Common Mite Killing Mistakes

Kill Skin Mites: 25 Common Mistakes That Mite Victims Make

Failing to Double Encase ALL Mattresses:  If you leave a mite infested bedroom to begin sleeping in another room, you’ll invite the infestation to other areas of the home. Parasites are very skilled at detecting pheromones, body heat and the carbon dioxide humans expel. They will generally find your new location within one to three days. Once that happens, you’ll have massive pest control problems in two rooms and two infested beds instead of one. To prevent this, buy encasements at the first sign of trouble. In fact, buy several sets. Double encase your mattress and double encase your box springs IN ALL ROOMS. Be sure to spray both sides of the mattress and both sides of the box spring before encasing. Wind double sided tape around bed legs to keep crawling mites from accessing your bed from the floor.

Expecting Miracles from Pest Control Operators:  The average mite client has received multiple visits from pest control operators by the time they call me. There’s often a sense of denial at the onset of an infestation. It’s devastating to face the fact that mites are chronic and spray treatments must be ongoing. Ready or not, you will soon become your own pest control expert. To complicate matters, there are different types of mite infestations, and some resolve more quickly than others. Some mites have a strong tendency to drop off the victim after biting. (See our bird mite article.) Others infest the superficial keratin layer of the skin. (See our cheyletiella mite article.) Still others may infest skin on a deeper level. (See our scabies article.) If your skin parasites are re-infesting your freshly laundered bedding or attacking you everywhere you go, this is more than just a pest control issue. It’s a medical issue that baffles doctors worldwide. (See our article on Morgellons disease.) Expecting a pest control operator to cure a chronic medical condition within three appointments is like asking a nursing student to slap a Band-Aid on your bullet wound so you can get back to work tomorrow. Proper healing doesn’t occur that way, and deep within your heart, you may already feel that.

Putting off Going to the Doctor and Choosing the Wrong Type of Doctor:  This is no time to gamble with your health. It’s unlikely you’ll end this horror show with a head lice kit from Walmart. Make an emergency appointment with a dermatologist for a skin scraping. He may not find anything because many types of mites drop off after feeding. Still, you must rule out the possibility of scabies. Go out of your way to find a doctor with the following letters next to his or her name:  M.D. and N.D. That means you’re dealing with a traditionally trained medical doctor who is also trained as a naturopath. The cold truth is that mite victims often reach a point where they stop responding to traditional treatments such as ivermectin and permethrin cream. If that happens, you’ll need a sympathetic doctor who doesn’t mind discussing all of the standard natural remedies that are commonly used to battle parasites. Natural antitbiotic, antifungal and antiparasitic substances are quite powerful. You shouldn’t start consuming a long list of stuff without consulting a good naturopath who can evaluate preexisting conditions and prescribe specific amounts. For example, eating too much raw garlic can thin the blood, which could be quite dangerous for patients on coumadin. Colloidal silver is the single most popular natural remedy for skin parasites, but it should not be taken with other supplements unless directed by a doctor. It’s also important to understand that natural antibiotics kill good bacteria as well as bad bacteria. You’ll need to take a high quality probiotic each day, but you don’t want to take it alongside a powerful antibiotic which could negate the effects. Discuss all of these things with your naturopath to design a daily supplement schedule that’s right for your body.

Failing to Embrace an Aggressive Cleanup Regimen: Carpets in high traffic rooms must be vacuumed and sprayed every day, especially if you have pets. Floors must be mopped with a pest controlling substance several times a week. If you’re feeling the infestation all around the house, you must remove all clothing from drawers and closets, wash each item with a pest controlling substance and store treated items in giant zip lock laundry bags. Don’t place newly filled bags on the floor. Drop them into plastic storage tubs with air tight lids. Never use cardboard boxes to store packed items. Mites are quite good at infesting cardboard, and some species can even feed upon it. You must also spray beds, couches, cabinets, drawers, baseboards, headboards and bed legs on a regular basis. It’s particularly important to spray your bed before you go to sleep, as parasites are more active at night. A few weeks of intensive work at the very beginning of an infestation will keep the infestation from growing and expanding to a level that’s extremely difficult to control.

