About Dustmites
What Lives In Your Mattress
You lose a litre of body moisture every night, creating a perfect breeding ground in your mattress for bacteria and dustmites. The dustmite is found in every home, particularly in bedding, mattresses and undersheets where they thrive in large numbers.
They eat microscopic flakes of human skin which we shed every night during our sleep.
Your mattress can't be washed, and, if unprotected, its inhabitants and dust can cause various allergies such as asthma, runny nose, watery eyes, morning congestion, eczema and hay fever.
The Root Cause of Allergies
A speck of dust may contain fabric fibres, human skin scales, animal dander, insect parts, bacteria, moulds, pollens and other organic and synthetic materials. A person may be allergic to one or more of these substances.
Of the many components of house dust, microscopic creatures called house dustmites cause the most trouble. They feed on skin scales and dander shed by humans and are proving to be the major allergen in house dust.
Most recent studies show that as much as 30% of the population are allergic and 80% of allergic asthmatics had a positive skin test to mites.
People become allergic to proteins in mites and mite faeces, each mite producing 10-20 waste particles per day. The proteins are so light that they float in the air when disturbed, releasing large amounts of mite proteins, causing some people to have an allergic reaction.
Mites are members of the arachnid family (related to ticks and spiders) and cannot be seen without a microscope. They are hardy and thrive in warm, humid conditions, surviving and multiplying best when relative humidity is 75-80% and the temperature is 20-21ºC or more. The life cycle from egg to adult is 30 days and their numbers reach a peak in mid summer. They love bedding and survive vacuuming because they burrow deep in the bed and pillow fibres and are equipped with sucking, sticking pads on their feet.
Unprotected Mattresses
As many as 2 million mites have been counted in unprotected mattresses and it only takes 4 months for an unprotected mattress to become infested.
Protect•A•Bed® Healthy Home Solutions
Implementing these basic health tips will go a long way to reducing the causes of health problems in the home.
Cleaning and airing
Weekly hot washing (above 55ºC) of bed linen will kill dustmites. Expose unprotected bedding to direct sun and a breeze for a few hours each week.
Aerate your home
Avoid the same air circulating through your home's heating and air-conditioning system. Open doors and windows to let fresh air in.
No bedding hand-me downs
Avoid handing down old, possibly mite-infested mattresses or bedding to other family members, especially children.
Be sensible about pets
Minimise contact with pets for sensitive people and keep them out of the bedrooms. Wash your pets regularly.
Moulds
Moulds produce a musty odour and millions of spores which become airborne easily. Treat any mould growth with a bleach solution but be careful not to inhale fumes.
BugLock® Protection
Protect•A•Bed®'s mattress encasements are scientifically proven to be an effective tool in the management of a bed bug infestation and are certified by an Entomology Laboratory to be bed bug entry, escape and bite proof. The patent pending BugLock® with Secure Seal feature, is a 3 sided zipper system with micro-zipper teeth specifically designed to prevent bed bugs from weaving their way through the closed zipper. The stitched safety trench is sealed around the end clasp of the zipper which is typically vulnerable due to its inability to fully close. The safety trench is designed with raised padding underneath the end stop, which creates an impassable seal. The seal prevents passage of bed bugs into and out of the encasement even if the zipper clasp pulls away from the end stop. Secure Seal consists of a "zip tie" which attaches to the zipper as well as an added tie down point on the encasement. This means that under no condition will the zipper pull away from the end clasp.
For more information on Dustmites, download a brochure here.
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