katiejill's no. 1 tip - DUSTMITE

[Guest guest]

Dawn,

You will hear a lot of great suggestions and my first one is to get

some Dustmite from nationalallergy dot com and get it into all your

carpets, upholstery, car carpet and seats, curtains, chairs, even

your mattresses. I also spray walls, stucco in my sunroom where my

dogs live, and dog bedding. (Not stuffed toys, though, bec they chew

on those.)

What is it?

Water soluble borate that shreds larva that travel through fibers.

Won't affect other stages but will significantly reduce population in

this way. The key is the water solubility. That is what distinguishes

this from other borates. No respiratory effect bec it is dissolved in

water. MSDS says you basically would have to snort it for it to be

dangerous. Don't want to spray anything children or pets would EAT

though.

What will it do?

It will significantly reduce the population of all pests with larval

stages and keep them down. This will not solve the problem, but it

will keep it below the insane level, or it does for me. Without it, I

would have lost it by now...

Why the rush?

Takes 8 weeks to kick in

How long does it last?

8 months. I spray mine every 6 months

How do I know it is working?

Stop using it. I did. Wow.

How do I use it?

Mix according to directions on bag and lay down a thick mist on the

surfaces. In car, saturate seat covers, carpet, let car dry in sun if

possible.

Cost?

About $25 a bag. With one bag, I can do everything I listed above

twice. In other words, a bag is good (for me) for about a year, and

most of my 2500 sq foot house is carpeted, including the dang

bathrooms!

>

> I am 95% sure my home, birds and family are infested with mites. I

> have been battling this for years and have been trying to figure

out

> what this is and now believe it could be mites. My dr's. have told

me

> it was a number of things including eczema. I have tried various

> topical foams, shampoos, ointments to no avail. I have red, itchy

> bumps on my scalp, face and neck area. I have seen the

little " pepper

> like " specks on the scalp, have seen the white little seed like

> objects, and have severe itching at night. It also flares up during

> my menstual cycle for some reason. My husband also has itching on

his

> scalp (not as severe as mine) so I think he has become infested.

> However, I have never seen a bug crawling or anything. Never. I

have

> seven birds/parrots that are kept in a room that is connected to my

> home (a four season room) but do not share the same HVAC system.

> However the birds are taken out of the room frequently and brought

> into the main part of the home. Alot of the birds are " rescue "

birds

> and have come from dirty, unsanitary situations and may have

brought

> the mites into my home. I am not sure. In any case I also have

young

> children who I don't believe are infested as of yet but I want to

> erradicate these mites (if this is truly what is going on) before

it

> gets even worse. I have been living with this for a few years now

and

> I feel like I am going insane with this. My pets also itch quite a

> bit and I believe they are infested as well. So, my questions are

> this: Does this sound like mites and what are my next steps? What

do

> I do about my birds? Thanks in advance for any help anyone can give

> to me and my family. I am truly at my witts end here.

>

[Guest guest]

KJ, I bought a 2 lb bag of Dust Mite. I have yet to apply it tho.

I was just thinking... since it's a soluble borate, is it that

different from borax???

> >

> > I am 95% sure my home, birds and family are infested with mites.

I

> > have been battling this for years and have been trying to figure

> out

> > what this is and now believe it could be mites. My dr's. have

told

> me

> > it was a number of things including eczema. I have tried various

> > topical foams, shampoos, ointments to no avail. I have red,

itchy

> > bumps on my scalp, face and neck area. I have seen the

> little " pepper

> > like " specks on the scalp, have seen the white little seed like

> > objects, and have severe itching at night. It also flares up

during

> > my menstual cycle for some reason. My husband also has itching

on

> his

> > scalp (not as severe as mine) so I think he has become infested.

> > However, I have never seen a bug crawling or anything. Never. I

> have

> > seven birds/parrots that are kept in a room that is connected to

my

> > home (a four season room) but do not share the same HVAC system.

> > However the birds are taken out of the room frequently and

brought

> > into the main part of the home. Alot of the birds are " rescue "

> birds

> > and have come from dirty, unsanitary situations and may have

> brought

> > the mites into my home. I am not sure. In any case I also have

> young

> > children who I don't believe are infested as of yet but I want

to

> > erradicate these mites (if this is truly what is going on)

before

> it

> > gets even worse. I have been living with this for a few years

now

> and

> > I feel like I am going insane with this. My pets also itch quite

a

> > bit and I believe they are infested as well. So, my questions

are

> > this: Does this sound like mites and what are my next steps?

What

> do

> > I do about my birds? Thanks in advance for any help anyone can

give

> > to me and my family. I am truly at my witts end here.

> >

>

[Guest guest]

There are several borates, all based on the element boron, I believe.

This particular one is formulated to dissolve in water. Not sure what

they have to do to it to get it to do that. Borax will dissolve in

water but the particles are finer in Dustmite (might be the only

difference) which allows it to be sprayed more easily. It will

eventually kill your spray nozzle unless you run clear water through

after spraying ANY crystalline/powdered product (ESPECIALLY salts).

You could certainly try borax, but I think the Dustmite is in part

effective because it is thin/fine enough to penetrate fibers without

leaving a bunch of shards sticking out, but it is still sharp enough

to shred the larva. This is not what the manufacturer says about it

now, they now say it " coats the food matter " aka human skin, but in

fact it does shred soft-bodied microbes such as flea, roach, and mite

larvae. I think grown mites who have newly shed their exoskeletons

would be vulnerable too, as they are also soft (doesn't affect the

pain of the bite, though, I have photos of a nasty mite biter without

his exoskeleton looking mighty pissed off about things in general).

I often get bitten by things that look like there is no way they

could be alive, because my various treatments have nearly destroyed

their exoskeletons. But bite they do. They are tough little buggers.

So if your question is, will the Borax work? Maybe. But I think the

Dustmite will work far better bec it is finer.

katiejill

> > >

> > > I am 95% sure my home, birds and family are infested with

mites.

> I

> > > have been battling this for years and have been trying to

figure

> > out

> > > what this is and now believe it could be mites. My dr's. have

> told

> > me

> > > it was a number of things including eczema. I have tried

various

> > > topical foams, shampoos, ointments to no avail. I have red,

> itchy

> > > bumps on my scalp, face and neck area. I have seen the

> > little " pepper

> > > like " specks on the scalp, have seen the white little seed like

> > > objects, and have severe itching at night. It also flares up

> during

> > > my menstual cycle for some reason. My husband also has itching

> on

> > his

> > > scalp (not as severe as mine) so I think he has become

infested.

> > > However, I have never seen a bug crawling or anything. Never. I

> > have

> > > seven birds/parrots that are kept in a room that is connected

to

> my

> > > home (a four season room) but do not share the same HVAC

system.

> > > However the birds are taken out of the room frequently and

> brought

> > > into the main part of the home. Alot of the birds are " rescue "

> > birds

> > > and have come from dirty, unsanitary situations and may have

> > brought

> > > the mites into my home. I am not sure. In any case I also have

> > young

> > > children who I don't believe are infested as of yet but I want

> to

> > > erradicate these mites (if this is truly what is going on)

> before

> > it

> > > gets even worse. I have been living with this for a few years

> now

> > and

> > > I feel like I am going insane with this. My pets also itch

quite

> a

> > > bit and I believe they are infested as well. So, my questions

> are

> > > this: Does this sound like mites and what are my next steps?

> What

> > do

> > > I do about my birds? Thanks in advance for any help anyone can

> give

> > > to me and my family. I am truly at my witts end here.

> > >

> >

>