Knock Down the Dust Mite Population with Cold Air

Many folk suffer from dust mite allergies more specifically from dust mite droppings. Dust mites are microscopic insects that live in our home feeding off of dead skin. The problem is dead skin accumulates in dust as a normal part of our daily activity because we are always shedding skin. In homes with carpeting and upholstered furniture or in rooms with a lot of textiles (eg. stuffed animals), the dust mite population can explode into large numbers causing those allergic to dust mites to have an increase in allergy symptoms ranging from minor (eg. sniffles, runny eyes) to life threatening (eg. severe asthma attack). My allergists and respiratory therapist have drilled it into me over and over that the best control is to reduce the dust mite habitat by removing all carpeting and upholstered furniture. We've been working towards that goal and in September 2011, we finally bought a house with no carpeting. All floors are hard so the dust mite population here is quite low. Not everyone can rip out their carpeting or buy a house with no carpeting. If you live in a cold climate as we do, you can use the reduced humidity and cold air treatment to knock down the dust mite population in your home. If you have a humidifier, do not set the humidity level higher than 25%. This will still help keep your mucosal membranes from becoming too dry. The cold air treatment ideally needs 24 to 48 hours so is best done during the winter when you can be away for one or two nights. The ideal magic temperature you want to get your house to is 50°F, no lower as you don't want pipes freezing. Turn the furnace off and replace the filter about 3 hours before leaving the house. Gather all textiles (eg. stuffed animals, pillows, afghans) and place in plastic garbage bags. Put them in the freezer or if you have an unheated garage or shed in there while you are gone. Strip the beds leaving them bare. Thoroughly vacuum all floors both hard and carpeted. Empty the vacuum bag or cup, clean if necessary and replace as you will need to use the vacuum cleaner as soon as you arrive home. Now, leave the house with furnace off for at least 24 hours. The inside air temperature will dip and continue to dip, killing off dust mites. The closer the temperature gets to 50°F the more effective the kill off is. At the same time, the dust mites in your textiles in the plastic bags are being killed off. When you return home, it will be chilly but houses don't take long to warm up. Turn the furnace on. Carefully open the garbage bags with your textiles and place the textiles in the dryer on air fluff for at least 15 minutes. This will remove dust mite carcasses and feces. Next, vacuum thoroughly all floor surfaces to also remove dust mite carcasses and feces. The dust mite population has been basically knocked down to an ultra low level so will take a couple of months or more to get to the level to cause allergic symptoms providing you do regular vacuuming. While you are doing dust mite control, this is a good time to put allergy covers on all pillows and mattresses. The cover forms a barrier between you and the dust mite droppings. Use the cold treatment on pillows then cover. Vacuum mattresses well then place a zippered allergy cover on the mattress. If your house has a lot of carpeting (eg. all rooms except bathrooms and kitchen), this treatment can be used monthly or three times during the cold weather depending on your lifestyle. When we are at our vacation home in Florida during December, our house is left at 50°F for the entire duration of three to five weeks. This was particularly helpful for dust mite control in our last home where there was a lot of carpeting and while it is more of an eco-friendly solution here to avoid using a lot of energy to heat our house when we aren't here, it still kills off the dust mites. Oh, and while the treatment sounds like a lot of work, it really isn't! It usually takes me about a half hour on each end of the treatment. The results are definitely worth it in increased comfort, reduced allergy symptoms and reduced medications.

Dusting Solutions

One of the selling features of our new home was hard flooring throughout.  It certainly makes you appreciate exactly how much gunk was hiding in our carpeting.  Dust is a mixture of dirt and soil coming in through window screens, pet dander, human hair and sloughed off dried skin, dust mite carcasses and feces, and so much more.  When this gets into your carpeting it is bad enough but carpeting also harbours the proliferation of dust mites compounding the problem.  Dust can give your house that 'old' smell, or just an off smell that says your house isn't clean.