Failing to Scale Down Possessions: You must de-clutter your life by getting rid of multiple items which provide endless places for mites to hide. Start by tossing throw pillows, house plants, dried or artificial floral arrangements, wicker baskets, unused clothing and cardboard boxes filled with items you never use. You don’t have to pack dishes or cookware, but it may be a good idea to move infrequently used items to storage tubs. It’ll make it easier to spray cabinets and wipe surfaces. Last but not least, transfer all books to plastic storage tubs and use tape to reinforce the seal. Bird mite and springtail customers find that books are quite problematic. It’s better to get them out of the way than to regret it later. Again, a few weeks of intensive work at the very beginning of an infestation will keep the infestation from growing and expanding to a level that’s extremely difficult to control. Scabies victims need not worry about packing books or decorative items, as this mite stays close to the host and primarily lingers on furniture and bedding. The sarcoptic scabies mite associated with pets is primarily connected to carpeting and furniture.

Failing to Practice Safe Carpet Removal Methods: If you decide to begin removing carpeting, prepare for the assault of a lifetime. Wear high quality goggles and a painter’s mask. Insert clean cotton balls into ears. Apply a shower cap. Tuck pant legs into socks. Spray clothing with a strong organic repellent. Wear thick plastic dish washing gloves that extend to the elbow. Cut carpeting into small sections that can be stuffed into thick contractor bags. Transfer bags to the curb immediately or strap them to a rocket ship headed for Mars. Spray newly exposed floors with Dr. Ben’s Evictor immediately. It’s more than just cedar oil. It contains hydrated silica–an organic agent meant to dry out the mite’s exoskeleton and deliver the active ingredient on a cellular level. Dr. Ben’s is also an excellent mold killer. Perhaps you’ve encountered silica packets in shoe boxes or vitamin jars. Manufacturers include these packets to absorb moisture and prevent the growth of mold and fungus.

Failing to Treat or Seal Wooden Floors:  If the wood flooring beneath your carpet is damaged or infested, it may be wise to paint it with our Petriwood termite treatment. Most wood sealants are simply coatings that sit on top of wood surfaces.This product is a penetrant. You can literally SEE it leeching into wood and traveling through capillaries. One lifetime treatment penetrates DEEP to seal wood, kill insects and trigger wood petrification. Achieve total penetration of wood, stone and concrete while delivering a lethal dose of cedar oil to insects living below the material surface.

Touching Eyes and Ears:  In the last eight years, I’ve received thousands of calls from parasite victims who claim to feel micro tiny organisms moving inside their eyes and ears. From this moment forward, if you feel the need to scratch your eye or touch the inside of your ear, grab a tissue and cover your fingertip. For added protection, store clean tissues inside a zip lock bag. If you’re looking for effective ear drops, grape seed extract is a wonderful antibacterial and antifungal remedy used by many in the Morgellons community, and colloidal silver is frequently used for eye care. Please consult a physician or holistic doctor before treating eyes or ears. It’s important to discuss your special needs and sensitivities before making the decision to begin a new regimen.

Failing to Encase Toilet Paper:  Never leave toilet paper rolls out in the open. Store each individual roll within a zip lock bag.

Failing to Protect Vacuum Bags: Bedbugs and mites are very good at escaping vacuum bags. To prevent them from re-infesting your home, sprinkle diatomaceous earth into your vacuum bag. It’s best to buy a vacuum cleaner with a HEPA filter to prevent powders from blowing back out into the environment.

Oversaturation of Vehicles: When tight, enclosed spaces are frequently saturated with chemical fumes, it can be become quite difficult to breathe. To treat carpets and cloth upholstery within cars, try Scotch Guard. This product will deliver a nice coating to encapsulate carpet fibers and prevent micro tiny critters from infesting them. Parasites will still be able to crawl on top of sprayed fibers, especially if you keep bringing mites back to the car via pant legs and shoes. If all else fails and you’re sick to death of dealing with mites in the car, apply thick strips of packaging tape to the floor. The tape will encapsulate mites below the surface. Clear packaging tape is the best choice for three reasons:  1.) It’s strong enough to stay in place for a month or more. 2.) You can wipe the shiny side with a rag dampened with a pest controlling substance. 3.) You can remove the tape without leaving a gunky residue like electrical or duct tape. If it’s summertime in your area of the world, melted tape may fuse with the carpeting no matter what type of tape you use.

Using Apple Cider Vinegar:  Mold loving mites adore the smell of it. So do fruit flies, fungus gnats and noseeums. In fact, apple cider vinegar is the main attractant used in fruit fly traps.  If you want your bed to give off odors that mites can’t resist, be sure to spray it with apple cider vinegar!

