toys is a good way to help protect your children.
- One of the best ways it to maintain a humidity of under 70%.
Having learned about dust mites, you should not be able to live a healthier life.
Well, that concludes our dust mites article. Hopefully you have a better grasp of what the process involves and what you might search for in an air duct cleaning company. Since most 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 still at your home cleaning your air ducts, will save you money.
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