Dusting is a bit more complex than simply dusting.  Many can get away with dry dusting but if you have allergies or asthma, you really need to damp dust without using an aerosol spray.  Damp dusting picks up the dust without allowing it back into the air.  Static cloths and microfibre dusting pads are a must especially if you have allergies or asthma.  They work well without any sprays  allowing you to dispose of the dust easily.  Contrary to many beliefs, dust does not just accumulate on horizontal surfaces.  Every surface in your home accumulates dust including surfaces you wouldn't normally think of like light bulbs and clothes in your closet. Walls should be routinely dusted and if you don't think walls accumulate dust just run a static cloth over a couple to see exactly what is on your walls.

The thing is if you have no carpets you will notice more dust.  That is just the nature of the beast but at least you are seeing the dust and can deal with it than if the dust were hiding in your carpet.  Put an air cleaner on your furnace along with good filters then set about dust control duty.  If you have allergies or asthma, you already know how important it is to get this dust out of your home. Here are a few tools I use and tips for achieving that goal:

• wet dusting - Wet dusting does not put the dust back into the air where it can get into your lungs.  A light solution of Murphy's Oil soap is suitable for most wood, wood veneers and pseudo-wood surfaces including laminate flooring.  Just dip your 100% cotton cloth into the solution, wring it out and use it for dusting.  Repeat if needed.  This does a wonderful job not only of dusting but cleaning at the same time.  I make up a Murphy's Oil solution then pour it into a spray bottle for quick touch up cleaning.  
• wands - Many of the dry dusting methods require using some type of wands.  The most common is Swiffer but there are other brands.  Our local dollar store carries the generic long wands for $2 meaning you can easily have a couple at a considerably less price than the brand name and trust me they work just as well as the brand name for a lot less money.  You will want a couple of the longer wands and at least one short dusting wand (dollar store find with pad $1.50).  The head should be designed to use the static cloths (eg. have teeth grabbers) and the reusable dusting pads.
• microfibre cloths, pads and slippers - I honestly can't say enough about these.  They are a reusable dusting mop pad that goes onto a wand much the same as a Swiffer wand.  They work whether wet or dry and are machine washable.  Surprisingly, our local dollar store is the best place to buy them at $2 each so I have a few.  I am rather partial to the larger loop style but the fine loop style is available as well.  Walmart is now carry the large loop microfibre slippers so you essentially are dusting as you walk about.  I haven't tried them yet but at $7 per pair, I am planning to.  Basically with the slippers you are dusting your floors as you walk about eliminating the need for separate dusting.  
• static cloths - By far the most popular brand is Swiffer and the cheapest place to buy them is Sam's Club.  Static cloths are highly recommended by allergists because they pick up the dust easily without chemicals then with a toss it is out of the house.  A couple of years ago Swiffer started adding scents to their cloths so be aware of that which is one reason I now prefer microfibre cloths over Swiffer.  Also weighing against the static cloths is they are disposable meaning you are continuously spending just to rid you home of dust.  However, and especially when first trying to get allergies and asthma under control, the static cloths are a must for some applications.  Avoid any static cloth that has any kind of scent.  
• hand held steam cleaner - Dust tends to get into lots of nooks and crannies.  It can combine with moisture to create gunk for lack of a better word but not a lot of gunk just a thin layer that can harbor mold spores.  A hand held steam cleaner is a must have for getting rid of this gunk especially in crevices.  Not only does it get rid of the gunk it sanitizes, killing any mold or bacteria present.
• vacuum cleaning - Allergists will stress using a HEPA filter vacuum cleaner as one of the best ways of controlling allergens in your home.  I've tried several models of HEPA filter upright vacuum machines plus a canister vacuum before installing a central vacuum system in this house.  By far, the central vacuum is the way to go and you can actually have it exhaust to the outside meaning nothing from the exhaust comes back into your house!  We did that three houses ago when we had central vac but so far have not vented outside for the new install in this house.  Vacuuming is not just for floors either.  It can be used for so much more like around your windows, horizontal surfaces, blinds, walls and more.  If you have upholstered furniture use the vacuum on that to reduce dust mites, and other dust.
• the dryer - The dryer set on air only is ideal for removing dust from pillows, stuffed animals and other textiles.  If there is a concern over dust mites as there may be with throw pillows or stuffed animals, put them in the freezer for an hour then run them through the dryer on air setting.  The freezer will kill off any dust mites present and the dryer will remove their carcasses along with any dust mite feces.

Hard Flooring in the New House

One of the biggest selling features for our new house was the complete absence of carpeting.  Years ago my allergist was adamant that we should remove all carpeting from our house.  Carpets are horrid breeding grounds for dust mites.  There are three work around with the first being removing carpeting entirely.  The second is using a pesticide that is mite specific but this is not the best solution as it can cause allergic reactions as well as introducing a toxic chemical into your home.  The third solution that will not work in warm locations is to let the indoor air temperature drop below 50°F for at least a 24 hour period.  This will cause a kill-off of dust mites reducing their numbers.  Do a thorough vacuuming immediately to remove the dead dust mites.  The important thing to remember is keeping the dust mite population down reduces the amount of dust mite feces which is the actual allergen.

The previous homeowners installed higher end ceramic tile in the entrance, part of the family room and both bathrooms.  The upper bathroom is a marbled dark hunter green (pictured) and the lower bathroom is a marbled deep burgundy.  The entrance is a beige textured tile while the family room is a greyish blue textured ceramic tile.  Not pictured and not related to the flooring, the kitchen countertop and backsplash are also tiled in terrazzo tile.

Ceramic tile is extremely easy to care for.  According to our ex-BIL who was a flooring installer the only thing that should be used on ceramic tile flooring a a solution of vinegar and water.  Vinegar has antibiotic properties and cleans as well as expensive cleaners without leaving any cloudy film.  It also neutralizes household odours so it freshens the air while cleaning the floors.  In our last house when I was getting the house ready for showing I would wipe down the shiny ceramic floor in the kitchen with rubbing alcohol for a sparkly finish.  All the tile at the new house is textured so I will just use vinegar and water or my Bissell steam mop.

I am not a huge fan of smooth, shiny floors in kitchens because they tend to me a slip and fall hazard.  The floor in our new kitchen is marble tile and oh my gosh, I love it!  It is rich and luxurious feeling.  Dirt and sand can scratch marble tile flooring so I'm using an electric broom daily.  Really though this is nothing new as kitchen floors usually need to be swept or vacuumed daily.  I'm rather particular about my kitchen floors, wiping up spills as they happen and cleaning daily.  I kept the dustbuster handy in my last kitchen to keep any crumbs off the floor as part of rodent control.  Marble is a porous stone so harsh chemical cannot be used on it.  It is important to use pH-neutral cleaners so no vinegar, alcohol and many of the commercial cleaners.  Spills should be cleaned up to prevent staining as well.  I will be using my Bissell steam mop for cleaning the marble flooring.

All five bedrooms, living/dining rooms, part of the family room and staircase are laminate wood flooring. [ We aren't using all five bedrooms as bedrooms - one is an office, one a dart room, one a pantry, one a guest room and one the master bedroom.]  Laminate wood flooring is very easy to care for with the primary concern being over wetting.  There is no way I could use my Bissell steam mop on the laminate flooring.   I bought a light mop device that I can put my own solution into.  So far I have been using a dust mop daily which really is not as much work as it sounds.  It takes me less that 10 minutes and is good exercise.  I've cleaned the floors a couple of times using the light mop.

The nice thing about having no carpeting is ease of cleaning as well as the reduction of a major allergen.  The scary part is realizing all that dust and daily living particles was going into your carpeting.  While we may use a throw rug or two during the winter and definitely an entrance mat there will be no carpeting in our house.  I'm loving it!

Garden Gnome
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