How to effectively remove dust mites from mattresses?
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Most excellent of you to even recognize the healthy need to sleep hygienic mattresses.
When we go to sleep at night, our bodies go through a recuperation period and our immune systems rejuvenate from the toxins and pollutants that we encounter everyday.
But, most people don't realize that our immune systems, instead of rejuvenating, have to continue warding off the effects of allergens as we sleep in our supposedly cozy and comfy beds. Our bedrooms and particularly our mattresses and pillows, harbor the highest concentration of indoor allergens and pollutants, all of which, over-tax our immune systems.
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (the EPA) has announced that indoor air pollution is now their #1 concern and launched a new website in January, 2007. (visit the website at; http://www.noattacks.org ). The EPA has been joined by every national health organization, due to the continued increase of asthma, asthma deaths, respiratory and skin diseases, every year since 1980.
For generations upon generations (ask any octogenarian) people would routinely tote their mattresses outdoors every spring, and sometimes again in the fall also, and literally beat the crap out them with a big stick, broom, 2 x 4, baseball bat, 9-iron, tennis racket, or whatever else they could find.
The purpose of doing so, was to remove the dust within the mattress. What was not known then, is known today. The "dust" was mostly shed human skin and the allergenic waste products of dust mites which love to eat shed human skin cells, along with mold, mildew, spores, fungi, pollen, pet dander, bacteria and viruses.
The very best you could do, or anybody else for that matter, is to hire a professional mattress cleaner that uses the "dry method cleaning process." Unfortunately, there are very few persons in the U.S. that provide this service.
SO...use the next best option. On a day forecasted to be bright and sunny with no rain in the forecast, take your mattress (and the the others) outside early in the morning and beat the crap out them. Prop them up so that they catch the morning sun and then re-position them so they catch the afternoon sun on the reverse side. Make sure the automatic sprinkler system doesn't start up. Once you have beaten the crap out of them and have used the sun's natural cleansing abilities (UVA and UVB light waves) tote the mattresses back indoors. Apply a very light misting of all natural, non-toxic, odorless enzyme cleaner on the surfaces of the mattresses. The enzyme mist should be dry to the touch within 5 minutes or else you have misted too heavily. Mist the pillows too. Each time you launder the mattress pad, apply the mist (very lightly) before replacing the mattress pad. The enzymes will "munch on" and slow down the growth of dust mite colonies, mold, mildew, fungi, spores, pollen, bacteria and viruses, until the next time you beat the crap out of your mattresses.
Due to energy conservatuion measures, the temperature of home water heaters are pre-set at the factory and are not hot enough to kill dust mites. To kill dust mites, water temperature must be at least 130 degrees F. (140 degrees F. is obviously better). Most commercial laundromats have water temp's in this range.
Some people may suggest you vacuum the mattress in position (in the bedroom) but unless you have the right vacuum and most likely you don't, I would not...unless you do it outdoors. Most vacuum cleaners (even the top ranked per the magazine "Consumer Reports") equipped with HEPA-filters failed a 3rd party independent study, using a scientifically calibrated "air particle counter" showed that they still spewed millions of dust particles into your indoor environment.
Use 400 TC (thread count) sheets, or better. These sheets will have a pore size of about 6.5 microns (when new) which is small enough to act as a barrier between the smallest dust mites (20 microns at birth) and itch mites (aka, scabies). However, dust mite allergens (DMA's) and other allergens will still pass through even a 400 TC sheet just as they will through a 2 micron dust mite-proof mattress pad.
If your mattress has or ever gets any stains on it, then check out the mattress stain removal link at the bottom of this reply. BTW, enzymes will, overtime, also eat away any organic stains on mattresses.
There are numerous reports of people having problems with new mattresses and then finding out that the manufacturer won't cover the warranty due to a "unhygienic" condition. Even though the mattress may not have any visible stains, the manufacturers' use this excuse as a means of voiding the warranty agreement. It may help to have proof (receipts) of using a professional mattress cleaning service.
An average queen-sized mattress is host to around 2 million dust mites. A dust mite poops 20 to 30 fecal pellets, 15 microns in size, per day (actually night, as they are nocturnal). So that equates to 40-60 million FRESH fecal pellets in your mattress each morning you awake. Dust mites live for 100 days...so one average-sized colony leaves 40 to 60 TRILLION fecal pellets in your mattress over their lifetime and of course as they die off...many more replace the dead ones.
The digestive system of a dust mite produces a protein called guanine. The guanine breaks down hard to digest foods which also allows dust mites to practice "corphagia" meaning they can survive by eating their own feces just in case you decide to put a mite-proof mattress cover on your mattress.
The fecal pellets dry up and become powdery thus reducing the 15 micron size to an even much smaller size. All the contaminants in your bed become airborne each time you roll over in bed (50 to 60 times per night is average) or each time you fluff your pillow, or of course every time you and your significant other bounce on the bed.
When inhaled, guanine attaches to lung walls and kills healthy lung cells by suffocation.
BTW, the weight of a new pillow can increase 10%-25% in just a couple of years.
Dust mites have been around for about 300 million years, 2 months, and 4 days. They discovered man after man began sleeping on mattresses about 8 to 10 thousand years ago. Man discovered the absolutely healthy need to sleep on hygienic mattresses on, or about April 1st, 5993 B.C. But and for some unproven reason, man then forgot about the healthful benefits of sleeping on clean mattresses and pillows sometime around 1967 (LSD maybe?).
So here's the bottom line...practice mattress hygiene...
it's so easy, even a caveman can do it!
Free info "76 Tips to Reduce Dust Mites and Indoor Allergens" at this link:
http://www.sterilmattress.com/ebook_dust...
Mattress stain removal tips at this link:
http://www.sterilmattress.com/mattress_s...
I wish i knew
Vaccuum the matress,if you turn your matress everytime you put fresh linen on,just keep turning and vaccuuming.
vacuum the mattresses with a hose attachment on both sides, wash all linen and that should take care of the problem
Firstly, vaccuum both sides (and edges) of the matress with a standard vaccuum cleaner (or use a nozel for cleaning mattresses, etc).
Then take the mattress outside and let it sit in the SUN all day turning over every half hour or so.
Wash all bedding and hang to dry (obviously). Take all bedding inside (incl. mattress) and make the bed as usual.
Try to avoid using a dryer to dry bedding as dust mites congregate and love the heat in dryers. If you must uise the dryer, make sure that the lint filter is fully clean before use.
Good luck, and hope this helps?
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