How to know if you have dust mites?

Do you know what the difference is between “dust” and “dust mites?” And how to know if you have dust mites in your home?

If you don’t know the answer, Breathe Quality will tell you one thing: Most people don’t actually know what are dust mites and many think that these critters are the same thing as regular dust.

So, the important questions are:

1. “Can you see dust mites?”
2. “How to know if you have dust mites?”

The main reason you are here is because you are sneezing, wheezing, coughing, or experiencing other dust mite related allergy symptoms. Or you just want to know why people are so afraid of these critters.

In this article, we’ll answer both of these questions for you.

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Can You See Dust Mites?

It’s simple. No, you can’t see dust mites.

They are so small (0.3mm) that you need a magnifying glass to see them. If you can see mites without any magnification, they could be a different kind of mite. Check Wiki for all types of mite are known in the world.

Related post: Do air purifiers get rid of dust mites?

Mites are from Arachnida class (Spider class), so they will have four pairs of legs. The main food source for dust mites is dead skin from humans and animals. For this reason, if you don’t have a good solution for dust mites, they will be in your home permanently.

Dust mites can also survive by eating fungi, plant parts and food crumbs.

An astonishing fact is that one square inch of carpet can contain up to 100,000 of these dust mites and each mite can produce up to 20 pieces of feces per day. Too many! What lots of people don’t know is that allergies related to dust mites don’t come directly from the actual mite itself. Instead, it’s the feces and body part fragments that are released by the critters that cause severe allergic symptoms.

How to know if you have dust mites?

Now that you understand that you can’t see a dust mite, you may want to know “How to know if you have dust mites?”. That’s right, and it is much simple.

Here is the step-by-step guide to know if you have dust mites in your house or not.

 Step 1:  First thing, as we stated above, you need a magnifying glass to see the dust mites. You do not need a particularly powerful microscope to see dust mites, just find a device or a handy glass which is capable of 10X magnification. Just purchase it in some toy or hobby supply stores or as part of a science kit.

 Step 2:  Collect a few samples of dust around your house using a piece of clear tape. Dust mites are usually found in areas of the house that are warm and damp, particularly if a large quantity of dust is present, such as the corner of a room, under a chair or even straight from the fabric of a couch. Dust mites can also be obtained by taking dust from old mattresses, pillows, or blankets.

 Step 3:  Examine the samples for dust mites using the microscope. Dust mites are spider type so they have 8 legs. They are translucent. They have no eyes. Alternatively, you may observe dust mite feces. They appear as small brown rectangular pellets.

Follow this step-by-step guide and you will find out how to know if you have dust mites or not. Such a simple test, right?

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How to remove dust mites?

Once you discover that you have dust mites in your home, the best thing to do is a full cleaning of all carpet, furniture and curtains. Then, using an air purifier is the most effective ways to remove dust mites.

Why you need air purifier to remove dust mites, please read our article of “Do air purifiers get rid of dust mites?“

The air purifier is a great device to use because it continuously pulls in dust and dust mite particles into a filter and traps them there. Then, it pushes out clean, fresh air back into the room. To further help get rid of dust mites, you could putting dust mites covers over your pillows and mattress to stop them from burrowing inside the fabric and multiplying.

Related post: Best air purifiers for Dust mites.