Researchers at Kingston University in London have confirmed that house dust mites feel much more comfortable in tidy beds than in messy ones. The arachnids are microscopically small and cannot be seen with the naked eye. However, this does not make them any less dangerous than they actually are. After all, if you have a runny nose or a scratchy throat after getting up, it doesn’t necessarily have to be caused by a cold. It could just as easily be a house dust allergy.
However, this term is not entirely accurate – because in this case you are not actually allergic to dust, but to mite droppings. These almost invisible arachnids do their business in our homes or even in our beds. This can make us seriously ill. Dried mite droppings are whirled into the air when making the bed, for example. If you inhale these particles, in most cases the first symptoms are frequent sneezing or itching.
But there are even worse consequences: Some people develop asthma as a result of breathing in these particles. House dust mites can also trigger many other allergies. Nevertheless, the small animals and their effects have been underestimated for years.
House dust mites in bed
House dust mites prefer warmth and high humidity. It is therefore not surprising that there are so many of them in our beds. But: While the mites are nice and warm under the comforter in a made bed, it is simply too cool for them in an unmade bed because the comforter does not cover the entire surface of the bed.
You should know this: Our comforter stores our body heat during the night. When we get out of bed in the morning and spread the warm comforter directly on top of it, we create a paradisiacal environment for house dust mites. The warm and humid climate under the warm comforter not only allows them to survive unharmed, but also to multiply rapidly. So avoid this mistake in future.
The bed has not been made.
No matter how thoroughly you clean and scrub your home, you will never completely get rid of house dust mites. But with the right tricks, you can at least keep the uninvited guests at bay – for example, by never making the bed again after getting up in the morning! What looks tidy at first quickly turns out to be a huge playground for dust mites.
If you don’t like it quite so messy, simply turn your comforter neatly to the foot of the bed in the morning. Alternatively, you could also air out your comforter a little after getting up and tidy the bed once the comforter has cooled down.
