are dehumidifiers or air purifiers better for getting rid of dustmites?
are dehumidifiers or air purifiers better for getting rid of dustmites?
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Dehumidifyers HELP because dust mites thrive in humid areas. Air purifiers claim to help but they actually can’t get to the dust mite particles because they are so heavy. They are only in the air for a very short period of time before they fall to the floor and other fabric areas.
The best thing you can do is keep your room ( most important) at the lowest possible humidity level, get dust mite covers for all your bedding, keep your room as clutter free as possible. This gives dust mites fewer places to burrow into and also less things to collect dust. You can also take an antihistamine at night which will help keep you from waking up congested.
I hope this help!
In my experience air purifiers definitely work better. Dehumidifiers take moisture out of the air during humid months, usually in the summer, but they really don’t take away allergens as well. However, air purifiers can do a good job of cleaning the air.
It’s true they only work for allergens in the air, though. To stop dust mites, buy an allergy cover for your mattresses and pillows that will stop the mites from coming in contact with your skin. Also, bed skirts tend to be bad for people with allergies because mites can crawl up the fabric of the skirt. Vacuum carpets regularly to keep the number of allergens down as well. Good luck!
Neither are effective for dust mites. A humidifier increases relative humidity in the environment. As the humidity increases so does the dust mite population. One of the steps in decreasing dust mite populations is to hold humidity down to 30% or so.
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A purifier "cleans" the air with either ozone (O3) or ionization. Ionization will cause negatively charged particles to pick up a charge, clump together, and then fall to the first surface they meet. This can be a carpet, a piece of furniture, or the molding around the doors or baseboards. Ionizers don’t really get rid of anything. The most effective way to reduce the actual amount of allergen in the air is with a HEPA cleaner that is properly sized for a room.
I won’t go into the calculation here, but if you are interested in how to calculate what size machine you need for a room, I am including a link to an article that talks about all methods of cleaning the air of allergens. It will also help you understand the differences between the technologies used to clean air. You are right about allergens becoming airborne with you lay on a bed or pillow. That is why of all allergy reducing steps, the one single thing all doctors will agree on is that you must encase your mattress and pillows in those special mite proof covers. I have the worst dust mite allergy, and because I keep my bedroom dust free by using the allergy proof bedding, running a HEPA cleaner, and washing my sheets once a week in this Demite stuff I live symptom free.
In addition to that article, I will give you links to a site that tells you how to set up a dust free room, a site that has great facts on dust mites (there is a lot of fiction out there) and even a link to that stuff I put in my laundry when I wash my sheets. Since you have "research" in your name it should be fun reading
You really need something with a really good filtration system. Dehumidifiers are not going to help you. Air filtration systems are expensive and only cover a small area. Buy a good vac and clean like crazy. Something with a hepa filtration system.