If you're wondering “Does baking soda kill dust mites?” the answer is yes!
Pillows and mattress
For this tip, you should sprinkle baking soda on pillows and mattresses, let it act for a few hours, and then remove it. Rest assured, the mites will be gone. Baking soda not only serves to eliminate bad odors, stains and disinfect, but also repels annoying mites.
Essential Oils
Combine Clove, Eucalyptus, Lavender, Peppermint or Rosemary oil with water in a spray bottle and spray your bed, linens, and other furniture lightly with a fine mist. Once this mixture air dries, the scent should repel dust mites.
There are a few household items that can help in reducing dust mites, though they might not give you immediate, total elimination: Baking Soda: Sprinkle it over carpets and upholstery, leave it for 15 minutes, and vacuum it up. It helps manage moisture and mites but won't kill them instantly.
As a soil residue and repellant, baking soda is effective against insects, bugs, silverfish, slugs, and snails. Because it is applied uniquely to the ground, when used this way, baking soda shouldn't represent a danger to flying pollinators or other plant-dwelling beneficial insects, like ladybugs.
Keep baking soda away from any wood surface, including wood floors, wooden coffee or dining tables, and cutting boards. "Baking soda is slightly abrasive, and if used to clean wood furniture, especially with a polished finish, it can leave scratches," explains Brown.
Sugary drinks
Juice, soda, and other types of sugary drinks are all extremely attractive to pests, specifically wasps and bees. If you are enjoying a nice day outside with a cool soda in hand, make sure to clean up any spills and be on the lookout for wasps.
As you can imagine, over time the mattress collates a mixture of body oils, dust, and sweat. All of which can accumulate to create a nasty odour. Baking soda can act as a good, natural cleaning solution that removes those smells. When used with other methods, baking soda can lift mild stains off the mattress.
Reduce Humidity: Dust mites hate dry air. Utilize dehumidifiers to maintain an environment where they cannot thrive.
Common insect predators of pest mites include bigeyed bugs, brown lacewings, dustywings, green lacewings, minute pirate bugs, mite midges, the spider mite destroyer lady beetle (ladybug), spider mite rove beetle, and sixspotted thrips.
Essential Oil Sprays: Certain oils like eucalyptus or tea tree oil are natural dust mite repellents. Commercial Anti-Mite Sprays: Choose sprays that are safe for use on mattresses and effective against dust mites.
The source recommended either lemon basil or Peruvian basil as they are the most fragrant. Not exactly seasonal, but always fresh - insects hate peppermint! Do It Yourself blog explained that you can spritz some peppermint oil, or rub crushed leaves directly on your body to stave off any bugs that want a bite.
Mixing one cup of hydrogen peroxide with one cup of water and spraying on your mattresses to kill dust mites. Allow the mattresses to air dry completely and then remake your bed with clean linen.
Does vinegar or baking soda kill dust mites? Although baking soda and vinegar can help remove mattress odors, neither can kill dust mites. Baking soda may help absorb moisture from a mattress if you want to sprinkle some on before vacuuming, however.
Wash bedding weekly.
Wash all sheets, blankets, pillowcases and bedcovers in hot water that is at least 130 F (54.4 C) to kill dust mites and remove allergens. If bedding can't be washed hot, put the items in the dryer for at least 15 minutes at a temperature above 130 F (54.4 C) to kill the mites.
Skin irritation: Skin reactions, like redness and itching, can occur if you come into direct contact with dust mites or their waste particles. Sleep difficulties: If you find yourself waking up with congestion, coughing, or difficulty breathing, it could be due to dust mite allergens present in your bedding.
A hot shower, along with soap and the action of washing should get rid of the mites. Clothes worn outside where itch mites are present should not be worn again until they are washed. Can these mites live and reproduce in my home? No.
Vinegar has been used for centuries to help control dust mites, but there are other benefits as well. Vinegar can kill pests by making them steer clear of the areas that have been sprayed with it or destroying their protein which causes allergy symptoms in many people who react negatively against it.
It's abrasive
The idea: Baking soda is a scouring agent for cleaning. DIY suggestions hold that because of its abrasiveness, baking soda is sharp enough to cut into a bed bug's body and cause it enough injury that it dies. This is a similar line of thinking to using diatomaceous earth to kill an insect pest.
Can You Use Baking Soda For Pest Control? Baking soda is often used as an alternative pest control solution for pests such as cockroaches, bed bugs or ants. But the reality is that baking soda for pest control is not effective. Baking soda does not dehydrate insects or cut them despite claims to the contrary.
Alcohol, soda, and fruity drinks are the strongest-smelling beverages, so they are often sought out by hungry pests. They prefer food sources that are not frequently visited by anything larger than them, and this translates to drinks as well.