Every night billions of unsuspecting humans will get cosy in their beds whilst being surrounded by millions of microscopic mites whose size is no larger than 0.3mm.

Dust mites find most home environments perfect for feeding as they live off skin cells and flakes which are shed by the human body every day.  Household mattresses are ideal breading grounds for these mites and they will normally have a high concentrate of skin cells and dust.

The average life span of a male dust mite is 10-19 days but a mated female dust mite can live for 70 days, laying 60 to 100 eggs in the last 5 weeks of her life.

Asthma and Allergies

A common myth is that dust mites themselves cause asthma or other allergies but this is incorrect. As dust mites don't have a stomach, most of their digestion happens outside their body.

The digestion process includes secreting enzymes and depositing the fungus Aspergillus repens on dust particles, enabling the fungus to pre-digest the organic matter with its enzymes. Dust mites eat the same particle several times, only partially digesting it each time. Between feedings dust mites leave particles to decompose further.

This partly digested food is highly allergenic and can trigger asthma, itchiness, sneezing, inflamed or infected eczema, watering/reddening eyes, runny nose and clogging in the lungs.

Mite Eradication

Mites can't stand high temperatures, so washing bed and pillow covers on a 60 degree wash should kill all dust mites and waste matter.

Vacuum cleaners are now being sold with HEPA filters which trap fine particles including dust mites and their faeces. Mattress specific vacuums have also been produced which include a vibration function to loosen mites from fibres, and UV light technology to kill bacteria.