Using Too Much Diatomaceous Earth:  When used to dust baseboards and sprinkle under rugs and furniture, diatomaceous earth can be a wonderful addition to your mite treatment regimen. However, applying thick layers of the substance over wide open areas can be quite unhealthy. When this powder becomes airborne, it’s like fiberglass to the lungs. After settling into carpets, it may become moist and clumpy. Your carpets may never look the same again.

Abuse of Chemicals: All too often, mite infestations are accompanied by fatigue, brain fog or joint pain. Multiple studies have shown that there’s a link between parasitosis and Lyme disease. (More on this topic.) When your immune system is compromised by a serious illness, the last thing you should do is establish a chronic relationship with chemicals that are classified as known carcinogens or probable carcinogens. The same advice is routinely given to cancer patients by doctors around the world. Lyme disease is not cancer, but it does a fantastic job of overloading your organs of detoxification. I would never discourage anyone from trying standard chemical methods up front because I know how truly desperate people become. However, I would like to caution against embarking upon a chemical saturated lifestyle as a way of managing a chronic condition. For ongoing pest control maintenance, choose organic pesticides, cleaning products and laundry additives such as Borax or essential oil concentrates.

Waiting too Long to Fog:  The best time to fog with a proper organic agent is at the onset of an infestation before mites get underneath carpeting and begin to infest wood floors. Not all types of mites stay close to carpeting and furniture. For example, bird or rodent mites can be found almost anywhere, including ceilings and walls. Fog settles on walls and ceilings and enters crevices that traditional spray techniques often miss. The fogging protocol for mites is one gallon per 1,000 square feet. Fog twice in 48 hours. If your home is 1,000 square feet, get two gallons of Evictor for the fogging and an additional gallon for continued maintenance spraying of carpets and surfaces.  (See our fog instruction page.)

Tormenting Your Skin:  I was young in this business when I learned about conditions such as Grover’s Disease and Acute Chronic Dermatitis. First time callers reported that they’d used so many harsh chemicals that they feared their skin would never be the same. People who harbor skin parasites are particularly vulnerable to chronic dermatological problems. Repeated use of harsh chemicals can strip your acid mantle, compromise skin immunity and leave you vulnerable to secondary skin infections. As a general rule, if something hurts, don’t do it. Discontinue any product that leaves your skin raw, irritated or cracked. Buy a pH testing kit and monitor your levels regularly. Use organic skin pesticides made with high quality essential oils and keep regular appointments with a good holistic doctor to monitor your skin. If you have chronic lesions or slow healing sores, please proceed to the bottom of this page for a list of organic skin healing substances popular in the Morgellons community. Something as simple as cannabis cream or manuka honey can change your life.

Letting Children Play on the Floor:  Buy your kids their very own special inflatable chairs. Get a large kiddie pool and fill it with toys. Your living room will look like hell for awhile, but you’ll effectively reduce the number of times toddlers are bitten throughout the day. For extra protection, use double sided tape to create a huge square or rectangle on the carpet. Place the kiddie pool within the tape. Crawling mites that try to cross over into protected territory will be stopped by the tape. (Jumping mites will bypass this trap in a heartbeat.)

Sleeping with Infested Animals:  Need I say more?

Failing to Put Sick Animals to Rest:  Pets with cancer or other life-threatening conditions pick up mites more easily and carry them longer. Terminally ill pets will probably  never get rid of their mites. Their immune systems are overtaxed. They just can’t fight them. They’ll keep dropping mites around your house until the day they die. I love animals with all my heart, but there comes a time when when terminally ill pets should be put to rest.

Failing to Remove Chronically Infested Pets:  Animal lovers are going to hate me for saying this, but mite infestations affecting pet free homes tend to resolve more quickly. Aside from mite cases connected to mold, pet cases account for some of the most severe and highly chronic struggles. Why? Because humans and animals can share mites. Dogs don’t know that they shouldn’t roll around the bed or scratch their butts across the carpet. Cats can’t understand why they can’t jump on counter tops or climb up curtains. Consider buying a large heated doghouse to store chronically infested pets while you resolve pest control issues within the home. You might even turn your garage into a pleasure palace filled with toys, food, water and noise makers. Pets who are accustomed to living among people will appreciate the sounds coming from an old radio or television. Be sure to visit your pets, take them for walks and speak to them as you would speak to humans. The sound of a loved one’s voice is very soothing to animals and may help to reassure them that you haven’t just left them alone for good.

