Effective Mite Infestation Treatment: Top Natural Remedies

Apple Cider Vinegar works great! It is by far the best treatment I have found for my hair and body! When I'm in the shower I have ACV in a spray bottle and I soak my hair and spray my entire body. Wait for 10 minutes, rinse. It kills all forms of the mite including the eggs. I did that twice a day for 5 days, once a day for 10 days, then every other day for only 5 minutes. It is very drying so I use Moo Goo MSM cream on my face and body. I have long hair so after I rinse I turn my head upside down and put conditioner only on the hair, not the scalp--rinse it. I've easily spent a thousand dollars and the cure was quite simple. Also, I bought a 32oz bottle of permethrin and I put 1oz in each load of laundry so I didn't reinfect myself. Cedarwood oil is awesome sprayed on my mattress and around my bed, it kills the little bastards and the house smells great! Also, vacuum everyday. Also, I am taking neem capsules, MSM capsules, and NAC as a little insurance. I rarely feel a bug and I am immunosuppressed and taking steroids. Hope this helps someone! Peace!

Cover mites with vaporub, the mites don't like eucalyptus, & will back out. Worked in 2 days for me. Keep the area moist with Vaporub

I used ACV to try and cure candida, i'm not really sure if i have a candida problem but after taking any amount, even 1 teaspoon in water, my face will turn red and feel warm. Mainly my cheeks. Is this a reaction between candida and the ACV?

I made Ted's recipe for demodex treatment. 1/3 cup of 3% hydrogen peroxide, 2/3 cup of water, 2tbsp borax. I apply with a cotton ball and rinse. It is the best face wash I have ever tried. My face feels soft and smooth after using.

Hi Fran. . . I live in the tropics and I had the same problem as you, bites and sores all over mainly my back and lower body. I had a favourite couch that I used to sleep and doze on regularly which had mites in it. This is what I had to do.

* I used a simple combination of 1%-3% hydrogen peroxide and a tablespoon of borax (20 Mule Team is fine) in an ordinary 8 oz flower garden sprayer. Also add one tablespoon of Milk of Magnesia. All I did was to spray my body (particularly the bitten areas) after my shower and before bed with this mix and then wash it off the next morning. I found that, next day, I hadn't been bitten anymore and my bites had actually gone down and didn't itch so much. I still use this mix if some critter bites me, it's very effective. Only use this mix topically and avoid use near the eyes.

* Take your couch/bed mattress and put it outside in the sun and heat for the day. The mites and bugs will hate the sun, they will run away and leave the couch/bed mattress.

* Also make sure you clothes are not infested by washing your clothes with generous amounts of borax.

The borax will kill the mites directly as will the hydrogen peroxide which will also kill any other associative bacteria and viruses as well.

The Milk of Magnesia (MoM) will kill the bugs and anything else in 2 other ways. First the MoM is so alkaline -- pH 10 -- that it will kill any bacteria, virus, fungus or bug easily. As well, MoM contains mainly Magnesium Hydroxide, which is highly hydrohobic (drives water out). So using MoM will also dehydrate the bugs or mites and kill them that way too.

i have been going through this and prayed I would die instead of feel this way. I also was only one in house feeling this. Apparently nicotine keeps them off my husband.

Here's how I have reduced the numbers and am making head way. I'm not sure which mites I have so I treated for several kinds. Borax, hydrogen peroxide & water on the body after a shower and used hair dryer to dry it. Tea tree oil in bath water. I bought ovante demodex control products off internet and use them every day- lotion, face cream, eye products, shampoo, body wash. I had tons of eye irritation too. My feet were full of dead skin and it's all gone too...think it may have been dandruf

Wash bedding, clothes and towels every day and add borax to the detergent. I dry hot & long. I throw pillows in a hot dryer every day for 20 minutes

I threw out all pillows. I bought a new mattress.

My body has had much less crawly, itchy, stinging episodes and I think it's getting under control after three weeks. Thank GOD.

