Do you think you know who you went to bed with last night!
I got the shock of my life when I found out that I might be going to bed with tens of thousands of little bodies each night. My unwanted bed-fellows are tiny, creepy dust mites. They’re invisible to the naked eye and love to breed in our beds; hiding in out mattresses and pillows.
Tens of thousands of dust mites. Are you serious?
Given the right conditions, dust mites breed faster than rabbits. They love warm, dark places with lots of food and a bit of water. For a dust-mite, the dead skin we leave behind in our sheets and mattress is the equivalent of a Michelin star feast! Given enough food, colonies of thousands of dust mites develop in just months.
Talking of food, humans shed approximately 1kg of dead skin in bed each year. That’s an all you can eat banquet for dust-mites!
Did you say dust mite pooh? Yuck!
Sleeping with dust-mites is bad enough, but sleeping with dust-mite pooh really makes me sick! Dust mites excrete twice their body weight every day. They actually go to the toilet 20 times a day and the droppings contain an aggressive enzyme that attacks the “glue” which combines delicate cells together in our body. Dust mite droppings are 10 to 40 microns in size, which means that they’re small enough to easily circulate in the air for us to breathe in. When we do, these aggressive enzymes attack the cells in our trachea, bronchi, lungs and other areas of our respiratory system.
Do you ever wake up in the morning with itchy eyes or a runny nose? Chances are dust- mite droppings are the cause. Dust mite pooh can affect our entire body and result in allergic reaction that shows up as a runny nose, itchy eyes & eczema
How can I get rid of those pesky dust-mites?
- Use a mattress cover that you wash regularly. This will capture most of the deadskin minimising the dust mites food source.
- Vacuum the mattress regularly with a HEPA filter vacuum. Choose a model with a beater bar for better results (a rotating brush that gently beats the mattress)
- Every 3 months take the mattress outside and stand it up in the sun for 30 minutes. UV light will kill dust mites, but you’ll need to turn the mattress around a few times.
- Open up the windows and let in the fresh air and sunlight. The aim is to get as much UV light onto the mattress as possible.
Get Professional Help
Working with an industry leader in treating dust-mites, E-Dry developed the Healthy Mattress Cleaning System to treat dust-mites and keep them away for up to 6 months.
So what is involved in the Healthy Mattress System?
- An industrial strength HEPA vacuum is used to remove the dust mites, dust mite excrement and dead skin from the mattress
- A dry-cleaning solution is used to lift body oils from the surface of the mattress.
- The Healthy Mattress Solution is applied to the mattress. This product treats the dust mites, mould and bacteria. This product is active for up to 6 months to keep those nasty dust mites away.
- Lavender oils are built into the Healthy Mattress solution to promote a great nights’ sleep
- A mattress and pillow stain remove is applied to reduce the yellow stains that sometimes develop from sweat and body-oils.
What about “accidents” on a mattress?
If there’s an issue with urine or bodily fluids, then our Deluxe mattress cleaning service may be the answer. This service is very effective when size of the contamination is less than the size of a dinner plate. When the affected area is larger than a dinner plate, the problem is quite substantial and a new mattress would be a healthier option.
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