The enemy:
They are members of the Phylum Arthropoda, Group Arachnida and Order Acarina. Mites are not spiders or insects but a group of their own closely related to ticks.They are so small they cannot be seen with the naked eye. The average dust mite is 3mm. About 3 mites could fit inside the dot at the end of this sentence.They are oval shaped, cream colored, eight legged creatures with sticky pads on the ends of their feet making it easy for them to burrow deep in carpet fibers and furniture. Only the dead mite particles can be vacuumed effectively.They survive from eating human shed skin, fingernails, hair, pollen, fungi, bacteria and animal dander. They absorb moisture from the air and their environment. They only live for about 2-4 months, but during its life the dust mite produces about 200 times its weight in waste product and can lay up to 300 eggs!

Dust mites live in the fine layer of minute dust particles that seems to appear in your home from nowhere. About 80 percent of what you see floating in a ray of sunshine entering your home is dead skin, and we can see only 10 percent of the airborne pollutants. Due to their lightweight dust mites also become airborne. Routine activities such as making the bed or children jumping and playing can send them floating in the air where they are then distributed throughout the house and are inevitably inhaled as we breathe. Other floating particles include dead dust mites and their waste products. People continuously shed skin, as many as 50 million flakes of dead skin a day, the house dust mite has an abundance of food. The mites thrive in warm, humid conditions where their populations can explode! Unfortunately for humans, the beds in which we sleep are some of the warmer and more humid places year round. Dust mites live in mattresses, pillows, carpets, fabric furniture and stuffed toys. They like to burrow into the fabric. Depending on the age of a mattress, it may contain between 100,000 and 10,000,000 (10 million) dust mites. 20%-50% of the weight of the average pillow is made up of dust mites. We are exposed to the allergenic by-products of dust mites while we sleep. While new homes and furniture are dust free, within a month both are populated with dust mites. 

Research states that 44 million homes in the U.S. (that's 45% of all homes) have a very serious dust mite problem.

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Dust Mite Allergy:

Dust mite allergy manifests similar symptoms to hay fever, and is now recognized to be one of the main triggers for asthma and eczema. Sufferers are not allergic to the dust mite itself, but to the microscopic droppings these creatures leave behind in the air, our beds and furnishings. Dust mite sensitive individuals have the symptoms of hay fever all year round, particularly on waking. Nighttime can be the worst time for dust mite symptoms.

Asthma:

Eczema:

Eczema, or dermatitis as it is sometimes called, is a group of skin conditions that can affect all age groups. In the United Kingdom, up to one fifth of all children of school age have eczema, along with about one in twelve of the adult population. The severity of the disease can vary. In mild forms the skin is dry, hot and itchy, whilst in more severe forms the skin can become broken, raw and bleeding. Although it can sometimes look unpleasant, eczema is not contagious.

Mold Allergy:  

Our mattresses can also contain various strains of fungi and moulds, and combined with the above list can create a pretty unpleasant sleeping environment, not to mention the problem of that stale or musty bedroom odor. Exposure to mold is widespread and non-seasonal, as molds grow everywhere, such as on window frames and rotting food, and outdoors, with mold on rotting leaves and fungi. Molds release thousands of microscopic spores into the atmosphere; these spores end up in house dust where they grow. Dust from mold-contaminated houses can cause allergy symptoms if a mold-sensitive person inhales it. Several well-known conditions, such as Farmer's lung and Sauna Taker's lung, are caused by mould allergy. Molds favors damp musty conditions, such as kitchens and bathrooms, window frames, under wallpaper, on the soil of houseplants, piles of rotting leaves, grass cuttings and compost heaps. Molds spread by producing spores that can become airborne.

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Detection:

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Your best line of defense is positive identification of the enemy. Before you go any further you should determine if you have a dust mite infestation problem. 