Needlessly Throwing Away Furniture:  Some mites don’t have what it takes to infest your furniture chronically. For example, the human scabies mite can’t live apart from the host for more than a few days. If you avoid sitting on your couch for a few days, this mite will simply die. If you go on a mini-vacation, these mites won’t be alive in the home when you get back, but they may still be in your skin, and you could easily re-infest your couches and bedding. (Note: Sarcoptic scabies mites associated with animals may infest homes for a greater length of time, but they’re unlikely to survive if furniture is placed in storage.)

Failing to Throw Away Furniture: If your couch is infested by a mold loving organism that can feed upon natural materials, it’s unlikely that you’ll be able to save it. Springtails are famous for destroying couches for good. Since they aren’t natural parasites, they don’t need a host to survive. If you’re dealing with a bird mite, you need not discard couches and easy chairs. Spray them with a high quality organic pesticide, encase them in plastic shrink wrap and move them to a storage facility for at least nine months. To be safe, wait a year before returning wrapped furniture to your home. If you don’t know what type of mite is infesting your home, many decisions will be difficult to make. It’s hard to know how long you should keep furniture in storage if you don’t know what type of mite is infesting it. I can give you general guidelines, but the final decision to discard a couch must be your own decision.

Getting into Bed with Dirty Feet:  Mites clinging to socks or bare feet can be transported right to your bed. Keep a package of baby wipes and a box of zip lock sandwich bags beside your bed. Wipe your feet before going to sleep, and discard the wipe into a sealed baggie.

Boiling Laundry and Ruining Clothes:  Boiling is often practiced by mite victims who claim that high heat settings aren’t working to control mites in the laundry. If you find yourself ruining and shrinking clothing, it may be time to try another method. Add one or two capfuls of our Vet’s Choice Concentrate to your wash water along with 1/2 cup of Borax. Some clients report that one capful is enough; others report that two capfuls are necessary. I advise starting with one cap to avoid wasting the product. You can always increase the amount if you desire more control. Soak your clothing for at least an hour before continuing to the rinse cycle.  If you’re in a pinch and need to do laundry right away, try adding two ounces of tea tree oil to the wash water. Unfortunately, adding tea tree oil by the drop does not seem to be effective for most callers who enjoy sharing their laundry methods. As tea tree is sold in tiny bottles that are quite expensive, you’d be better off buying a quart of the Vet’s Choice at wholesale cost, especially if you generate a lot of laundry. For soaking large blankets, it helps to buy a kiddie pool so that the blanket soaking endeavors don’t tie up your washing machine for long periods of time. The pool will allow you to wash your daily load while sheets and blankets soak. Transfer the blanket to the washing machine for a trip through the spin cycle, and dry it on full heat.

Failing to Protect Bed Legs: Crawling mites commonly enter the bed by scurrying up bed legs. To block this common route of access, wind double sided tape around bed legs. Alternatively, you may place each bed leg into a bowl filled with a few tablespoons of baby powder or gold bond medicated powder. Mites cannot crawl across thick layers of powder. They’ll sink like a human swallowed by quick sand. Their breathing pores will be blocked, and they’ll surely die.

Failing to Protect the Ceiling:  Crawling mites become very crafty once you block access from the floor. When they can no longer climb up the bed legs, they will crawl up the wall, move across the ceiling and drop down into your bed. To prevent this type of assault, apply double sided tape along the top of each wall where it meets the ceiling. Crawling mites won’t be able to cross over the tape and get onto the ceiling.

Giving Up on Trapping Methods:  So, you’ve placed a few glue boards around the house. You didn’t seem to catch anything, so you gave up. NEVER GIVE UP. I won’t allow it. I’ve spoken to countless clients who have been able to trap beautiful samples after many failed attempts. Wind double sided tape around your pant legs from the knee down to the ankle. Wear the tape as you waste time on the computer–a common spot where mite victims are attacked. Study the tape with a magnifying glass before bed. You’ll be surprised by how many you can catch when you begin using your body as bait. Alternatively, you might also purchase a giant piece of fiber board from Home Depot. Cover the board with contact paper, sticky side out. Use tape to stick the decorative side of the contact paper to the board. Lean your giant glue board up against the side of your bed to catch jumping mites that spring up from the floor. You may also lean giant glue boards against walls in high traffic rooms.