Naturalgal: you are a genius. Salting sheets with cloves added sounded crazy but it worked! First sleep I've had in weeks. Thank you!!!!!!

Re: dermodetic mites on face. BORAX and PEROXIDE. Thank you Ted for your wonderful postings. You are truly the answer to peoples' prayers. I have been to many doctors and was told that what I had was acne and folliculitus. I read your cures and decided to try it since nothing the doctors gave me (antibiotics, steroid creams and even Accutane) have helped. I thought it couldn't be that simple but it was. So to all the skeptics give it a try (borax and peroxide) You are truly an honest man and compassionate. Thank you

After suffering mites for about 6 months, trying most remedies advised on EC, as well as medical, just didn't seem to me able to completely get rid of them. I recently read Ted's remedy for mites Borax spray and to take Borax. I then read up on Borax and noted some people added it to a bath. I decided to try that - added 1/2 cup to bath & soaked in it for 1 hr.( including my hair, which I left in overnight & washed the next day). I had the best nights sleep in 6 months. I have added borax nightly to bath for the past week - and thus far my skin is clearer - no sign of mite return!!! YEAH .... during this 6 months battle I realized my hair needed to be treated as well. I applied lanolin in my ears to stop the little buggars going into my ears. I never wore the same clothing or pj's twice, changed bed linen every few days, vacuumed the mattress 2 x weekly, threw away my slippers & material scuffs & wore only thongs as they were hanging out in the material fabric! So thank you Ted, EC contributors... and Earth Clinic... blessings & good health to all.

Cure for mites:

After eight long months of going to doctors and prescriptions that didn't help me, I finally found a doctor who knew what to do for me. I take Neem Leaf along with N-Acetyl Cysteine twice a day. Both are to boost the immune system. I cannot tell you how happy I was to finally have relief, and it happened overnight! I tried everything in my bath water, cleaned constantly, and wore myself out both physically and mentally. These two are the natural wonderdrugs for sure. So, do not throw out your mattresses and don't waste your time in the tub with god knows what as I did. I would say good luck, but you wont need it, as this absolutely worked overnight.

I do continue to take them until my doc says otherwise. They can be found in the Sprouts grocery store chain or a health food store.

Been dealing with infestation of mites for 6 months. Apple cider vinegar wiped over skin at night keeps the crawling down. I also put vinegar on my hair with a plastic cap. It is working. I use tee tree shampoo and soap during the day. Put ACV soaked socks on my feet for 30 minutes a day to kill those hiding ones. An air purifier ionizer kills them in car and bedroom.

If you want to know if you have mites, my mom discovered that using the skin so soft bug spray with picaridin cases them to pop out in aboout 2-3 minutes, and they don't seem to move for hours after. It also caused the nymph form to dig out rather rapidly as well. She was just trying to prevent infestion while mowing her yard. She had to shower after about 30 min to rinse all the little greyish specks off her.

To Fran in Atlanta GA: Your symptoms sound much like patients who have a condition referred to as "Morgellons. " You can google it but basically most people with this are experiencing some type of mite or insect infestation of the skin. (Whether Springtails, mange or Dermodex mites, etc.). Most people come into contact with these insects and naturally repel them but many others who have immune issues cannot.

If you get on Face Book, you can look up a site called "Morgellons Is No Laughing Matter, " and read postings of others with your symptoms.

Also, Borax, Bleach, Windex, etc. Are toxic - especially in regular doses. Remember, if you put it ON your skin - it goes IN your body. While it may be a temp fix - it is not something people should do longterm as that just adds further burden to the immune system which causes the body to have even less ability to fight the infestation off.

Here are some healthier and I believe, more effective options:

> Sulfur powder (you can get this by ordering "MSM Powder" on a wholesale site like vitacost dot com) & take internally with glucosamine & chondroitin).

Sulfur mixed in pure lotion (no additives, perfumes, or chemicals) and rub onto all affected areas.

You can buy a product by "Trimedic" that is 15% sulfur/MSM and rub it into areas.

> Pure Organic Cold Pressed NEEM Oil - this can be mixed with sulfur product and rubbed into affected areas - it is also great for scalp and you can use it in shampoos, liquid soaps and conditioners.

> Pure organic tea tree, cedar, Lavendar, mixed with a small amount of Virgin/organic Coconut Oil is very healing to bites and lesions. DO spend the extra money for the organic though...

> Gold Bond Menthol Powder (great for mixing into hair/scalp) and Gold Bond Menthol Lotion

> 3% peroxide can be rubbed into areas after showers or baths but be sure to wash your finger tips as it can burn them a little - but will flush out the bites/organisms

3% Peroxide is a great substitute for Windex - not toxic to your system so you can use it on surfaces (plastic, glass, metal). Alcohol with few drops of essential oils is also great for cleaning and clearing areas.

Use the Neem oil on Wood Surfaces.

Use the Borax to wash your clothes in hot water with about 10-12 drops of one of above essential oils. Rinse with Hot water & Dry on Hot.

If your microwave is large enough and a newer model with large rotating glass table; you can put smaller pieces of clothing loosely onto table and zap for 30 to 90 seconds - making sure that the table and item is turning and doesn't stick to the right side where all the heat accumulates. Don't put anything aluminum or metal in though!

Small blankets & sheets can be sanitized this way as well just watch the time and the process - keep things moving and away from the hotter side of the metal wall.

Plastic zippered mattress protectors are essential and should be wiped down each morning or before bed time with alcohol spray or peroxide spray with half dozen drops of essential oils (in spray).

Sheets & blankets can be spritzed and placed in HOT dryer for at least 60 to 70 minutes.

It's okay to clean skin with peroxide or enzymes but ultimately you don't want it to dry out because it becomes more vulnerable to organisms & irritants. So use the NEEM oil mixed with a little of the Coconut Oil & few drops of essential oils (and, you can add the sulfur to this too) on your skin and if necessary, your scalp.

> Colloidal Silver & Organic Aloe Juice (50 to 50 ratio) can be applied to scalp with dropper and rubbed in gently with fingers for soothing irritated skin & bites. Same for skin after or before shower.

This mixture can be taken internally - just make sure the silver has low PPMs (10 to 30 PPMs max). One TBSP every few hours can be effective.

Three other products to help skin:

> Florasone Itches & Rash Cream

> PRID salve (mix this with sulfur and coconut/Neem oils & will help to draw out matter)

> SeaBuckthorn Oil and/or soap

It's so important to address the internal health as that is a direct manifestation of the external conditions.

1) Sleep - get as much as you can whenever you can.

2) Moderate (non traumatic or impacting) exercise - the circulation of blood & oxygen boosts your immune system and helps fight off the infestation.

3) Reduce Stress - exercise, quiet room w/low lights and relaxing music. 4) Deep breathing (good for relaxing & helps promote better oxygen flow), ETC.,

5) De-tox your diet. Don't eat any 'white' (bleached) or processed foods. Avoid white sugar and high fructose corn syrup. Eat more green vegetables in salads and, slightly steamed. Lean, free-range (antibiotic & hormone free) meat & dairy in small portions.

6) HYDRATE - 80 to 100 oz of purified or Spring water daily. (Non-caffeinated teas & organic juices count).

7) Avoid all GMOs, hydrogenated oils (trans fats such as margarine), artificial ANYTHING and fast food - horrible for these conditions.

8) Watch your pH levels; most of us with chronic conditions or compromised immune systems have higher acidic levels. Eat higher alkaline foods such as organic watermelon, lemons, fresh spinach, blueberries, etc... You can search sites that have pH food charts & put on your fridge.

Hope this helps.

12 year 'Survivor.'

Here's a tip for my fellow mite suffers:

I've tried almost everything recommended on the "Mite Infestation Cures" thread but I recently found that CITRIC ACID on my skin is the best treatment for me so far for what is most likely bird mites ("invisible" skin mites - see below for a description): as efficient as vinegar and salt but without the bad smell and much, much cheaper.

BACKGROUND. I've noticed that citric acid is the key ingredient in various natural mite products, for example:

1. from http://www.bioone.org/doi/abs/10.1603/029.102.0422, where it says

"Both GC-Mite (cottonseed, clove, and garlic oil) and Bugzyme (citric acid) were most effective against the twospotted spider mite (≥90% mortality)."

and

2. An anti-mite product I bought for laundry treatment whose active Ingredients are simply Citric Acid 2.25%, Sodium Chloride (i.e. regular table salt) and 0.6%, Potassium Sorbate 0.06%. It also contains the inert (inactive) ingredients water, vinegar and salt. I tried this on my skin and it stopped the itching immediately (but temporarily - needs to be replied after a while). The product is called "Eradicator Laundry Treatment", but since I'm poor I had to resort to buying the ingredients separately (7 dollar's worth of Citric Acid makes more than 10 litres at 4% concentration).

I use a concentration of 3-4% citric acid in water, about 1% salt, and I also add a few drops of vinegar plus a few drops of a few essential oils. WARNING: Citric Acid is a skin irritant. I feel a burn from around 4% BUT my skin is not very sensitive (for example, I get no burns from mustard powder, which some people on this site had huge problems with). Yesterday, I used coconut oil instead of water (which is apparently one of the best oils for skin penetration), and found this to burn less. I will there for try higher concentrations too, and also try combining it with other oils, such as neem oil and tea tree oil.

To complete the list of what I've tried

- Almost every essential oil mentioned in the "Mite Infestation Cures" thread, including neem oil (limited success, but I will try higher concentrations)

- Kleen Green (almost zero impact on the itching)

- Mustard powder (some small success)

- MSM externally (reasonable success)

- diatomaceous earth externally (no success)

- MDM and diatomaceous earth internally (no improvement noticed after two weeks, but I think this may still be good long-term)

- vinegar and salt (as mentioned above): works as well as citric acid and salt, but impossible to use in public

NB: I measure success only in terms of immediate end to itching - I have no idea of impact on eggs.

Thanks everyone who has given mite advice earlier! Since different kind of mites may require different treatment, perhaps it would be helpful if all of you can explain your symptoms briefly. In my case, the mite symptoms are:

- they get into my ears and nose, are worst (most active) on eyebrows, eyelashes, lower legs and back.

- they are most active early morning and in the afternoon

- they become more active as soon as I lie still in the dark

- they sometimes bite but leave no marks

Finally, it's easy to lose all hope. But I get some comfort from the following thoughts:

Many posters seem to have found a solution. If this doesn't work for you, perhaps it's just a matter of trying for longer, and with higher concentrations. Also, this topic is still "new", with most posts just a few years old. As the problem becomes more known, more people will experiment with new solutions and eventually we'll hopefully hear about something revolutionary.

Jones

I have been dealing with mites of sorts. Constantly having creepy crawling feeling, when I would feel a bite or an itch, I would smack the area and always find a tiny little thing, almost like sand (sometimes larger, sometimes white brown or black) and thinking it was a coincidence. I started digging deeper once my daughter started getting bit and my husband even began to be itchy. Even when I was near my coworkers I noticed they started scratching incessantly!! Once I realized it was mites, I had a semi nervous breakdown and became angry.

Plan of action:

Washed everyone in my home (toddler, husband, 2 dogs) in T-Gel shampoo and washed all of our clothes in hot water and borax then sprayed everyone with pure white vinegar and peppermint oil

Then sprayed the outside of our house with ortho home max which worked wonders (a little scary but whatever works)

Put all of our clothes into garbage bags with the eucalyptus scent and lived out of those

Vacuumed everything! And mopped with vinegar and windex

Put cedarwood and eucalyptus incents everywhere!! And put those cedar moth replant things in all of our clothing drawers

After a day, I found nothing on me. Not one thing!!! I was so used to feeling around my skin and picking off litte pieces of sand and there was nothing!! No more creepy crawly feeling, no more anything. I also started taking sovereign silver twice a day. I still find mites around but they don't bite or bother any longer thank god. My husband just sprayed ortho home max inside today so I'm hoping that will get rid of the remaining mites. Try it! Can't hurt!!

I have had an infestation of mites in my home for 6 months and was nearly at my wits end.

I tried at first to attack them with pyrethrum and then permethrin. I used these in conjunction with pre-core( a supposed life cycle interrupter). I used foggers and on and on it was all very costly and in the long run mostly not effective.

The natural things I've discovered lately seem to work much better.

Getting them off of your skin:

They don't like Salt, Borax, Peroxide, Heat - these are your weapons

I was showering in high heat and using very sudsy soaps with a loofah which helps. The most effective method I've found is making a mixture of epsom salt with lavender and peroxicare toothpaste and a little hot water (the mixture should be a thin paste consistency). Apply to the affected area after showering. Leave to dry for 15 minutes and then use a hair dryer on high heat as hot as you can stand it and you will watch the symptoms vanish before your very eyes within minutes. The lesions will turn from bright red to white and then vanish.

To keep them off is a challenge because they like to reinfest the same areas so they can reuse the feeding tubes which they insert into your skin. If you have a saltwater body of water near you I've found repeated soaking in salt sea water kills them.

Clothing:

Clothing is a real problem this is probably the greatest threat for re-exposure. I found that High heat is the best solution. I wash clothing in borax and detergent in hot water. I dry on high heat twice. I use a steam iron and steam press ALL my clothing. They seem to lay eggs in cloth they also seem to like cotton knits. With a life cycle of 4 to 8 days it's tough to keep all your clothing clean. You have to be relentless.

Internally:

Build your immune system with apple cider vinegar and vitamin C, B 12, magnesium, zinc, and Garlic seems to be effective.

Clean the house daily with Borax and bleach mop all flooring with HOT water. They like to lay in the corners where the walls meet. Try to remove all or as much carpeting from the house as you can. They can hide in carpeting hard surfaces like ti9le are much easier to clean and keep clean. Carpets and cloth sofas can be cleaned with HOT steam.

To kill mites with heat must be at least 165f or preferably up to 212F.

If you have any questions please feel free to contact me by e-mail [email protected]

I am 63 years of age male.

Wow so many mite "cures" my head is spinning. I'm here out of pure frustration, been going on 5 years being the only one in the house under attack every night. I've tried everything, just tired of spending thousands on useless so called cures.

I saw kerosene recommended on this site - it was something I hadn't tried and after almost 3 years of this mite plague and severe scarring to my face, I was ready to do anything. I used a spray bottle and sprayed my scalp at the roots (sectioned hair into 4 sections and did one at a time) sprayed my whole body, including face and neck and went to bed.

I used rubbing alcohol to spray my bed headboard and any fabric furniture and rugs in the house. Put all laundry including coats I haven't worn for ages in the washing machine using Dr Bronners Castile Soap and filled the machine drawer with table salt. I bought tobacco and put some in all of my shoes. Dusted cats with diatomaceous earth, colloidal silver in their ears and every 3 days I will spray them down with tobacco juice.

I was so apprehensive about using highly flammable substance on myself that I first patch-tested the paraffin (kerosene) on my leg - no burning or itching after a couple of hours so I diluted with hemp oil (about half and half) and covered myself. I had a great night's sleep and there was no crawling at all the following day. I am one of those people they LOVE. I saw a post from someone called Shirley on here saying that this was how she was cured.

Kerosene was used back in the day for many remedies, but the pharma industry has put out a lot of misinformation out saying how dangerous it is. Even the bottle I bought states that it should not come into contact with skin. They legally have to state that due to lobbying from the pharma industry. My skin was so dry and scaly from all the remedies and yet it did not burn or sting. This has by far been the most effective. I can also vouch for juice plus capsules - expensive but they do keep the numbers down. I was drinking neem powder mixed into water and this helped a lot but over time I became chronically dehydrated as it is so astringent.

I will continue to do this every 4 days (as the original poster did) but I can say with confidence that this is hands down the most effective thing I have done so far.