Mite Control

Most mite enquiries reach us as a request for a spray. With house dust mites, that is the wrong place to start. Dust mites are not an insect running along a skirting board or across a floor — they live inside pillows, duvets, mattresses, carpets and fabric-covered furniture. Conventional insecticide treatment does not solve them, and we would rather tell you that than sell you a treatment that will not work.

Humidity is what decides it

Dust mites do well in warm, humid conditions. In a closed bedroom, the higher the relative humidity climbs, the better those conditions get. The aim indoors is to hold relative humidity below 60%, and ideally between 30% and 50%.

On the survey we take humidity readings room by room and look for where the moisture is coming from: extract ventilation in bathrooms and kitchens, condensation at window reveals, mould staining on external walls, washing dried indoors, damp in basements and ground-floor rooms. Without the moisture source, nothing else you do holds.

The plan for the household

We leave a written plan set out room by room. Most of the work is in the textiles and in routine housekeeping:

• Bedding, sheets and pillowcases washed weekly at a hot wash
• Allergen-proof encasements on mattresses and pillows
• Carpets and fabric furniture vacuumed regularly
• Hard surfaces damp-dusted rather than dry-dusted
• Fewer soft toys in the bedroom, and the rest washed

Treatment only where it earns its place

There are situations where treatment does help: textiles that cannot be washed, carpets and upholstery, and particular rooms where the mite burden has built up. In those places we work with biocidal products licensed by the Turkish Ministry of Health, and we plan the treatment alongside the humidity work rather than instead of it.

Allergy and respiratory symptoms are a matter for a doctor. Our part of it is reducing the mite burden in the building and the conditions that sustain it.

Not every mite complaint is a dust mite

If the description involves itching on the skin and very small moving specks that can actually be seen, the first thing to consider is bird mites. They come from pigeon and dove nests under eaves, around chimneys, in roof voids and beside air-conditioning units. Once the chicks leave, the mites disperse into the building looking for a host.

That is a different job with a different answer: remove the nest, clean and treat the area, then proof the spot physically so birds cannot rebuild there. While the nest stays put, no amount of indoor treatment will finish the problem. We make that distinction at the survey and tell you plainly which mite you are dealing with.