Dust mites invisible but still there

Everyone thinks of dust mites as just little specs of dust that can be vacuumed or swept away. But that is not all they are...they are creepy looking bugs that if you could see you would probably not being sitting her reading this, you'd be looking around at them, thinking ewww.

Dust mites are in the arachnid family which is what spiders and ticks are. They thrive in warm, humid environments and feed on skin flakes that we all shed on a daily basis. They are invisible to the human eye, measuring in at 1/100 to 1/64 of an inch. The good news is they have a life span of 30 to 100 days. The bad news is that they lay eggs and dispose about 10-20 waste particles per day.

• Nearly 100,000 dust mites can live in a single square yard of carpet.
• Studies estimate dust mite waste comprises between 10% and 25% of a pillow's weight after a year or two of use
• Dust mite allergies are triggered by proteins found in the mites cast-off body parts, secretions and feces
• Depending on their species, mites live for approximately 30 or 100 days, laying eggs and secreting about 10 to 20 waste particles per day
• The dust mite is nearly impossible to see without magnification. A typical mattress can contain tens of thousands of dust mites

The enlarged picture may show a very frightening creature, but they only pose a minor threat to us. They do not bite or live on us, but for people who are allergic to dust mites the proteins they dispose can cause major suffering. Also the exposure to dust mites can trigger asthma in children who have not shown asthma symptoms before.

The good furnace filter to help rid your home from dust mites is the Naturalaire Merv 8 Filter. Since dust mites are so small the multiple pleats in the furnace filter will do their best to capture the mites as they flow through the air. This will help to ensure that your family is breathing cleaner air and capturing most of those critters.