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How to
Create a Dust-Free Bedroom
Dust-sensitive individuals,
especially those with allergies and asthma, can
reduce some of their misery by creating a
"dust-free" bedroom. Dust may contain
molds, fibers, and dander from dogs, cats, and
other animals, as well as tiny dust mites. These
mites, which live in bedding, upholstered
furniture, and carpets, thrive in the summer and
die in the winter. The particles seen floating in
a shaft of sunlight include dead mites and their
waste products; the waste products actually
provoke the allergic reaction.
The routine cleaning
necessary to maintain a dust-free bedroom also
can help reduce exposure to cockroaches, another
important cause of asthma in some allergic
people.
Most people cannot control
dust conditions under which they work or spend
their daylight hours. But everyone can, to a
large extent, eliminate dust from the bedroom. To
create a dust-free bedroom, it is necessary to
reduce the number of surfaces on which dust can
collect. The National Institute of Allergy and
Infectious Diseases suggests the following
guidelines, arranged from most important to least
important:
- Carpeting makes dust
control impossible. Although shag carpets
are the worst type for the dust-sensitive
person, all carpets trap dust. Therefore,
hardwood, tile, or linoleum floors are
preferred. Treating carpets with tannic
acid eliminates some dust mite allergen,
but tannic acid is not as effective as
removing the carpet, is irritating to
some people, and must be repeatedly
applied.
- Keep only one bed in
the bedroom. Most important, encase box
springs and mattress in a dust-proof or
allergen-proof cover (zippered plastic).
Scrub bed springs outside the room. If a
second bed must be in the room, prepare
it in the same manner.
- Keep all animals with
fur or feathers out of the room. People
allergic to dust mites often are allergic
to cats, dogs, or other animals.
- Use only washable
materials on the bed. Sheets, blankets,
and other bedclothes should be washed
frequently in water that is at least
130EF. Lower temperatures will not kill
dust mites. If you set your hot water
temperature to a lower value (which is
commonly done to prevent children from
scalding themselves), wash items at a
commercial establishment that uses high
wash temperatures.
- Keep furniture and
furnishings to a minimum. Avoid
upholstered furniture and venetian
blinds. A wooden or metal chair that can
be scrubbed may be used in the bedroom.
If desired, hang plain, lightweight
curtains on the windows. Wash the
curtains once a week at 130EF.
- To prepare the room
for a dust-sensitive person, clean the
room thoroughly and completely once a
week; clean the floors, furniture, tops
of doors, window frames, sills, etc.,
with a damp cloth or oil mop; air the
room thoroughly; then close the doors and
windows until the dust-sensitive person
is ready to occupy the room.
- Air filters--either
added to a furnace or a room unit--can be
useful in reducing the levels of
allergens. Electrostatic and high-energy
particulate absorption (HEPA) filters can
effectively remove many allergens from
the air. If functioning improperly,
however, electrostatic filters may emit
ozone, which adversely affects the lungs
of people with asthma.
- A dehumidifer may be
helpful because house mites require high
humidity to live and grow. Care should be
ience plus habit
will make them easier. The results -- better
breathing, fewer medications, and greater freedom
from allergy and asthma attacks -- will be well
worth the effort.
NIAID, a
component of the National Institutes of
Health, supports research on AIDS,
tuberculosis and other infectious diseases as
well as allergies and immunology.
Prepared by:
Office of Communications and Public Liaison
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious
Diseases
National Institutes of Health
Bethesda, MD 20892
Public Health
Service
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
June 1997
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