How To Eliminate Dust Mites

Dust mites are a common household pest that can produce a ton of dust and other fine particles in the air in your home, aggravating allergies and other respiratory conditions as well as creating the need to do constant dusting and cleaning to maintain the air quality in your home. Fortunately, there are several relatively simple things that you can do around your home to reduce the population of dust mites and improve your air quality:

Hot Washes

Dust mites do not hold up well to hot temperatures, which means that you should consider washing your clothes, bedding, and other soft surfaces within your home in hot water once a month or so. While this will slightly increase your energy bills, it will also remove large amounts of dust mites, eggs, shells, and other associated particles from your clothes and bedding and will help keep their population in check.

Install a Dehumidifier

Portable dehumidifiers will dry out the air, causing dust mites to dehydrate and dry up. By installing dehumidifiers in certain key areas of your home that are likely to have large amounts of dust mites, such as the living room and bedroom, you can significantly reduce the dust mite population and improve your air quality, while also improving the comfort levels within your home by fighting the hot sticky heat.

Carpet Maintenance

The best thing to do if you're trying to eliminate dust mites is to remove carpeting from your home and replace them with floors that won't hold onto dust, like hardwood or tiles. Of course, this isn't always a practical option, so instead, you need to make sure that you properly clean and maintain your carpets to reduce the overall amount of dust and dust mites that they trap. You should vacuum your carpets at least once a week, and wash them monthly as well (or use a steam cleaner, if you can't fit them into the washing machine). This will improve your air quality, kill dust mites, and leave your carpets looking as good as new.

Pet Grooming

Dust mites thrive on pet dander and fur, so one of the best ways to cut down on their population is to groom your pet regularly to keep shedding to a minimum. In addition, you should minimize your pet's exposure to certain fabric areas of your home, such as the couch and the bed, to keep dust mites away from places where you spend a lot of time and where they can most significantly affect your allergies.

Contact a company like Beacon Pest Control for more information and assistance.