Keeping your home free of pests is always a top priority, but it can be a lot more difficult when the pests are too small to see. Dust mites are found in virtually every home, no matter how clean, but it is essential to control their numbers as much as possible. Keeping dust mites out of your air conditioning system's ducts and vents is particularly important.

What Are Dust Mites?

Dust mites are tiny arachnids, closely related to spiders and ticks. Less than half a millimeter in length, they are virtually invisible to the naked eye. As their name would suggest, these minuscule mites live in dusty environments, feeding on tiny particles of organic matter contained within the dust. Like other arachnids, they prefer to live in relatively moist, humid environments.

Unfortunately, this means that your home's air conditioning ducts are an ideal home for dust mites. Household dust contains large amounts of human skin flakes, as well as human and pet hair. Dust mites will happily feed on both. Air conditioning ducts can also contain a significant amount of liquid condensation, providing the mites with much-needed moisture.

Why Are Dust Mites A Problem?

Because dust mites are so tiny, they are easily carried on air currents, and just as easy to inhale. If your home is infested with dust mites, you are probably breathing in dust mites and dust mite feces as you read this — not a pleasant thought.

To make matters worse, dust mite bodies and feces provoke allergic reactions in many people, especially when they are inhaled. If you are even mildly allergic to dust mites, breathing air containing dust mites can damage and inflame your lungs. You may also suffer from cold-like symptoms, such as sneezing and coughing, and some people may suffer from skin rashes.

Dust mites are even more dangerous if you suffer from asthma or another chronic respiratory illness. The inflammation caused by inhaling dust mites can make it harder to breathe and may trigger asthma attacks. whips, so they can be removed with the vacuum. Vent grilles will also be cleaned with vacuums and brushes.

Once the ducts have been completely cleaned, and the mites have been wiped out, your service reseals the access points. As an optional extra step, they can treat the interior surfaces of the ducts with anti-microbial coatings, which can help to prevent airborne pathogens from traveling through your air conditioning system. 

For more info about air conditioner vent cleaning, contact a local company.