Dust-Mite Allergies
 These little bugs are so small that between 100 and 500 individual mites live in a single gram of dust. Despite their size, dust mites cause some big problems. Or more specifically, their feces do.
Related to spiders and ticks, dust mites live in fabrics like bedding and carpeting that collect dust. While people once believed they were allergic to dust, researchers now know it's not the dust itself, but the mites that live in it that cause the problem. And these mites are everywhere where dust accumulates, particularly in bedding, upholstered furniture, carpeting and stuffed animals. They grow best where it's warm and humid. About the only places they don't flourish are where it's very dry or the altitude is more than 3,000 feet above sea level. Mites live on a diet of skin scales naturally shed by humans, and each mite produces between 10 and 20 waste pellets each day. Each egg-laying female can increase the population by 25 to 30 mites every three weeks.
These mites are no danger to nonallergic people because they don't bite humans or spread disease. But their numbers have increased dramatically in the past 20 to 30 years, especially during winter months, as more focus has been spent on building tight homes and other structures where ventilation is limited and temperatures tend to be warmer. Here's how to take the might out of dust mites:
Tannic Acid
 The best thing you can do to prevent dust-mite allergies is to remove the places where dust mites live, including wall-to-wall carpeting and overstuffed upholstered furniture. But if major redecorating isn't in your plans or budget, try treating carpets and furniture with a spray containing tannic acid, a compound found in oak bark, coffee, cocoa and tea.
Although its effectiveness against mites is questionable, tannic acid can help by chemically changing house dust and neutralizing the protein that causes the allergic reactions. You'll have to reapply the spray every few months to control mite allergens, and it should be used in conjunction with the chemical benzyl benzoate, which kills the mites. Benzyl benzoate comes as a powder to be applied to carpets every six months and then vacuumed up.
Dry up
Mites like it warm and moist, so dehumidifying your home can help. Air conditioning helps reduce humidity, but you may also want to invest in a dehumidifier, especially if you live in a southern climate. Dust mites do best when the relative humidity is above 55 percent, and grow poorly when it's below 45 percent. When indoor temperatures are close to 80° F, humidity should be lowered below 40 percent. Meanwhile, clean air-conditioning filters every month.
Wood is good
Big, overstuffed furniture provides the perfect comfort zone for dust and mites. So if you're shopping for new furnishings, choose sleeker, pared-down wooden products without less stuffing. Whenever possible, replace wall-to-wall carpeting with wood or sheet-goods flooring and with area rugs that can be laundered easily. Of course, you'll need to use dust-removing polishes on wood furniture and floors.
Think twice before filtering them out
Installing air cleaners and air filters to remove dust is a costly solution that may not be worth the investment. Air cleaners are available as attachments to your heating system or as portable units that can be moved from room to room. The most effective ones have high-energy, particle-arresting (HEPA) filters capable of trapping very small particles. Others use electrical charges, static electricity or ionizers to trap particles. None work well enough, however, to substitute for other steps you can take to cut down on indoor allergens. Air cleaners that generate ozone gas have no effect on allergens in the air and may worsen allergy symptoms because the ozone they emit can irritate the respiratory system.
Wage battle in the bedroom
In most homes, the highest concentration of dust mites is in the bedroom, where they love to get cozy in mattresses, pillows and carpeting. However, keeping your bedroom hospital-clean and making some minor adjustments to decor can send mites packing.
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Wash all bedding - including mattress pads, comforters and blankets - in hot water every week to 10 days. Walls, ceilings, closets and the backs and bottoms of furniture also should be cleaned or dusted weekly.
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Avoid feather or down pillows. Instead, use polyester fiber-fill such as Hollofil or Dacron. While dust mites like synthetic pillows as much as feathers or foam, the synthetic ones can be washed. No matter what you use, all pillows should be encased in an allergen-proof cover.
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Don't use fuzzy blankets. They tend to collect more dust than other blankets. By contrast, electric blankets have been shown to reduce dust mites. Other dust collectors include stuffed animals and bed canopies, which should be removed or avoided.
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