Category: Dust Mites

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Do You Need To Cover All Pillows

A lovely young couple was in the store last week.  He had just been diagnosed with allergy to dust mites.  The doctor had sent them to us right away with instructions for allergy-proofing their bedroom.

They were on a tight budget (aren’t we all) and were looking to spend where they would get the most bang for their buck.

He asked why it was necessary to cover all pillows on the bed with a dust mite proof pillow cover, not just the one he slept on.  It is a very common question.  I mean if you aren’t sleeping on it why must it be covered?  Why do you have to cover all pillows to get allergy relief?

In order to answer the question, you have to understand how you are exposed to dust mites.  These microscopic creatures and their feces are in your mattress, pillow, and comforters.  Every time someone moves on the bed, a cloud of microscopic particles is blown into the air and the allergic person inhales these particles.  So, if person A (the person with allergies) is laying in bed with their covered pillow and person B is laying on the bed with a pillow that is not covered, every time person B moves, they will send up a cloud of particles that will rain down on person A.  Person A is not protected from B’s allergens.

The other scenario is that you sleep on two or more pillows.  If you only cover the pillow on which you lay your head, every time you move your head the other pillows release their cloud, right there by your head.

What I recommended to this couple was something I do myself.   The pillows that are used to cradle the head are the pillows where you put the most expensive and comfortable covers.  For example, if you have 6 pillows on the bed (1 for each person’s head, 1 to go under each person’s sleeping pillow, and 2 for decorative shams) then the pillows that are used for sleeping should have a microweave pillow encasement made from Pristine Luxury or AllergCare Cotton.  The other pillows can be encased with coated fabrics like the Bed Bug Solution fabric, which are totally effective just less expensive.  That way you can cover all pillows and stretch your allergy control dollar.

Just another way to get the protection you need without spending more than you need.

Til Next Time
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Get Rid of Dust Mites – Warfare Part 4

In this series, we have waged war on dust mites and their allergens.

We killed them by starvation in Part 1 by putting a barrier between them and their food source with a zippered dust mite cover on the mattress, box spring, and pillow.  In Part 2 we took to the laundry room to eliminate dust mites from anything washable using De-Mite or Allergen Wash.  In our last installment, we used a HEPA filter to eradicate dust mites from the breathing area as we sleep. Today we bring the dust mite to its proverbial knees (since they don’t have real knees) as we get rid of dust mite allergens in areas we can’t encase, filter, or wash.

To get rid of dust mites on these surfaces we can take a multi-prong approach.  While you don’t have loads of dust mites actively living and breeding in your carpets, carpets hold the dead body parts that are a normal part of household dust as well as dust mite feces.

Try as you may, you can’t really clean the carpet.  Imagine you took your favorite cotton button-down shirt…tossed it on the floor, walked on it for 6 to 9 months, then splashed a little water and soap on it and vacuumed it up.  Would that shirt be what you called, ahem, “clean”?  I don’t think so.

That is exactly what “carpet cleaning” is all about.  You can spend money on carpet cleaning, but you can’t really clean the carpet.  That is why allergists agree that the best surface for flooring is a hard surface.

What do you do if you can’t get rid of the carpet?  You can still work to get rid of the dust mites and allergens in the carpet if you use a sealed-system canister vacuum cleaner with a HEPA filter, and post motor and periodically treat the surfaces with a denaturing agent.  Forget those bagless vacuum cleaners.

What good does it do to suck up the dust mite allergens into a container where they can be concentrated and will form an allergen cloud when you empty the container?  The whole idea is to reduce your exposure, not give you a concentrated dose!

Miele makes a variety of vacuum cleaners that will help you get rid of the dust mite allergens in carpets.  Just make sure you select one of the sealed canisters and get a HEPA filter.  On most Miele vacuums the HEPA filter is standard, you just have to be sure to ask.

Even though I have hard surfaces in my home, I have had a Miele for many years.  My first Miele was a 1998 Medi-Vac and it is still going strong.  When my daughter went to college, it went with her and I replaced my Medi-Vac with the Crystal model.

I gave my son an Antares when he moved into his first college apartment.  That Antares is still hard at work helping my daughter-in-law keep her family’s home clean. Miele HEPA-filtered vacuums will get rid of dust and mite allergens in the carpet and do so for many years.

In addition to thorough vacuuming, you can treat fiber surfaces such as rugs, carpets, draperies, and upholstered furniture with a denaturing agent like ADMS by AllerSearch.

