About Dust Mites
We spend 1/3 of our life in bed. With every move in the bed, mattresses act like bellows
blowing the dust mites excrement into the mouth, nose and eyes.
House Dust Mites are microscopic, eight legged arachnids (close relatives of spiders & scorpions) that crawls through
the weave of bedding fabrics.
A dust mite measures only about one-quarter to one-third of a millimeter. Average size is 0.3 mm. About ten dust mites
could fit inside a dot.
They thrive in warm, humid environments.
A Dust mite has a life span of 60 to 150 days, during which the female lays 300 eggs.
They have a high reproductive rate - up to 10 million can be found in a mattress.
Dust mites excrete nearly twice their body weight each day and we react to a chemical called "guanine," a combination
of mite droppings and saliva, which is found in their excrement.
An average adult person may shed up to 1.5 grams of skin a day. This is enough to feed 1 million dust mites.
They are found in mattresses, pillows, beddings, carpets, rugs, sofas and other upholstered furniture, stuffed toys,
car upholstery and other fabric covered items.
It is wrong to believe that a mattress protector or bed sheet will protect against allergies. They cling tenaciously to
the fibers of the fabric making it almost impossible to remove them.
An old pillow can contain up to 20% of its weight in dust mites.
Allergy to dust mites is the 6th most serious sickness in the world (World Health Organization)
Research has revealed that 85% of people with asthma are allergic to dust mites.
Medical evidence points to the fact that exposure of children to dust mites in the first year of life may very well
trigger a lifelong allergy.
Allergen avoidance is a continuous process. Dust mites will be back and a good treatment regime should be repeated
every 3 - 6 months.
Standard vacuums will not work.
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