If you are looking for allergy relief from dust mites in Calgary, your best option is to have your mattresses professionally cleaned. Our mattresses are not only our comfortable retreat, a source of rest and relaxation, but a home to millions of dust mites.

Dust mites are tiny, invisible insects from the spider family that live in mattresses, carpets, plush furniture, curtains, pillows and bed linen. They feed on dead human skin. The average adult sheds two pounds of dead skin per year; mostly while sleeping.

Dust mites do not bite or transmit disease and are not dangerous in themselves. We would not even be aware of them if we were not prone to allergies or had asthma. Unfortunately, mites’ feces and dead bodies are an important and powerful allergen that triggers asthma attacks and can cause allergic reaction even from people who are not normally allergy-prone.

It is not possible to eradicate mites completely, but we can limit their number. The best way to do that is to make your home an inhospitable environment for them. Dust mites like warm, humid environments, which is one reason why mattresses are their favorite habitat.

A recent European study shows that older mattresses and poor ventilation are among the major reasons for high concentration of mites in mattresses. They also found that lower floors of a home have higher humidity and, in consequence, mattresses in lower floor rooms have more dust mites.

If you have an allergy sufferer in the family, you have to pay particular attention to scientists’ recommendations for fighting dust mites:

  • Replace your mattress every five years or so, depending how you were taking care of it
  • People allergic to dust mites should not sleep on lower floors or in basement rooms.
  • Basements are the most humid rooms in the house and it is impossible to lower their humidity sufficiently to make it inhospitable to mites.
  • Remove carpets from floors. They are difficult to clean, even with a vacuum cleaner.
  • Remove fabric wall hangings, they also collect dust.
  • Encase mattresses and pillows in special coverings.
  • Snuggle stuffed animals can harbor just as many mites as a pillow. Every eight weeks or so, place the toys in the freezer for 24 hours.
  • Feather bedding is better option than synthetic. The tightly woven cotton used to keep the feathers from poking through the fabric also keeps mites away

There are number of reputable professional carpet and mattress cleaners in Calgary who will come to your home and clean your mattresses in few hours. Make sure that they use dry methods, or even better, ultra-violet ray lamps, which are becoming an industry standard in mattress cleaning.  Oxy-Genie, one of the best Calgary carpet and mattress cleaners, even sell portable ultraviolet devices for a reasonable price, which would give you an option to keep your mattresses, and the rest of your upholstery, in pristine condition, making them totally inhospitable to dust mites.