Mattresses & Dust Mites

My mom gave me an insert out of the Parade Magazine. It's got an article in it entitled "Good Health Begins At Home."

It says, "Dust mites thrive on human skin cells, and we shed millions of them daily. Your bed, in particular, is a dust-mite smorgasbord. A mattress and pillow can be a pretty horrendous place. After five years, about 10 percent of the weight of a pillow is composed of dust mites and their debris. Every 10 years, mattresses double their weight with debris containing mites, insects, food particles and other unpleasant matter."

Here's what you can do:
1. Wash bed linens once a week in hot water. Place protectors on pillows, box springs, and mattresses. If you wash your sheets weekly, you need to wash the protector only two to four times a year - or every other month if you have severe allergies or asthma.
2. Vacuum carpets and upholstery once a week with a HEPA vacuum. Clean floors, furniture, tops of doors, window frames and sills weekly with a damp cloth.

(I also saw on "How Clean Is Your House" where they took the actual vacuum and set it on top of the mattress (with the linens off, of course) and vacuumed the whole mattress - not with the brush attachment but with the actual vacuum where the little brush spins - you know what I'm talking about - I just can't think of the word for it.)