Monday, July 27, 2015

Smite the Mite

So, it's been a while since I've blogged.  You know.  Life.  But Barefoot Body has had a lovely summer doing two farmer's markets each month.  Check out Upcoming Events to see where we will be next.  In August, that will be the Hatboro Farmers Market and the Pretzel Park Farmers Market.  Make sure to stop by and say hi if you are local!  The decision to put Body Butter on hold for the summer was a sound one as they definitely do melt in the heat.  Along the same lines, two shops had our Vegan Bee Free version of deodorant out on shelves and they melted as well.  So.  It's July.  It's hot.  It's summer.  If you prefer bee free products, just keep in mind that they may need to be refrigerated when the temps rise above 76 degrees as that is the melting point of coconut oil.  Likewise, a customer at Bryn Athyn Bounty gave me some feedback that her travel size deodorant with beeswax got soft while traveling when left in a hot bag in a hot car.  I am going to work on inserts to accompany different products with advice for the best care of your product.  If you've ever forgotten a lip balm in the car, or had it go through the dryer, it will get soft and potentially melt depending on the temperature.  For all of my deodorants and lip balms, the containers should contain the product and if you pop it in the refrigerator for 15 minutes, it should re-harden.  I encourage you to contact me via barefootbodybrand@gmail.com as I am happy to work with you to resolve any such issues in the way that works best for you.  If you are concerned over potential leaking of a product, I do suggest putting it in a ziplock type of baggie just in case.  I don't want any bags or clothing ruined!!

Moving right along, I don't usually blog about products in development as, well, you just never know.  But I'm really excited about this one.  Also, you can note that things I get excited about may be very different than things you get excited about.  And that's ok.  So, I have a pretty horrendous dust mite allergy.  Tack that on to pet dander and tomatoes (what?!  I know, I pretty much ignore that one, but that's what the doctor said.) and you have one unavoidable sneeze fest some days.  A few weeks ago, it seemed out of control and I started searching for some better relief.  I have all bedding and pillows encased already and we have ripped up most carpeting in our house.  I was in a carpeted room, and determined that that MUST be the culprit.  The carpeting.  So I looked for ways to rid it of dust mites.  Then I looked at the large, bulging bag of library books.  I am a school librarian and this summer, I'm determined to read as much of the picture book section as possible and determine if some of our books may be on their last legs.  So, I've got a bag of books, some dating back to the late 60's and decided that they perhaps might be a little dusty.  I moved the books out to the garage and just take a few out each night to read.  And determined that was definitely the bigger culprit.  But, in my searching, I also learned that humidity goes hand in hand with dust mite colonies.  And that July and August are the worst months for dust mites.  Ugh.

So, if you don't know dust mites like to eat dust.  And their own poo, three times.  Lovely critters.  In my past research, I knew you could basically put a barrier between yourself and the mites but really ridding your home of dust mites was near impossible.  If you have dust, you have mites.  If you have skin, you have dust.  When I clean, it kicks up dust.  Which sends me into a sneezing fit that could last up to an hour.  Which makes me despise cleaning dust.  Which creates more dust since I'm not cleaning it, which colonizes more dust mites.  Vicious cycle.  Yesterday, I was cleaning.  It is necessary sometimes of course.  Lest you think our house is a den of dirt and dust, let me say that my husband LOVES to clean and therefore, this is rarely an issue.  But I also like to clean, in theory.  So, I was cleaning.  And I was sneezing.  And I'm tired of it.  I thought to myself that there seems to be an essential oil for everything, and for each bugger in particular, so I wondered if there was one that would repel dust mites.  Again, I didn't think you could kill dust mites.  So, handy google research tools to the rescue and there are not just one but like 6 that KILL them.  It was suggested to spray bedding, carpeted areas, air duct vents, and to use it as a wet dust spray.  I mixed it this morning, sprayed like crazy, and I already feel like I can breathe more clearly.  If this works, it will be my own personal miracle!

I also read you shouldn't make your bed, but rather fold the covers down at the bottom of the bed to air out your sheets and mattress.  I had just gotten in the "good" habit of making my bed and now I have to convince my husband it's not good for my health.  Wish me luck!

Stay tuned to hear more about our newest product "Smite the Mite" Spray!  Do you have a dust mite allergy?  Comment below if you are interested in hearing more.

You guys.  I was going to include a dust mite picture.  I just looked and decided against it.  You're welcome.