Many people are allergic to dust mites, which is why learning how to get rid of dust mites can greatly help with your allergies and in turn improve your nasal and sinus problems.
First, it’s important to know what a dust mite is. While many people think a dust mite is a particle of dust, it’s actually a living organism – a microscopic bug, closely related to spiders, as they also have 8 legs. Gross as it seems, they eat dead skin cells – and they love living in mattresses, stuffed animals, pillows, carpeting, and more. Your bed especially is a favorite place for them, since most of us spend at least 6 hours there a day. This for many people can cause a lot of problems, especially when they lay down to fall asleep only to find they are coughing and sneezing too much.
Getting rid of dust mites is no easy task – even if your home is spotless you may still have problems because of them! Unfortunately, dust is impossible to keep out of your house completely – and even if your home isn’t infested with them, there’s still a chance that there are enough to cause some allergy problems, especially because they can hide in places you can’t even see or regularly clean, such as inside a mattress or an air duct for your heater or air conditioner.
Fortunately, there are some things you can do to kill dust mites, as well as minimize your exposure to them.
Wash Bedding in HOT Water: Having your water thermostat set around 130 degrees (provided it would not be a safety hazard) and washing all bedding, stuffed, animals, drapery, and others in hot water at least once a week will help kill dust mites that are thriving in these areas. While it will not likely kill all of them, it can help.
Protect Your Mattress: Your Mattress is like a tropical resort with a full buffet to these bugs. If you can, a latex mattress may be one solution (though some people do have sensitivity to latex) – you can also cover your bed with a hypoallergenic dust cover that can be washed regularly and help minimize the amount of dust mites you are exposed to.
Wipe Dust Off With Water: When something is dusty, you should wipe it off with hot water and a paper towel. This makes it much easier to clean, and also makes sure you’re not just dusting the dust mites somewhere else temporarily.
Switch to Hardwood Floors: Carpeting definitely has many advantages, especially if you have kids who drop things and often fall and trip constantly. But if you do not have kids, or you feel that the dust mite allergy is a bigger threat than any benefit carpet would have, switching to hardwood flooring can definitely help with allergies as long as you clean it frequently. If you do have carpet, you should steam clean it once a week.
Consider Some Cleaners: You have to be really careful about cleaning things and what cleaning products you use. Nobody wants to use cleaners that are loaded with toxins, especially if the goal is to have a healthier environment for you. There are however, some 100% natural solutions you can try, such as Kleen Free Naturally
Change Your Air Filters: Your furnace, your vacuum, maybe even a dehumidifier or air purifier all come with filters – and these filters are designed to help trap all these microscopic organisms that cause us allergy problems. But if you don’t change and replace them frequently, guess what? You’re just spreading it around more!
Now that you know how to get rid of dust mites, you’ll be able to prevent much of the allergic reaction you may experience because of them. Sinus and nasal problems can be often aggravated by dust mites. If you do all these things and still have sinus problems, then you may also want to check out some Natural Remedies for Sinus Problems.