Worried About Having a Bad Duct Cleaning Experience?Facts About Home Dust Mites
Dust Mites and Allergies in the Saint Louis Areas of MO
Dust mites often live in air ducts, linens, carpeting, and beds, and cause allergy problems. Dust mites are microscopic creatures that live in normal house dust. The mites feed on the particles of hair, food, and skin that litter your home as dust. The official species name of home dust mites (HDM) is dermatophagoides farinae. Dust mites are one of the leading causes of asthma. Adult dust mites have 8 leg, and ones still in the larval stage have 6. Male dust mites generally die after only 19-30 days. The females, who lay eggs, can live up to 60 days.
Dust mites are not poisonous and do not bite. 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 lost by people while sleeping, such as sweat and saliva, makes beds and ideal places for dust mites to live. These dust mites living all around you can cause asthma, rhinitis, conjunctivitis, and dermatitis. If you have allergies, it could be because of the enzyme DerP1, which is found in dust mite feces.
Despite all the dust in your air duct system, mites usually choose to live in more humid places. However, the air ducts ofter are one of the best sources of dust, hair, and fecal matter. Your air duct system is responsible for moving these dust particles all over your home. This is dangerous because it helps the mites thrive and causes you to breath in more of their fecal mater than you normally would.
The below suggestions will help reduce dust mites:
- If you have a vacuum cleaner with a HEPA filter, you can use this to greatly reduce the food available to the mites.
- All surfaces of your home should be dusted at least weekly.
- Professional cleaning for your air ducts, upholstery, drapes, and carpets is a must.
- Reducing dust mite populations is just one of the many reasons to have your carpets replaced with vinyl or hardwood floors.
- Get allergen proof covers for your pillows and even furniture.
- Protect your children by putting their stuffed animals in the freezer overnight.
- The mites cannot thrive if humidity is under 70% in your home.
Hopefully the above steps and information will help you have less allergies and illness.
Well, that concludes our dust mites article. Hopefully you have a better handle on what the approach involves and what you might search for in an air duct cleaning company. Since most ductwork 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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