The Dust Mite War

The Dust Mite. My household enemy number 1.

They have been the bane of my existence for as long as I can remember. The day I received the allergy skin test results, pointing to this creature as my main cause of suffering, sealed our relationship. I, the lone warrior, fighting an epic and eternal battle against an unseen enemy...

Yes, I have been watching too much tv. But you get the idea.

My eyes start to feel gritty, my lungs get tight, my nose gets stuffy yet runny at the same time. There's a place in the roof of my mouth that begs to be scratched. I spend the next several days breathing through my mouth and reaching for an inhaler. No, I haven't been yelling at my kids. I was simply doing some cleaning and had a run-in with that mangy arachnid pictured above.

I can hear someone whistling the western showdown song from The Good, The Bad and the Ugly.

Doodle-doodle-doooo Doo Doo Doooo...

So what can be done? Well, there's always medication. Over the counter, prescription. Probably a few street drugs that would make me not notice. But, I'm more a "treat the problem, not the symptom" kind of girl, so I try to avoid this avenue. There are many, many changes that can be made to help combat dust mites, it just depends on how far you want to go. Living in the Deep South paints a big fat target on my pillow, because dust mites love warmth and humidity--two things we have in over-abundance here. But, I'm not going to move to Arizona because that would be too hard and too easy (I will NOT throw down the white flag in this battle!). However, I have developed a strategy that goes a long way:

Get rid of carpet. It's nasty stuff anyway. Traps all kinds of dirt, mold, and eight-legged foes. We installed wood flooring and tile through most of the house and it has done amazing things for my sinuses. This one's a biggie.

Vacuum carpets several times a week. If you don't have the ability to remove it (renting, too poor to put wood flooring in the whole house like us), this is your next best option. Two bedrooms in our house still have carpet. By vacuuming them 3-4 times a week, I can suck up the dust, the mites, and the skin flakes they're living on. Then I dump them outside in a trash can. Good-bye.

Don't sweep! You heard me. Using a broom on your floors just sends everything circulating again. Every other day, I get out my nifty floor cleaner thingy. I get it wet, squeeze it out, and go to town "mopping" the floors. It collects the dust for me to rinse away. When I'm done, the pad goes in the washing machine to be used again, and the pile (yes, I have piles--crayon wrapper, cheese cracker, hair ball...) gets scooped up with the dust pan.

Damp dusting is a must. Throw away your feather duster and whatever disposable thingy that's currently being marketed as a dust trap. Find a rag. Get it wet. Squeeze it out. Wipe. Rinse. Repeat. Don't forget the ceiling fan.

Minimize the dust collectors. Duh. The more knickknacks, what-nots and tchotchkes you have, the more difficult your dusting task becomes. And no, you can't just pretend they're not dusty and ignore them, because every time you walk past your collection of 1960's orange doorknobs, the dust mites are doing nose-dives into the moving air current and ending up, well, you know...


Allergen Covers. As mentioned before, a dust mite's favorite food is YOU. Your dead skin flakes to be exact. Where is the most concentrated collection of you? Why, in your bed, of course. So where is the most concentrated collection of dust mites? Why, in your bed of course. I have zippered allergy covers on every bed pillow and mattress in the house. And I never go on a trip without my pillow. Something about pressing my face into someone else's old skin collection AND dust mites gives me the heebie-jeebies.

Wash the bed. At least once a week. Wash the sheets, blankets, quilts and allergy covers from the pillows/mattress in hot water and dry them in a hot dryer. Don't keep a big 'ole comfortor on your bed that is "dry clean only" or any silliness like that. Anything that lies on the bed must be washed once a week (including husbands).


Change the filter. In your air conditioner, I mean. If you're fabulously rich, get one of those whole house air purification systems. If you've only got a little extra money and you live in the Deep South, get a dehumidifier. If you're broke like me, just buy a new a/c filter every three months, but don't skimp here--you get what you pay for.

Get plastic furniture. Ha ha ha... Okay I'm only kidding a little. Remember how I said your bed is the most concentrated collection of "you" and therefore dust mites too? Well, the couch is a big competitor for that number one spot. I went through a lot of concern over my furniture because, while you can take the cushion covers off and wash them in the washing machine, they're only a small percentage of the total dust mite living space. And here's the kicker: what we're really allergic to is in the poop of these little buggers, so anything that purportedly kills them is not removing the allergen. So what to do? Washing the covers helps a little. Vacuuming and steam cleaning often also helps. The best solution? Buy leather or faux leather furniture.

Long live the sinuses.