The Mitest collector is a molded plastic device with an inner dust collector which fits onto the wand of a vacuum cleaner. After collection, a cap is applied to the bottom of the collector and the dust is extracted with 10ml buffer in a 5 min extraction procedure.

Dust samples can be collected from bedding, soft furnishings or carpets and extracted within 10 minutes, prior to use in the rapid test.

Collection and Extraction within one single device. No dust handling necessary, only 2 minutes sampling time. Replaceable filters - test multiple sites with a single collector. Allows exposure to be expressed per weight or per unit area. 

Instructions for Use of the Mitest Collector

1. Insert the plastic filter into the Mitest collector and attach the collector to the vacuum cleaner tube.
   

2. Turn on the vacuum cleaner and vacuum 4 separate 8.5 x 11" areas (letter-size paper) for 30 seconds each (total sampling time, 2 minutes; total area sampled ~0.25sq meter).
   

3. Remove the filter containing the dust samples and place it in a small Ziploc bag or envelope. Sample may be used with the Rapid Test.
   

4. Rinse the Mitest collector with water, place a clean filter inside the collector for repeat sampling.
   

5. Two caps are provided with the Mitest collector system. These caps enable dust to be extracted with buffer within the collector and are designed for use with our Rapid Dust Mite test. These caps can be used to prepare extracts on site if necessary.

Mitest Collector

Rapid Test for Dust Mites

All you need to do is take a dust sample from bedding or carpet using the MITEST Dust Collector provided and apply the sample to the test. No dust handling is involved. Results are obtained within 10 minutes and color indicator lines show whether the sample contains Low, Medium or High allergen levels. Now you can check for dust mites wherever and whenever you want!

Rapid Test

Reducing Exposure
No matter how vigorously you dust or vacuum, you will not reduce the number of live dust mites that are present deep within carpeting and mattresses. There are, however, steps that can be taken to make their survival more difficult. The bedroom is the perfect haven for dust mites. They live in pillows, mattresses, bedsprings, blankets, and comforters. Two million of these creatures live in the average bed. The body warmth of a human, plus the shed skin flakes are conducive for dust mite growth and survival.

If you have high levels of dust mite allergen, there are 4 (steps) processes, vacuuming, treating with ultraviolet light, vacuum again and deactivating treatment that will help. It is necessary to follow the instructions for each process in order to assure successful results.     

Vacuuming, depending on the type of vacuum cleaner you have, may make the situation worse. 

There are basically two types of cleaners on the market. 

One is an airflow type, and the other is a vacuum type.  All vacuum cleaners have 3 things in common, a bag, a fan, and a motor.  The difference is where the bag is placed.  If the bag is in front of the fan and motor, then it is a vacuum cleaner.  If the bag is behind the fan and motor, then it is an airflow cleaner.

Most upright cleaners that have a soft outer bag that inflate when turned on, is an airflow cleaner.  All the dirt and dust goes into the intake side of the fans and is blown into the bag from the exhaust side of the fans.  This type cleaner has only one filter the exhaust bag. 

If you have this style cleaner you need to get rid of it!

This is a large part of your dust mites and respiratory problems! Basically you are sucking up all the dirt and blowing it into a porous paper or cloth filter bag.  The fine dirt, dust, dust mites dead and alive along with all of their waste products slipped through the paper bag, and are being blown into the air and throughout your house.  The one paper bag filter is just stopping the larger dirt particles. The next time you turn on this type of cleaner, hold a light next to the bag as it inflates.  Look at all the dirt and dust blowing into the air!

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A true vacuum cleaner uses the fan and motor to create a vacuum within a chamber.  This chamber is where your bag is placed.  The bag is the first paper filter.  Next there is a second filter, usually foam or paper which protects the fan and motor, and last there is a third foam filter over the exhaust.  All canister style cleaners are vacuum type. There are new triple layer allergy filter bags available for most new cleaners. There are some upright cleaners like Panasonic, Kenmore and Sharp, which are upright canister vacuum cleaners.  Be careful some hard shell uprights look like the canister type but are airflow type. On some newer vacuum cleaners this exhaust filter uses a Hepa filter.   

