I found this video and thought it was funny, yet true. It's hard to find really good footage of live mights doing their thing and thought this would be a good post for people to see. This is a good case for the simple removal of mites from the Mattress. You don't have to go out a spend hundreds or thousands on a new mattress because of mites. A good mite cleaning service will handle this for you, saving you money and peace of mind.

 
 

It's nice to have a chance to talk with those who are concerned about the effects that dust mites may have in their homes. Yes, I would admit the information and news reports are always spotty and sometimes confusing due to a sea of facts and remedies.

Lets face it, Dust mites could out eat the best hot dog eating champ on the planet. It's all relative of course. Mites have one diet that consists of animal dander and dead skin cells that we plentifully provide. In fact, we humans shed up to 8 million skin cells every day. 80% of house dust is actually shed skin. That said, we gainfully provide this Thanksgiving indulgence to our (0.03mm) arachnid friends that vacation in their greatest numbers, right under our bodies. Literally!

Why? Because we spend 1/3 of our lives In bed where we deposit and grind skin cells through sheets and bedding like a catch basin. This ends up fertilizing the dream habitat for our microscopic guests. 

Within the vast reaches of the mattress padding, covers and pillows we can find abundant life strewn throughout the fibers eating and defecating diligently. In fact, mites eat, regurgitate and re-eat their meals several times before droppings become the dangerous protein laced allergen the human body finds so offensive.  In fact cows do this and it’s called cud. Weird I know, but true it is.    

One fact that stands true is the proven health effects caused by the dirty little enzyme found in mite droppings and dead mite remains. The dust mite alone is harmless to people. However, research shows that 60-85% of Asthma, hay fever and eczema are caused by the over exposure to dust mite feces and dead mite particles.  How does this overexposure happen?

Here is why the mattress plays such a pivotal role within the confines of your home. For a dust mite to survive it needs two basic ingredients that mattresses provide.
1- Relative humidity of 70% or more. (Dehydration starts at 55% humidity)
2- Plentiful amounts of skin.

Because mites don't drink, they absorb humidity through their bodies, like a sponge. Usually we sweat up to 1 cup of water each night that passes through the mattress giving mites a shower moisture each day. With consistent high doses of food, humidity and darkness mites have a perfect alchemy of conditions for a healthy reproductive lifespan or habitation in your mattress.  Not only is it a perfect place to live, one mite will lay up to 100 eggs in its 1-3 month life span. This is how most mattresses will contain 1-2 million mites on average. This is why 85-90% of all house dust mites live in Mattresses. These life giving factors just don't exist in other areas of the house.

What does this mean?

People have had mites living, eating, absorbing, defecating, reproducing and dying in their mattresses for years. In many cases we‘ve been breathing these allergens every night while sleeping and never understood why we feel allergic all the time. Furthermore, it has been determined that the mite enzyme is the single biggest cause of asthma in the home.  This puts a whole new look at where we sleep doesn’t it? 

For years people have paid air duct cleaners, like Chimney Sweeps, to take dust mites out of air ducts when now we know they can't live in air ducts. They wouldn't stand a chance living in those dry conditions. It sure does make for a sensational sales pitch by duct cleaners though. This is why understanding Dust Mites and their biology helps see the obvious, that our mattresses have been the bad seed for pollutants and we never put it together. Why should we when we spend so much money for drugs! I think that is partially by design.

The worst thing for Claritin, or Wellpoint who makes the drug, is to loose the great partnership they have with their biggest client, the Dust Might. They don't want the mite habitat disturbed or removed from your home. It's not in their self interest. I know that sounds a little tongue-n-cheek but can it be true? 

This is the main push for mattress cleaning. It goes to the heart of the issue and roots out the source of mite pollution where it counts. When a mattress cleaning service can remove and sanitize your bed (and floors) you will have a major handle on the situation. It prevents the need to spend hundreds or thousands of dollars on mite proofing products that usually create their own problems. (Some are very beneficial) This isn't the end all to dust mites but this covers the main population of mites and can seriously improve your in-home environment. It might seem like this is to easy and in fact it is that easy. Seek out a professional mattress cleaning company and have them service your mattress and see if it works for you. Everyone in your home will benefit.