How often do you change your bed linen? If it's not every week, you should definitely read this. Because dust mites lurk under sheets and duvet and pillow covers alike.
House dust mites are small, eight-legged, white animals. Fortunately, they are not very visible, measuring just 0.1 - 0.6 millimetres. But even though they can't be spotted with the naked eye, they're still there.
House dust mites feed on dead hair and skin cells, and there's plenty of that in the bedroom. It's also where the concentration of dust mites is highest, because they thrive best in moist surroundings. A human excretes up to 100 litres of sweat in their bed a year. So it's no wonder that dust mites thrive in our beds. In fact, our beds and mattresses not only provide perfect living conditions for dust mites, but also for fungi. Research shows that around 4 to 16 different types of fungi live on an ordinary pillow.
You've probably also heard of dust mite allergies. But actually, it's not the mites themselves that cause allergies. According to research, allergies to house dust mites are caused by enzymes from their droppings.
And house dust mites reproduce... though they only live for three to five months. But during a female mite's lifetime, she lays between 40-80 eggs. The eggs hatch after one to two weeks, and in four to eight weeks the house dust mite goes through several stages from larva to adult mite.
Our recommendations
So what can you do to prevent allergies and the multiplication of dust mites?One of the 5 focal points that Camilla had during the development of Humdakin and our products was allergy.
Therefore, in addition to the allergenicity of our products, we are also concerned with inspiring and teaching you how to keep clean so that you can also avoid allergic conditions in your home.
We therefore recommend that you:
- Change your bedding once a week.
- Leave the bed unmade for a few minutes each morning and create regular draughts
- Make sure the humidity is below 45%.
This can significantly reduce the number of mites.