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Cut down on bedroom allergens

Household dust makes excellent breeding conditions for tiny house dust mites. As the mites can feed on the many old, human skin flakes that we shed daily.

But the key thing to understand is that it's the dust mite droppings which help create human allergies. Allergy UK, part of charity organisation, British Allergy Foundation, states "the average bed has over 10,000 house dust mites living in it which results in there being over two million droppings".

If you want to reduce dust mites then it is essential to improve your bedroom as we come into a lot of contact with these dust mites during our long sleeping hours. Here are a few ways you can reduce allergies from dust mites in your bedroom.

Keeping your bed allergen free

First things first, where possible avoid these as dust mites thrive in these 'environments':

• bedspreads and quilts
• padded bed headboards.

And:

• seal your bed mattress with an antiallergy mattress cover
• use an antiallergy treated quilt and pillow cover
• wash bedding in water temperatures of 60 degrees or higher (60+). If you can't put your bed sheets and pillows in a high temperature wash - put them in the freezer for a few hours followed by a wash at a lower water temperature
• wash your bed cushions at 60 degrees+ every 3 months
• wipe your metal rail bedheads with a damp cloth regularly
• keep pets out of your bedroom to cut down allergen levels and
• store your bedding in breathable plastic bags to avoid mildew and other problems.

Keeping your bedroom floor allergen free

How?

• vacuum clean your bedroom daily
• aim to buy slatted or metal-based beds rather than divan beds as they give better air circulation and you can get your vacuum cleaner under these and
• if you have wooden floors and mats, make sure you buy cotton rugs which are machine washable.

Further bed advice and health information

• seek anti-allergy bed buying advice. Some stores offer this outside shop hours to help you make the right buy and
• if you want to find out more about sleep and dust mites, see the BBC News web page on 'pillow research'.