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Can you kill dust mites?  That’s something allergy sufferers have been asking for years.  Because the waste of dust mites is one of the most common causes of allergy symptoms, getting rid of the tiny pests is a matter of urgency for anyone affected.  Especially for children, asthmatics and the elderly. Unfortunately, the answer to that question is not as positive as most people would like.

Since dust mites are not visible to the naked eye you can’t visually identify an infestation, making the job of killing the mites nearly impossible.  But there are other ways to combat the scourge of allergy symptoms caused when the immune system responds to otherwise harmless proteins in the environment, including those found in dust mite waste. 

The immune system responds by producing histamines to fight off the perceived threat.  In allergy sufferers, these histamines are a produced at a greater than normal rate, leading to a range of symptoms including sneezing, coughing, watery eyes and asthma attacks.  This is why allergy sufferers ask can you kill dust mites?

While there is no easy way to kill the mites themselves, there are other ways you can fight back.  In most cases, dust mites will gather and burrow deeply into fabric surfaces including carpets, drapes and upholstered furniture.  When this happens, you can use specially designed allergy control sprays to lock the mites and their waste within the fibers of the fabric, keeping them away from you and your family.

Still other sprays and powders work directly on dust mite waste, using acid or alkali compounds to neutralize the allergy causing proteins.  Simply spray or sprinkle on fabric or hard surfaces and then just wipe away.  You’ll be ridding your home of allergens without exposing your family or pets to potentially harmful chemicals.   So if you’ve ever asked can you kill dust mites, you’ll know that while the answer is no, you can stop them from taking over your home.

There are other products that are designed to attract dust and allergens, allowing them to stick to your duster instead of being dispersed into the air while you dust.  This is a major help in allergy sensitive households as traditional dusting can just spread the allergens even more, further exacerbating the problem.  The same principal applies to carpet powders, which you can sprinkle on and vacuum up to remove allergens from carpets and rugs.

One of the primary places that dust mites gather is mattresses and pillows.  This can make sleeping unpleasant and lead people to ask can you kill dust mites.  For this particular problem, the answer is protective dust mite allergy covers that you can zip on over mattresses, box springs and pillows to create a protective barrier between you and the mites. Whatever you do, don't spray any posions on your bedding.