Is your home a place of comfort; somewhere you can kick off your shoes and relax after a long days work at the office? Or does this sound like a dream? Perhaps your eyes begin to water as soon as you enter your home followed by constant sneezing attacks. Ah that sounds more like it. Sleeping in your bed is an absolute battle as your nose begins to drip constantly; it sure doesn’t help if you can’t breathe properly!
Allergy proofing your home will greatly reduce your exposure to the culprits that are making your life a nightmare! You can start making small steps today that can make a huge difference to the severity of your allergic symptoms.
How to get rid of dust mites
Dust mites can be one of the hardest allergens to eradicate. They can’t be seen with the naked eye and are able to multiply rapidly in warm environments. Dust mites thrive on skin and dander of people and animals, which is why furniture such as couches and beds can be a great breeding ground for dust mites.
Ways to eliminate dust mites
- Step 1 – Before you begin the battle against dust mites, you should wear a dust mask to prevent you from experiencing severe allergic reactions while you clean. Or if you’re lucky enough you could get someone to do the cleaning for you! (I like the sounds of that.)
- Step 2 – Use a damp cloth as opposed to a duster to clean your dust from walls, shelves, and other hard surfaces. A damp cloth will prevent dust from circulating in the air and landing somewhere else.
- Step 3 – Vacuum your floors weekly to eliminate excess dust that may have accumulated. A vacuum cleaner that is recommended by Allergists is HEPA (High Efficiency Particulate Arrestance) filter. These reduce airborne allergens by trapping dust mites and preventing them from releasing them into the air. Normal vacuum cleaners may redistribute small particles of dust and allergens back into the air.
- Step 4 – Wash your bedding once a week in hot water (60 degrees C) for 90 minutes to successfully kill all dust mites and their eggs. You must ensure that your bed linen is not made of fragile materials like silk that will be destroyed at these temperatures. Linen made out of 100% cotton with a thread count above 300 is most suitable.
- Step 5 – If you have a dryer, placing your bed linen through the dryer at a hot temperature for 1.5 hours will dry out any remaining dust mites or eggs. Again ensure you are using suitable bed linen to prevent it from shrinking at this high temperature.
- Step 6 – Purchase dust mite proof covers to put on your mattresses and pillows (make sure they are designed to protect you from dust mites and not just the ones to help keep your pillows clean). These covers will prevent you from coming in contact with the dust mites, and will deprive the dust mites of skin flakes that maintain their stay.
- Step 7 -Toys can be a great breeding ground for dust mites! If your children sleep with toys, instead of washing them in hot water which may alter their shape place the toy in a zip lock bag and put it in the freezer for 2 days. Do this monthly.
The above strategies will greatly diminish the amount of dust mites you come in contact with. If you’re still having quite a hard time with dust mites you may need to look into doing the following:
- Step 1 – Remove all carpet and replace with laminated or wooden floorboards. Dispose of all rugs.
- Step 2 – Replace upholstered furniture with leather furniture, where dust mites can’t permeate the material and set up their colonies!
- Step 3 – Hire a professional to eliminate dust mites for you
Those dust mites should now have had their arses kicked! And hopefully you are now enjoying sleeping in your bed without the sniffing and itching.
How to get rid of cockroaches
Cockroaches will be drawn to your household if you like to leave dirty dishes in the sink, crumbs on the kitchen table and areas with water leakages.
Keeping your house clean and dry you will be able to greatly reduce your exposure to cockroaches.
Ways to eliminate cockroaches
- Step 1 – Call a pest control expert who can rid your home of cockroaches. Cockroaches can be difficult to eradicate yourself if the problem has been there for sometime.
- Step 2 – Ensure that you empty the garbage daily, and that the lid on top of the garbage is closed at all times.
- Step 3 – Wipe down kitchen tables and dining tables to get rid of food crumbs.
- Step 4 – Vacuum floors regularly, particularly in the kitchen and around the dining table where you may have spilt food that the cockroaches could be attracted to.
- Step 5 – Fix any leaking taps and dry bench tops around kitchen sinks to get rid of excess water.
- Step 6 – Seal any opening cracks that provide entry points into your house.
- Step 7 – Use poison baits made from boric acid and traps that can provide ongoing control of cockroach infestation. Avoid the use of chemical based baits as these chemicals may irritate those of you with allergies or asthma.
With these easy steps, you should be well and truly on your way to getting rid of those annoying critters. If you would like to look at other ways to control your allergic symptoms, you can visit out natural relief page or allergy medication page to provide you with other avenues to help you finally get some relief!
