Bed mites never show up in Omaha's pollen count: humidity, and what two steam studies measured
Bed mites (house dust mites) live in indoor dust and bedding, so DCHD's outdoor sampler and the UNMC and Station 33 rooftop samplers never catch them. Humidity is the Omaha link: Eppley's average dew point is 66°F in July against 16°F in January, and the EPA puts indoor humidity below 60 percent. By our calculation, Eppley's average July air at 70°F indoors would sit near 87 percent before air conditioning.
Count to watch: A bedroom hygrometer, since DCHD, UNMC and Station 33 all sample outdoor air.
Check it in June, when Eppley's average dew point first passes 60°F, and again in October at 41°F. Open it
Pollen is outdoors and seasonal; mites are indoors and year-round
| Pollen | Bed mites | |
|---|---|---|
| Where it’s counted | DCHD’s outdoor sampler, and rooftop samplers at UNMC and NAB Station 33 | Not in DCHD’s, UNMC’s or Station 33’s counts |
| Season | Trees from March (UNMC); weeds still counted on October 2, 2026 (DCHD) | All 12 months, indoors |
| What moves it | Wind: April averages 11.8 mph at Eppley | Humidity in the room |
Eppley’s moisture year, outdoors and at 70°F
NOAA’s 1991 to 2020 hourly normals put Eppley’s average dew point at 16°F in January, 61°F in June, 66°F in July and 41°F in October. In Eppley’s normal July, no hour has a dew point under 60°F; in June, 249 of the 720 hours do.
Using the standard Magnus approximation, we estimated what that outdoor air would read at a 70°F room temperature with no moisture added or removed: about 87 percent for July’s 66°F dew point, 73 percent for June’s 61°F and 13 percent for January’s 16°F. That’s why the EPA’s 60 percent line is easiest to cross in an Omaha summer, and why an Eppley January runs dry indoors. These are estimates from Eppley’s outdoor normals, so a hygrometer by the bed tells you more about your room.
What the two steam studies measured, and what they didn’t
- Glass and Needham (2004): a steam cleaner at 96°C, applied to carpet and mattress samples, left no surviving Dermatophagoides farinae mites in those samples; the abstract doesn’t report how many samples were tested.
- Colloff and colleagues (1995): steam-treated carpet squares seeded with mites had no live mites over the following 4 months, which is carpet, not a mattress.
Neither study measured allergy symptoms, an Omaha bedroom or our equipment, so we cite them for the heat effect only; Sleep Sanitation’s steam and bed mite review walks through both. Killing mites also isn’t removing them: bodies and droppings can remain in a mattress, and we HEPA vacuum as well as steam, but we don’t measure what the vacuum removes.
Where our checks fit
Our dust mite sensor on the UV-C vacuum is a check, not a count like UNMC’s or DCHD’s, and so is the moisture check after the job. A 72-hour bedroom CO₂ test is a separate optional service, booked on its own or added to a visit and priced by quote; it isn’t a medical test. Check your care label and warranty terms before booking.
Asked about bed mites
Why doesn't the NWS Omaha/Valley bulletin list dust mites?
DCHD's numbers in that bulletin come from outdoor air and cover trees, weeds and grass. Bed mites live in indoor dust, bedding and mattresses, so DCHD's outdoor sampler and the rooftop samplers at UNMC and in Bellevue never catch them.
Is your dust mite sensor like UNMC's pollen count?
No. It's built into our UV-C vacuum and is one of two checks in a visit, with the moisture check after the job. UNMC's count comes from staff identifying grains under a microscope; our sensor is a check during the visit, and we don't present it as a count of mites.
Sources
Changelog
- October 3, 2026: First published, citing the two steam studies for exactly what each measured.
- October 3, 2026: Revised: DCHD's sampler no longer called a rooftop, season row credited to UNMC and DCHD, duplicate steam question removed, Eppley indoor estimates and PubMed links added.
- October 4, 2026: Checks corrected: every visit includes two checks; the 72-hour bedroom CO₂ test is a separate optional service, priced by quote.
Published October 3, 2026, updated October 4, 2026. Written by Omaha Mattress Cleaning, operated by Sleep Sanitation. General information, not medical advice.
Prices and what every visit includes
Call or text (402) 512-5658, Monday to Friday, 9am to 6pm.