Denaturing agents don’t get rid of the dust mites, but they do get rid of the dust mite allergens.  These allergens are proteins and proteins can be broken down (or denatured) by the use of acids, alkalis, and extreme heat.

This is why temperatures of 140°F in the wash will denature mite allergens.  Unfortunately, temperatures as high as 140°F will also destroy most surfaces with which they come in contact.

Fortunately, there are a variety of acids and alkalis that can be used to safely denature without the use of heat. In the beginning, people use tannic acid as a denaturing agent.  It is still very popular and its use is encouraged by television’s Dr. Oz.

That being said, our ADS Solution with tannic acid is still popular for those that want to get rid of dust mites in carpets, rugs, drapes, and furniture.

In the last few years, the maker of the most popular tannic acid solution, ADS, has also formulated a powerful denaturing agent that does not contain tannic acid.  ADMS Anti-Allergen Spray will safely get rid of those dust mite allergens on just about any surface. It is safe for all fabrics and will not stain.

While it may seem that the war on dust mites never ends….each campaign makes the next battle a little easier to win.  And once the enemy dust mite is on the run, it is really much easier to keep their allergens at bay.

Cheryl
The Allergy Store

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Eradicate Dust Mites – Warfare Part 3

So we continue our war on the dust mite and their allergens.

In Part 1, we killed dust mites by starving them to death through the use of dust mite-proof zippered mattress covers, pillow covers, and boxspring covers.  In Part 2, we eliminated dust mites by washing them away with De-Mite or Allersearch Allergen Wash.

The War Continues! Today, we will eradicate dust mites and other allergen particles floating in our air with the use of air filters.

People have been trying to eradicate dust mites and allergens from the breathing space for years using all sorts of methods. There have been air cleaners that produce ozone (a not-so-good idea) in an effort to oxidize the dust mites, air cleaners that claimed to eradicate dust mites by the use of ions (an idea that might boost the effectiveness of a HEPA filter but useless on its own), and ultraviolet lamps that claim to eradicate dust mites all through the house by simply installing it in the AC unit.

Maybe you can tell by my skeptical tone that I don’t believe there is scientific proof to back up these claims to eradicate dust mites.   Maybe you can’t tell….so I will make it clear.

Ozone machines, ionizers, and UV lights will not eradicate dust mites from your home.  You aren’t going to completely eradicate dust mites from your environment.

You can however eradicate little bits and pieces of dead dust mites, their feces, and other allergens from your breathing environment while you sleep with a properly sized and situated HEPA air cleaner and purifiers

HEPA is an acronym for High-Efficiency Particulate Air and it is a measurement. Just like an hour is a measurement of time (all hours have 60 minutes, some just seem longer or shorter) HEPA is a measurement of filtering ability. It means that 99.97% of all particles as small as 0.3 microns are arrested by the filter.

Filtration that fine has the ability to eradicate dust mite particles and feces from the air that passes through the filter. Dust mite allergens are in the 8 to 10-micron range.  Far larger than the HEPA definition and easy to eradicate if you can get the allergen to the filter.

HEPA filters work on the air exchange process.  That means taking the air from the room, using a motor to suck the air in and then passing it through the filter, and then sending the newly cleaned air out in the room.  As I type this, I can hear the low, gentle hum of the Austin Air HealthMate Junior working to eradicate the allergens from the room.

We carry many reliable and reputable brands of HEPA air cleaners to eradicate dust mites, allergens, odors, and chemicals.

I am fond of HealthMate machines because they just last and last and last.  Made in the USA, they are dependable and hard workers.  They are not energy hogs and when on the medium and low settings are not loud at all.  I especially like that their 5-year filters last so long that I have to write the filter date on the bottom of the machine or I would forget about filter changes.  I can’t honestly tell you how old the machine sitting in my office is. I can’t say that about many other small appliances..but I digress.

As we have stressed over and over, the most important room in the house is the bedroom. You want to place your HEPA air cleaner as close to the bed as possible.  The air closest to the machine is the cleanest and if you are going to eradicate dust mite particles from your breathing space while you sleep, then you want it close by.

If you don’t have rugs or carpeting or heavy draperies in your living area, then chances are you don’t have as many airborne particles in those rooms. You can put your HEPA air cleaner in just about any place in those rooms.

Let the war continue!