Dust mites, as well as their body parts, and feces are the most common household allergens. They cause an array of symptoms such as sneezing, wheezing, coughing, itchy and watery eyes, runny noses, stuffy noses, eczema, and asthma.
If you are allergic to dust mites or someone in your household is, you may experience a wide variety of feelings.
Getting rid of dust mites in carpet mostly involves cleaning and vacuuming your carpet regularly, grooming your pet as well as using an air purifier.
There are a lot of ways on how to kill dust mites in carpet without having to damage your carpet or expose yourself to harmful chemicals.
Read: Where does dust mite come from
How to Kill Dust Mites in Carpet
Table of Contents
Clean your Carpet Regularly
Your home can become a thriving place for dust mites if it’s covered in house dust because it offers plenty of food supply. House dust is usually comprised of several particles like shed skin flakes from humans and pets.
It is estimated that one person sheds enough dead skin cells to feed one million dust mites daily. So the first line of defense against dust mites is dusting and cleaning your house regularly.
Keeping your home completely dust-free might be impossible, but you can keep it at low levels. Start by identifying the areas where dust accumulates most in your home and dust those areas frequently.
Make sure to start from top to bottom when dusting and use a microfiber duster or damp cloth. Using a feather duster will only move the dust around without eliminating them completely.
Vacuum Carpet Frequently
It is recommended to vacuum your carpets and rugs at least twice every week. However, if you have pets or live with several people, daily vacuuming may be the best idea, especially if you or any of your household members suffer from dust mite allergies.
Read: What time is it okay to Vacuum
Use HEPA Air Purifier
Cleaning or vacuuming may not be enough to totally eliminate all the dust allergens floating in the air. Live dust mites are not airborne, and they live burrowed in carpets and soft surfaces so they cannot be inhaled.
However, when their home is disturbed, their waste particles and body fragments get airborne and can be inhaled. This is why you need air filters.
Using an effective air purifier for dust will remove airborne dust mite allergens from the air and release purified air back into the room. Using these devices will also help to minimize asthma attacks.
Read: Should humidifier be on the floor
Change and Wash your Bedding Frequently
Although dust mites can spread all over your house, they are most likely to be found in your bed. It is estimated that over 10 million dust mites can be found living in your mattress, pillows, and beddings at any given time.
This is because of the warm and humid nature of your bed, which makes it the most conducive nest for the dust mites; your bed also has lots of dead skin flakes that mites love feeding on.
One way to minimize them is by changing your beddings weekly or sooner, then use hot water to wash the dirty beddings; this will kill all the dust mites living in them, thereby reducing their colonies.
Read: How to stop bed from moving on hardwood floor
Cut Their Food Source
It is impossible to wash your mattress, box spring, and pillows in hot water weekly; this makes it difficult to get out dust mites once they burrow inside your mattress and pillows.
But you can cut off their food supply and starve them to death by putting a barrier between them and their food supply: you. You can do you do this by encasing your mattress, pillows, and box spring in special allergen-proof covers.
Although these covers are expensive, they help a lot in minimizing asthma complications.
Use Diatomaceous Earth (DE)
Diatomaceous earth is a multipurpose powder derived from sedimentary rocks. These rocks were formed from fossilized algae, which has a high level of compound silica; this causes diatomaceous earth to have high levels of this compound too.
DE works by dehydrating the dust mites, thereby killing them within a few minutes. Using this powder is very easy; just sprinkle a light layer over the infested surfaces, including your bed, carpets, and couches. Allow it to sit for about 30 minutes, then vacuum thoroughly.
Reduce Your Home’s Temperature And Humidity
Dust mites thrive better in temperatures between 68 and 77 degrees f and humidity levels of between 70% and 80%. So you can easily make your home inhabitable for mites by simply adjusting these two parameters.
Once you detect an infestation, reduce your indoor temperatures below 65 F and the humidity level to 40-45%. This might not kill the dust mites instantly, but it will lead to a slow death, especially when coupled with other methods.
Read: 10 best dust pans review
Install A Hard Floor
Although a plush and comfortable carpet may you’re your room feel cozy, it might be detrimental to your health if you have dust mite allergies. Carpets harbors dust mites and a load of other types of allergens too.
Keep in mind that carpets don’t trap these allergy-provoking substances; however, when they receive the slightest disturbance, they become airborne and circulate around the room for some time before settling on surfaces.
If you have a crawling baby, the high level of allergens on carpets is bad news for them as they spend most of their time on the floor.
One way to effectively eliminate dust mites in your home is by trading your carpets for hard floors. If that’s not possible, you can consider steam cleaning the carpets regularly to kill dust mites.
Regularly Groom Your Pets
If you have pets, they can also encourage the infestation of dust mites. This is because pets shed a lot of dander, which adds provides more food supply for the dust mites.
However, you can minimize pet dander by brushing and bathing your pet regularly. You can also prevent your cat and dog from getting into your bedroom at night to reduce the spread.
Read: Best mop for dog hair
Conclusion
Mites are tiny bugs that feed off shed dead skin cells; they can infest every area of your home, including pillows, mattresses, furniture, and carpets.
Although the bugs carry no diseases, their fecal matter can greatly affect asthma suffers. If you want to kill dust mites in carpet or simply get rid of them from your home, it can be accomplished without the use of dangerous chemicals.
The steps highlighted in the articles above will eliminate dust mites from your carpet without having to expose yourself to harmful chemicals.