This Hepa filter will block 99% of any particles, one micron in size and larger, that slipped through the first three filters.  Usually dead dust mite, their waste and dead follicles are small enough to slip through most 1st stage paper bag filters.     

Houses with central vac systems need not worry, these are usually high-powered canister type vacuum cleaners that exhaust outside of the home.

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You need to vacuum your mattress and pillows thoroughly with the appropriate vacuum cleaner.

Pillows and couch cushions:

Place pillows in a large plastic garbage/leaf bag (like a big plastic pillow case), then gather the opening together and place your vacuum hose with an upholstery tool attached inside the bag against the pillow. Next, turn on your vacuum while pinching the bag opening closed around the vacuum hose. This process will shrink a king size pillow down to the size of a small phone directory. Turning off the vacuum cleaner and opening the plastic bag the pillow will inflate to its original size. You can repeat this process several times to assure thorough removal of dead mites, droppings and skin follicles. This will not harm or deform the shape of your pillow. This process works well on couch cushions and pillows of all types.

Mattresses:

Again using your upholstery tool and hose, vigorously and thoroughly vacuum your mattress. Flip your mattress and vacuum both sides and edges. It may be necessary to move your mattress to the side and vacuum your box spring. As well as lifting your box springs so that you can vacuum the bottom and edges. It is a good idea to have someone help you in moving and lifting your mattress and springs. Another affective cleaning method is to take your mattress outside and beat it unmercifully with a sturdy tennis racket. You may need to wear a scarf or dust mask while doing the beating. This method is extremely beneficial if the outside temperature is below 50 degrees Fahrenheit (10c). This was the most common method of mite control before mattresses became so large and heavy. 

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After a thorough vacuuming use your ultraviolet light to kill the living dust mites that were not removed by vacuuming. Within 20 seconds of exposure to UV light 99.9% of the dust mites will be dead. By placing the light against your pillows and mattress, slowly move the light back and forth overlapping the entire surface area. Change directions and repeat. It is now necessary to vacuum again to remove the dead mites.

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Ultraviolet light is part of the light spectrum, which is classified into three wavelength ranges:

- UV-C, from 100 nm to 280 nm
- UV-B, from 280 nm to 315 nm
- UV-A, from 315 nm to 400 nm

The germicidal effect is in the UV-C spectrum, which deactivates the DNA. Dust mites, bacteria, viruses and other pathogens are destroyed and their ability to multiply and cause disease. Specifically, UV-C light causes damage to the nucleic acid of micro-organisms by forming covalent bonds between certain adjacent bases in the DNA. The formations of such bonds prevent the DNA from being unzipped for replication, and the organism is unable to reproduce. In fact, when the organism tries to replicate, it dies.

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Third Step: After treating with ultraviolet light you need to repeat the vacuuming process, before proceeding to the next step.

Fourth step: Deactivate Treatments 

After vacuuming, treating with UV light, and vacuuming again, it may be necessary to use an anti allergen solution to safely deactivates any allergens missed. Also in areas that are difficult to reach or are too large to practically treat like carpeting, one of the major reservoirs of dust mites second only to mattresses and pillows. This treatment is a safe long-lasting process to assure a reduction in dust mites, household pest, cat dander and other pollens that are making your life miserable!

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Anti-Allergen Treatment

AVEHO anti-allergen solution safely deactivates allergens created by house dust mites, household pets, cat dander, and other certain pollens while cleaning and refreshing velvet, velour, corduroy, carpets, and other pile fabrics. This special anti-allergen formula contains non-abrasive, sponge-like particles that contain a water-based cleaning solution and a powerful ingredient to deactivate most household allergens.

Available currently only in 32.0oz size treating 500 sq. feet. 

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