Dust Mites and What Now: Encasing Your Way to Control
Dust mites, as previously explained, are irritating microscopic creatures that cause many people to feel miserable in their own homes. While they're alive, their waste product resides in our mattresses and when they die, their dead bodies remain. Both of these things create the protein that sets our eyes itching and watering. So what are we to do?
Statistics show that dust mites live in our bedrooms more than any other room. Therefore, that should be our first step in the war against them. Let's look at some popular myths about controlling dust mites in your mattress (all of which are floating around on Yahoo Answers offering BAD advice):
1) Raid/Febreeze/Windex Your Bed: Spraying cleaning products and fragrances on your mattress will NOT do anything to get rid of the dust mites. Instead, you'll just be sticking your face into chemicals every night and probably harming yourself further. You will also be creating a fire hazard by covering your mattress with flammable substances. Very few chemicals have been proven to effectively KILL and DENATURE dust mites at the same time.
2) Sweeping the Mattress: Don't. Dust mites do not live on the surface of your mattress or pillow. Instead, they burrow down and take up all 9-16 inches and cannot be reached by a broom. If you do this, you will just be stirring up dust and irritating your allergies even more. You will also not be solving the problem.
3) Airing out your Mattress: Some people believe that if you haul your mattress outside once a month and beat it than the dust mite proteins will disappear. While dust mites prefer the cooler temperatures of an air-conditioned home, they will not die because of some sunshine. Beating them will only leave a headache and not cause them to abandon to the grass below.
4) Saran Wrapping Mattress: Yes, there are people doing this. They are literally buying rolls of saran wrap and going to town on their mattress and pillows. Uncomfortable and highly ineffective solution. Since the saran wrap is not only large piece, you will continue to have areas where they can slip through and from where the proteins can become airborne. Not only that, most plastic wraps are treated with chemicals and you'd be further exposing yourself to possible allergens.
So we know what NOT to do but what is the easiest, most effective solution? Doctors recommend that you enclose your mattress in zippered encasings that are proven to trap 99.95% of all allergens - dust mites included. This method of containment is non-toxic and practical for anyone's budget and bedding desires. These covers come in a variety of fabrics and usually have one of two methods for protecting you. In my opinion, the most comfortable method is the encasings that are tightly woven so that their mean pore sizes (the spaces between fibers) is less than 5.0 microns. This method allows for 100% cotton options and opens the door to organic bedding choices.
The second method is to buy encasings with urethane membranes fused to the inside. These are perfect if you're protecting your children because they are waterproof and guard against "accidents" hurting the mattress. Generally these are made of polyester fabrics and are cheaper than the non-membrane ones.
In either option, it is important to get a ZIPPERED encasing for your mattress, box spring, and pillow cases! The zipper and specialty fabrics will ensure that you are protected against dust must protein. After you take this important step, you will just have to worry about minimum up-keep!
Remember: you will never be 100% rid of dust mites but you can control your environment and minimize them. Ideally, you want to cut the problem down to 1/10th to 1/100th of what it was before.
And finally, the answer to one important question I know I had when I started researching dust mites: won't dust mites just live on top of mattress encasings?
After calling up AllergyStore.com and asking them, I found that technically, yes. However, they will exist in a significantly less population. More importantly, if you wash your sheets and pillow covers each week in hot water, you will remove their food source and kill/wash away the dead bodies and potential protein.
A little investment in protecting your bedding and you will be feeling better in no time.
Statistics show that dust mites live in our bedrooms more than any other room. Therefore, that should be our first step in the war against them. Let's look at some popular myths about controlling dust mites in your mattress (all of which are floating around on Yahoo Answers offering BAD advice):
1) Raid/Febreeze/Windex Your Bed: Spraying cleaning products and fragrances on your mattress will NOT do anything to get rid of the dust mites. Instead, you'll just be sticking your face into chemicals every night and probably harming yourself further. You will also be creating a fire hazard by covering your mattress with flammable substances. Very few chemicals have been proven to effectively KILL and DENATURE dust mites at the same time.
2) Sweeping the Mattress: Don't. Dust mites do not live on the surface of your mattress or pillow. Instead, they burrow down and take up all 9-16 inches and cannot be reached by a broom. If you do this, you will just be stirring up dust and irritating your allergies even more. You will also not be solving the problem.
3) Airing out your Mattress: Some people believe that if you haul your mattress outside once a month and beat it than the dust mite proteins will disappear. While dust mites prefer the cooler temperatures of an air-conditioned home, they will not die because of some sunshine. Beating them will only leave a headache and not cause them to abandon to the grass below.
4) Saran Wrapping Mattress: Yes, there are people doing this. They are literally buying rolls of saran wrap and going to town on their mattress and pillows. Uncomfortable and highly ineffective solution. Since the saran wrap is not only large piece, you will continue to have areas where they can slip through and from where the proteins can become airborne. Not only that, most plastic wraps are treated with chemicals and you'd be further exposing yourself to possible allergens.
So we know what NOT to do but what is the easiest, most effective solution? Doctors recommend that you enclose your mattress in zippered encasings that are proven to trap 99.95% of all allergens - dust mites included. This method of containment is non-toxic and practical for anyone's budget and bedding desires. These covers come in a variety of fabrics and usually have one of two methods for protecting you. In my opinion, the most comfortable method is the encasings that are tightly woven so that their mean pore sizes (the spaces between fibers) is less than 5.0 microns. This method allows for 100% cotton options and opens the door to organic bedding choices.
The second method is to buy encasings with urethane membranes fused to the inside. These are perfect if you're protecting your children because they are waterproof and guard against "accidents" hurting the mattress. Generally these are made of polyester fabrics and are cheaper than the non-membrane ones.
In either option, it is important to get a ZIPPERED encasing for your mattress, box spring, and pillow cases! The zipper and specialty fabrics will ensure that you are protected against dust must protein. After you take this important step, you will just have to worry about minimum up-keep!
Remember: you will never be 100% rid of dust mites but you can control your environment and minimize them. Ideally, you want to cut the problem down to 1/10th to 1/100th of what it was before.
And finally, the answer to one important question I know I had when I started researching dust mites: won't dust mites just live on top of mattress encasings?
After calling up AllergyStore.com and asking them, I found that technically, yes. However, they will exist in a significantly less population. More importantly, if you wash your sheets and pillow covers each week in hot water, you will remove their food source and kill/wash away the dead bodies and potential protein.
A little investment in protecting your bedding and you will be feeling better in no time.
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