Over 300 years ago Anton van Leeuwenhoek, the inventor of the microscope, discovered the existence of dust mites. These small spider-like creatures are invisible to the naked eye, but they can be found all over your house. The problem with these pesky little critters is that, after pollen, they are the biggest cause of allergic reactions in humans. In this article, we'll look at how using a Dyson vacuum cleaner can help people who suffer from dust mite allergies.

Dust mites feed on the dead skin cells that we shed every day as we walk around, so dust mites basically live where we do. Because they also like "warm", humid places, the places we spend the most of our time like beds, sofas and armchairs are their most furtive feeding grounds. As an example, a typical mattress can have anywhere between 100,000 to 10 million dust mites living inside!

If our skin comes into contact with dust mite droppings, this can trigger an allergic reaction and lead to itchy red bumps on the skin. If someone breathes in dust containing these droppings, they can experience more serious symptoms such as shortness of breath or even, in extreme cases, an asthma attack. Some experts even believe that exposure to the mites in the first, crucial year of life can trigger a lifelong allergy. So dust mite control can be especially important if you have a newborn baby.

Research has shown that taking people with allergies out of an environment with a high incidence of mites can alleviate their symptoms. Some asthmatics can also benefit hugely from being removed from high-mite environments. So how can a Dyson vacuum cleaner help?

A Dyson can help you effectively control/reduce dust mite levels. Most conventional vacuums are "inefficient". They lose suction because the filters and bags become clogged. This is bad because they often end up just throwing up the dust mites into the air, rather than actually hoovering them up! This can make your allergy worse! But Dyson's patented Cyclone technology has been designed to prevent the loss of suction that traditional vacuum cleaners suffer from, so you can be sure that the Dyson is always delivering maximum power and extracting those pesky dust mites from your home.

Dust mites can also escape from the dust bags used by traditional vacuums. So all of the hard work you put into vacuuming them up could be wasted. Everyone has heard of Dyson's bagless vacuum technology. But apart from saving you money in the long run (which helps to offset and justify the initial cost), it enables you to dispose of the dust mites right after you've hoovered them up.

But isn't this all just a load of marketing hype, I hear you ask? Well, maybe to a certain extent, but the Dyson design is based on sound engineering principles. So much so that Dyson successfully defended their patents when Hoover tried to copy their technology. And the British Allergy Foundation