Failing to Get Rid of House Plants:  I believe that house plants should be doused with kerosene and set on fire. Okay. I’m joking, but put yourself in my position. Imagine it’s your job to listen to parasite horror stories for eight years running. Now imagine that scores and scores of people have reported receiving multiple bites within 24 hours of bringing home a new plant. Plant related attacks may come from crawling mites, tiny white flies or unidentified jumping organisms believed to be springtails. I will never forget the story of a young woman and her beautiful white orchid. The tiny white flies coming from her cherished plant attacked her in the shower. The resulting fever and massive confusion sent her to the emergency room and left her with a $2,000 bill. Even if your plants are not the source of your infestation, the soil can provide a wonderful place for tiny bugs in your environment to hide.

Failure to Change Diet:  The foods you eat may make you more attractive to parasites. Just like humans and plants thrive upon the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide, a symbiotic relationship exists between yeast and parasites. Parasites give off an exotoxin that allows yeast to thrive, and yeast gives off an exotoxin that allows parasites to thrive. It has often been proposed that parasites, including mosquitoes, are more attracted to individuals who harbor too much candida. Candidiasis is a fungal infection caused by the overgrowth of a specific type of yeast known as Candida Albicans. When it affects the mouth, it is commonly called thrush. When it affects the vagina, it is known as a yeast infection. In males, candida may cause excessive itching of the rectum or penis. In both males and females, it may cause chronic toenail fungus. In rare cases, Candida infection may become invasive, spreading to other parts of the body. Unlike localized Candida infections in the mouth and vagina, invasive candidiasis is a serious infection that can affect the blood, heart, brain, eyes and bones. For more than a decade, natural health researchers have noted a strong correlation between candidiasis and Morgellons disease.

The Famous Anti Candida Diet

The basic idea is to “starve” yeast, bacteria and parasites by witholding the sugar and yeast they crave. There are many books and articles designed to help readers eliminate candida overgrowth through diet, but it all comes down to three simple principles. 1.) Avoid sugars at all costs. That includes the natural sugars present in fruit, honey and maple syrup. Sugar feeds all types of bacteria and parasites—both internal and external. Sugar also feeds yeast!  2.) Avoid bread, pasta, potatoes, white rice, corn and starchy legumes such as kidney and lima beans. High carbohydrate foods turn to sugar during digestion. The same goes for “healthy” grains such as quinoa, couscous, amaranth, buckwheat and millet. Avoid them during the introductory phase of the diet. 3.) Strive for a high protein diet featuring eggs, chicken, turkey, grass-fed beef and low mercury fish such as wild caught Alaskan salmon, tilapia or cod. Consume a wide variety of low glycemic vegetables such as broccoli, cauliflower, green beans, Brussels sprouts, okra, asparagus, carrots, zucchini, cucumbers, celery, onions, spinach, cabbage and salad greens. Whenever possible, choose organically grown vegetables.

Supplements Purported to Speed Healing

The following advice is not meant to replace ongoing visits to medical doctors. This is a critical time to maintain a healthy relationship with a holistic doctor who will design a protocol to address your personal sensitivities and individual needs. Also note that I’m not a doctor. I’m a pest control specialist who has consulted with thousands of parasite victims at various stages of their illness. 

Colloidal Silver (Perhaps the single most popular natural remedy in the Morgellons community. Nutra Silver is the brand of choice among Morgellons victims, as it is said to be 30 times stronger than other brands. Colloidal silver must not be taken with other supplements unless directed by a doctor.)

Grapefruit Seed Extract  (A hugely popular supplement in the Morgellons community.)

Mega Doses of Vitamin C  (This standard protocol for cancer is also popular in the Morgellons community.)

Turmeric  (Equally effective in the form of a pill.)

Raw Garlic  (Said to be much less effective in pill form.)

Wormwood  (One of the most standard, old school recommendations for the killing of parasites.)

Black Walnut  (Also one of the most standard, old school recommendations for the killing of parasites.)

Oregano Oil Pills (Must be taken with food, as they are quite powerful.)

Resveratrol Pills   (A great way to swallow the antioxidant powers of wine without all the yeast and sugar.)

Organic Skin Healing Substances: