Au Revoir Allergens

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Posted in What Are Dust Mites
The Allergy Store is honored to be featured in the May/June edition of Natural Home and Garden.
The article gives tips and hints on making your home allergy-free the all natural way. Our certified organic cotton dust mite proof mattress, pillow, and comforter covers are featured as an important way to keep your bedroom allergen free. We love the softness of the natural cream colored cotton and appreciate that by samphorizing the fabric with extreme heat and pressure, the pore size will be maintained through years of washing and wear.

The article makes a great point that many of the zippered dust mite proof covers are treated with chemicals that can be harmful or toxic.  Honestly, do you want to lie down and sleep on a pesticide or antimicrobial treatment? At The Allergy Store, we do not sell any zippered mattress, duvet, or pillow cover that has been treated with pesticides.  Our AllerSoft 100% Cotton has not been treated with any anti-wrinkle resins, dyes or finishes.  It has been bleached white.  Our Organic Cotton is SKAL and Oeko-Tex certified organic. 

It has had no chemical treatments and has not been bleached white. Both give complete protection and both have that great cotton feel.

We concur with their recommendation of Miele and Nilfisk for excellence in vacuum cleaners.  We have been a proud dealer for both of these brands for over 13 years.  We are also excited to see IQ Air featured as an air cleaner.  These units are made with no components that outgass harmful VOCs and the HyperHepa technology is perfect for the person that demands the finest in air filtration.
Check out the May/June addition on sale at newstands now.  In addition, you will find information about green remodeling, gardening, and some great recipes.
Wishing you a healthy, Natural Home & Garden!
Cheryl

©Copyright 1996-2013 Cee DeeKay,Inc dba AllergyStore.com™ All Rights Reserved

Undiagnosed Allergies?

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Posted in Allergies
Got a great note from a customer today.  She purchased our zippered bed bug covers for her vacation home.  The real estate agent that handles her rentals suggested that the beds be protected against bed bugs “just in case”.  We hear alot of that lately. And the real estate agent is correct. In the long run, it is cheaper to zip up the beds and protect them against bed bugs than throw the mattress and boxspring out later when they are so infested with bed bugs that they can’t be salvaged.

But that wasn’t the point of her note.  She wrote to let us know that she just returned from spending a week at her vacation home and noticed that while she was there she did not wake up with a stuffy nose or a headache. Seems she has been waking up to a stuffy nose for so long that she didn’t notice it until it was gone!

The first night back in her year around home and the stuffy nose and headache returned.
She has never been diagnosed with allergy to dust mite and has been waking up stuffy for so many years that it had become a “normal” part of how she felt every day.
It was only when she slept in the beds that had the zippered dust mite and bed bug proof covers did she realize that she didn’t need to suffer.

Needless to say, she will be purchasing dust mite proof covers for the beds at her year-around home and sleeping soundly and waking without a headache or stuffy nose. Now she knows she doesn’t have to feel that way.
We hear time and again from people that buy dust mite proof mattress or pillow covers because someone in the house is diagnosed with allergies and they discover that even the “allergy free” household members feel better.

If you stop to think about all the dust mites and dust mite feces that collect in your mattress and pillow, you know that it can’t be a good thing to breathe those particles while you sleep.
Even people that have never been diagnosed with dust mite allergy deserve a good night’s rest and they often find it by accident when they purchase our zippered mattress covers.
Cheryl

©Copyright 1996-2013 Cee DeeKay,Inc dba AllergyStore.com™ All Rights Reserved

Sunscreen that Causes Skin Tumors?

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Posted in Allergies
Say it ain’t so!  People slather sunscreen on to protect themselves from the damaging effects of the sun.
Now the Environmental Working Group has concurred with the draft report from the National Toxicology Program (an inter-agency group) that finds that the presence of Vitamin A, (retinyl palmitate), speeds the formation of tumors in sunlight.

That’s right! The sunscreen you may apply for protection may actually speed up the formation of tumors!
They found that the popular brands like Coppertone, Banana Boat, Panama Jack, Hawaiian Tropic, and Neutrogena all contained this ingredient.  In fact more than 200 sunscreens made by 44 different companies listed Vitamin A or retinyl palmitate on their labels last year.

We have cautioned using personal care products with harmful ingredients like formaldehyde and parabens for several years now.  We carry an SPF35 sunscreen from the Vanicream people and when I found out about the Vitamin A, I ran to a tube and read the list of ingredients.

No vitamin A in this sunscreen!  Yeah!  Now you can get outside, be safe from the sun, and know that your sunscreen will provide protection, not accelerate skin tumors!

Please tell your family and friends to read the label on their sunscreen. If you see vitamin A or retinyl palmitate listed on the ingredients, THROW IT AWAY! Get a tube of Vanicream Sunsport 35 and be safe!

If you don’t believe me, read about it here for yourself http://www.ewg.org/release/nih-panel-links-vitamin-sunscreen-skin-tumors 
Cheryl Krause

©Copyright 1996-2013 Cee DeeKay,Inc dba AllergyStore.com™ All Rights Reserved

Will any Mattress Cover Do?

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Posted in Bedding and Covers Dust Mites
We get calls all the time from people who want to know if you need a special cover to protect against dust mites.

They may already have a cover or pad on the mattress or pillow and want to know if it will do the trick. I don’t blame them for asking. I wouldn’t want to buy a new mattress cover if the mattress cover I already owned would do the trick.

The problem is most regular mattress covers aren’t made of barrier cloth.  Barrier cloth is the common name we given to the microweave fabrics. The idea of a mattress cover made of a microweave is that the fibers have been woven so tightly that the allergens cannot escape through as air flows.

The most tightly woven  microweave mattress covers are made from polyester fibers.  That is because polyester is a strong yarn that can be woven very tightly without breaking.  To get allergen protection, you want a mean (average) pore size of at least 8 microns.  the good microweave mattress covers are made with fabrics that have a 5 micron pore size and the really really good ones have a pore size of 4 microns. Of course if you don’t like the idea of a mattress cover made from polyester and want the coolness of cotton, then you will have to sacrifice some pore size..

So, if the mattress cover you currently own totally encases the mattress, zips closed, and is made from a fabric with a mean pore size of under 8 microns, then you do not need to buy a special cover.  Chances are, your cover does not meet these requirements and the money invested in a new mattress cover will well be worth the relief you get from sleeping allergy-free
Cheryl

©Copyright 1996-2013 Cee DeeKay,Inc dba AllergyStore.com™ All Rights Reserved

What Kills Dust Mites?

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Posted in Dust Mite Sprays How To Kill Dust MitesTagged

No pesticides are currently labeled for house dust mites. There are products that are not pesticides that are labeled for dust mites. The active ingredient in most of these products is benzyl benzoate. It is an effective acaracide. The health risks from these products is limited as they are rapidly metabolized and excreted in the urine. See a full report on dust mites here.

Since the allergy causing protein is found in the feces and body parts of dead dust mites, killing the mite isn’t really an effective method of allergen control. What is effective is breaking down (denaturing) the protein so that it no longer triggers the reaction. The most widely used denaturing agent is tannic acid, such as that found in ADS Anti-Allergen Spray. Chlorine dioxide in a very dilute form is also effective in denaturing proteins. ADMS Anti Dust Mite Spray contains this and other active ingredients to denature dust mite allergens.