Achilles (Everett, Wa) on 10/02/2009:

My dogs got the Cheyletiella mite and subsequently gave it to me. I will go over what has worked so far, and some extrapalations of some remedies here and how they are working.

1. Window Cleaner with Ammonia ( almost any blue window cleaner), this stuff really works, I've used Raid, tick sprays, foggers, everything...this stuff is the best and it's not even close. Buy yourself a $20 sprayer from Lowe's and get a couple large $7 jugs of Windex, spray down your carpet and the walls, the couches under cushions, everything, and especially your bed and pillows. Keep a couple bottles of spray to use afterwards on couches and such on a daily basis. Spray carpet occassionaly with a borax/ epsomj salts solution as well, just like the dip recipe, minus hydrogen peroxide.

2. Wash dogs bedding daily, use dawn dish soap for detergent, 1 cup of borax per load, and bleach heavily. With all loads use hot water, and let sit for 30 minutes after it fills and mixes well, this is crucial, hot water and chemicals alone will not get everything in the fabric, the little guys have to stew for a while to get everything.

3. Your own clothes, huge pain in the butt. This, other than the carpets will be your main reinfestation possibility. Once again, hot water, 1 cup borax per load, dawn dishsoap, bleach if applicable. Important!- buy a bunch of hangers and hang everything, even socks or sheets. If you put in drawers when the infestation is still current, you wont get rid of them, hang everything, and leaving your clothes in piles is the worst, both clean or dirty, wash dirty clothes quickly and hang the clean ones.

4. Your poor pup- experimenting on a dip right now, will see how it goes. 1 part hydrogen peroxide, 2 parts epsom salts water(1=1 solution (ie. 1 cup epsom salts, 1 cup water, ect.), 1 cup borax per 64 oz. Going to add Tea tree oil to next batch as well, will see how it goes. Or optionally, can use a tea tree condtioner before the dip, Paul Mitchell has one with strong tea tree content and peppermint content, both of which critters really dislike. Spray with your espsom salt solution on body every day or 2 as well. Bag balm on belly is nice if their skin is getting irritated.

Yourself- Ok buy Cetafil, this is what you will bathe with, rub yourself down, let stand 10min, rinse off, use tea tree conditioner on skin if you want, rinse again. Have a small spray bottle with 1-1 epsom salts/water solution, and spray body with it liberally. If you are going in public, avoid face and neck or anyplace showing, as the salt will leave a white dust all over your skin when it dries. Make sure to shower every night before bed, and spray heavily everywhere...I mean everywhere. If you have a tub, use epsom salt(a bunch in n tub with borax), I don't have one, wish I did. If your scalp needs extra attention, use petroleum jelly on your scalp or mineral oil. I have gone so far to cover my entire body in it, I don't recommend it for long periods though. A good one is a hair conditioner you can find in Walmart, called Blue Magic, its petroleum jelly and coconut oil, both of which suffocates the bugs

5. Your car- Same as #1, clean and spray heavily with windex, keep spray bottle in there to douse every couple days.

6. One thing will not beat this- Your job is to make yourself and your pups as univiting as humanly possible to these things, use everything you can in conjuction, I know the things listed above work, but it's going to be a process, and not a quick fix.

7. Buy a push sweeper, dont use vaccum unless its a bag HEPA vaccuum, even the try to use push sweeper. The air and critters hiding in your vaccuum go everywhere when its turned on, making your cleaning a misery to yourself by respreading them everywhere.

This has made wonderful progress from when I first realised what was going on, and I'll post later to show any progress or failures, good luck folks.