House dust mites live on animal and human skin dander or hair. They prefer to find them in the dust and in beds, where they live in thousands.
It is best to change bed linen and sheets every week. Special encasing covers protect against mites. Ventilating the room three times a day for five to ten minutes each reduces the humidity in the bedroom. The effect of pesticide sprays with benzyl benzoate or essential oils, which are intended to kill mites, has not yet been proven to remove the animals sufficiently.