These tiny microscopic bugs belong to the spider and tick family of eight-legged creatures called arachnids. Dust mites are hardy creatures that multiply easily in warm humid places.

Although dust mites are in every room in your house, they are particularly fond of the bedroom, especially mattresses and pillows where they live off the dust in your house. And dust is composed of, what? Yes, you guessed it, the dead skin cells we shed every day just going through the course of our daily lives.

The simple act of touching skin sloughs off tiny microscopic particles of skin, and this is the kind of thing dust mites like. Humans shed about 1/5 ounce of dead skin each week. About 80 percent of the material seen floating in a sunbeam is actually skin flakes.

People who are allergic to dust mites react to proteins in the bodies and feces of the mites. These fecal particles are found in the highest concentrations in pillows, mattresses, carpeting, and upholstered furniture. They float into the air when anyone vacuums, walks on a carpet or disturbs bedding, but settle out of the air once the disturbance is over.

There may be many as 20,000 dust mites in one gram of dust, but usually between 100 to 500 mites live in each gram. (A gram is about the weight of a paper clip.) Each mite produces about 10-20 waste particles per day and lives for 30 days. Egg-laying females can add 25-30 new mites to the population during their lifetime.

A typical mattress may have anywhere from 100,000 to 10 million mites inside. Ten percent of the weight of a two year old pillow can be composed of dead mites and their droppings. The weight of your bed increases by at least a pound a year from the weight of dead skin, mites and their feces and other pathogens.

ARE THEY HARMFUL?

Dust mites don’t bite or spread diseases and usually do not live on people. But they are harmful to the people who become allergic to them, and an exposure to the mites in the first, crucial years of life can trigger a lifelong allergy.

Studies have shown that the most potent house dust allergens can be extracted from the feces produced by dust mites; and that the digestive juices from the mite gut are very potent in creating wheezing-related symptoms.

Dust mite exposure may be a factor for up to 80 percent of asthmatics, as well as in countless cases of eczema, hay fever and other allergic ailments, including headaches, fatigue and depression. Even if you don’t have a diagnosed allergy, if you wake up with recurring symptoms such as these, you are being affected by dust mites and other allergens that are living in your bed and pillows.

Unfortunately, it’s not possible to eliminate dust mites completely. However, you can do your part to greatly minimize them. There is no cure, only prevention.

WHAT ELSE IS IN MY BED?

On top of the dust mite population and their droppings, within six months of purchase, most soft furnishings contain dirt, dead skin, hair, bacteria, moulds, pollens and possibly viruses – which are harmful.

Sanitizing is a safe, revolutionary service helping to reduce harmful pollutants and irritants found in your mattress and other materials and provides a healthier indoor living environment.