What's lurking in your carpets?

above image from howstuffworks.com

According to familydoctor.org, dust mites are tiny bugs that live in your home. They measure about 1/100th of an inch in length. That is smaller than the period at the end of this sentence. On every one inch of carpet in your home, over 100 mites could potentially be lurking below. Now that’s scary!

Dust mites feed off of pet and human dander, which is dead skin cells in the air and on surfaces in our homes. Sounds creepy, right?

Dust mites don’t actually leave bites on your skin. They can, however, cause skin rashes. You’re also more likely to have other allergy symptoms, such as sneezing and postnasal drip. If you suffer from allergies and even if you don’t, it’s a good idea to have carpets cleaned professionally on a regular basis. A professional carpet cleaning will remove mites, the dander, and cell that they feed on, as well as other dirt and bacteria. Be sure to hire a cleaner that will use a hot water extraction process that will kill and remove live critters in your carpet.