Do you notice that do you feel worse:

• When the house is being cleaned?
• When the first cold snap of autumn prompts the heat to kick on?
• In libraries, storerooms or other dusty areas?
• When bedding is being changed or the mattress turned?

If you answered yes to any of those question, there’s a good chance you’re allergic to dust. Plain ordinary house dust is one of the most common causes of allergy – especially respiratory allergy.

A mere speck of the stuff may contain items as numerous and varied as algae, bacteria, cosmetics, cotton linters*, feathers, hair, house dust mites, insect particles, kapok*, lead, mold, paint chips, plaster, pollen, skin scales, street dirt, wallpaper flakes and wool particles – in short, whatever happens to be floating in the air.

Probably the most allergenic ingredients of house dust are mites – minute critters that feed on the flakes of skin we normally shed every day. House dust mites absolutely love humidity, so bedding and upholstery in damp rooms set up an ideal climate for them to thrive.

Since no odorless, nonirritating, nontoxic mite killing products exist, the best strategy against mites is to eliminate sources of moisture: repair leaks, air out damp spots and, if those methods don’t work, use dehumidifiers. And while lower humidity keeps mites in check, it also controls dust, since dust tends to cling to moisture in the air (controlling humidity will also help to relieve mold energy, which we’ll discuss shortly).

As you may know, regular dusting and vacuuming is a large part of dust allergy relied. Without it, rugs, window drapes, toys, bookshelves and knickknacks collect dust like magnets, providing allergic people with regular snootfuls of the stuff. So does furniture, but while overstuffed couches and chairs trap loads of dust, spare designs such as Danish modern accumulate far less. Keeping clutter to a minimum also helps.

Dust control in a child’s bedroom is especially important, considering the number of hours he or she spends sleeping and playing there. In fact, the housekeeping routine required by most allergy doctors is so rigorous it makes Army standards seem lax by comparison. The child’s room must be stripped to the barest essentials.

Rugs and drapes are the first to go. Only washable, cotton contains are allowed on the windows. Absolutely nothing can adorn the top of the dresser. Stuffed toys are out. Mattresses must be wrapped in a zipped, dust proof cover. Closets are to be emptied of everything but the child’s own clutching – hung on hangers, not stacked on the shelves.

Last of all, the entire room must be dusted daily and wiped from top to bottom with a mop and damp cloth twice a week. Sounds like good advice. Only problem is, few parents have the time or energy to follow it. ”Most mothers won’t do it, even if they say will,” says Constantine J. Falliers, M.D., an asthma and allergy specialist in Denver, Colorado, and editor of the Journal of Asthma. ”Complete control is impossible.”

”It's impossible to do every last thing, day in and day out,” agrees a mother of a highly allergic child. ”I’d have to do nothing but clean. Besides, the kid goes to school and is going to run into dust sooner or later. So I do the best I can and let the rest slide. That’s all you can do, really. Dust is everywhere.”

Actually, there’s plenty you can do to control dust without becoming a full time scrubwoman. All it takes is a few basic changes around the house. In many homes, ”dust is everywhere” because forced hot air heating systems generously spread it around the house. If you have forced hot air heat, you can check your own heating system by placing several layers of cheesecloth over the air vents for a few days.

If the system properly filtered, the cheesecloth will remain clean. But since most conventional furnace filters remove only 5 to 10 percent of the dust, your cheesecloth may very well come up sooty – telling you that you’re breathing dust laden air. In that case, you can place charcoal filters or washable, all metal or cloth filters on all the hot air ducts – or at the very least over those leading into the bedrooms and any other rooms where the dust sensitive persons spends a lot of time.

Also, have the furnace and ductwork vacuumed by a professional furnace cleaning outfit once a year, just before the winter heating seasons begins. And you can attach either a HEPA type air filter to your heating system or plug in a portable model or two around the house. Either one allows you to let up on stringent housecleaning requirements.

The type off vacuum cleaner you can use can also make great deal of difference in dust control. Most conventional air bag equipped vacuum cleaners work against you: they vent dust out the exhaust hatch – and into the air again – while you zealously go after every last nook and cranny with the front end.

And there’s hardly a housekeeper alive who hasn’t nearly choked on the cloud of dust stirred up every time the bag is changed – an utter disaster if you’re allergic. In contrast, central vacuum cleaning systems get rid of dust for good – as long as the exhaust is vented well away from living quarters.

A more convenient and affordable solution – especially for people who rent their home or apartment or move frequently – is a water trap vacuum cleaner. This model collects dust in water instead of an awkward air bag, so dust isn’t continually re-circulated into the air you breathe.

An added advantage: water trap vacuum cleaners don’t lose power the way bag equipped models do when the pouch begins to fill up. Without that power loss, you can pick up more dust in the first place.

”They really do the job – and they do help allergies,” says Robert W. Boxer, M.D., an allergist in Chicago who recommends water trap vacuum cleaners to his patients. ”We’ve had one in our house for about 14 years and it’s very effective,” he adds.

A bonus to the chemicals sensitive is that water trap vacuum cleaners offers attachments that allow you to shampoo rugs and upholstery with nontoxic cleaning products, rather than having to hire professional cleaners who use strong chemicals. Here are a few additional dust control tips to make your life as easy and dust free as possible.

• Purchase only stuffed toys that can be easily laundered.
• Avoid furniture, pillows, cushions, quilts and sleeping bags stuffed with kapok (check labels).
• Wear a dampened cotton surgical mask over your nose and mouth while dusting, vacuuming or mopping.
• To cut down on dust accumulation in closets, hang clothing in zippered garments bags. Use the compartmentalized ones for shoes and sweaters.
• If your house has baseboard heat, detach the front and side panels (if they're removable) for vacuuming. ”Fried dust” can be very allergenic.