1) Public Places: Minimize physical contact with seating and other objects likely to have had prolonged physical contact with other persons. Wear gloves when out in public and drop the gloves straight in the laundry basket when getting home, ideally before touching anything at all. Because Scabies is most common in crowded or highly communal areas. Care homes, shelters and university campuses are common areas of concern.
2) Bed & Clothes: Do not share any clothing or bedding with other persons. Do not let a friend wear your coat, hoodie, socks, gloves, shoes… anything… or put on anything that others have worn! Do not snuggle in blankets / bedding that others may have used! Don’t even share oven gloves! Symptoms may take weeks to appear and people could pass it to you before they even know they have it!
3) Towels: Do not share towels with another person at all. That includes hand towels, kitchen towels – any towel. Designate your own towel and make sure nobody else uses it! Launder towels more frequently; ideally after every bath or shower.
4) Laundry: Use the hottest possible setting for washing AND tumble drying laundry. 60ºC is good, 90ºC is better but will of course damage some fabrics. Tumble dry rather than line dry if possible, but only on the highest possible heat. Scabies is a wardrobe-wrecker…. put away your delicate clothes this year, so as to not destroy them, and pull out your cheap clothes that don’t matter so much if they get destroyed.
5) Seating: Ideally, make “chair assignments” and give everyone their own designated chair. Try to avoid sitting on chairs that other people have sat on – including car seats. Toilet seats should be thoroughly cleaned / disinfected before each use. Use isopropyl alcohol / ethanol wipes or a disinfectant spray; just using a piece of toilet paper is not enough, rather use antiseptic tissue,.
6) Surfaces: Spray ‘n’ wipe all surfaces with 70% isoproyl alcohol (ventilate the area thoroughly), 70% ethanol (difficult to obtain but less toxic), strong disinfectants (ventilate), or water + essential oil blends (approx 30 drops per litre of water. Numerous essential oils have anti-mite action and some are very capable indeed. Use oil mixes not individual oils. See below for a full list of the best essential oils to use). Wear disposable gloves for cleaning tasks.
7) Use a Separate Crate: Use a SEPARATE crate for clean laundry and never put any dirty laundry in it! Assume that the dirty laundry crate is infected. Ideally, when undressing, drop clothing straight into the dirty laundry crate rather than letting it hit the floor or other furnishings. Consider adding select essential oils (list below) to the laundry soap for increased anti-mite action (10-20 drops per load). For further precaution, close up dried laundry in plastic bags or crates and leave for 3+ days before wearing again.
8) Dehumidify: Scabies is more prevalent in winter due to a) higher humidity b) lower temperatures c) more huddling together. Science has established that high humidity and cooler temps increase the survival time of mites “off the body” – so there is solid rationale for lowering humidity, especially in communal facilities, during times of outbreak. Run a dehumidifier (Amazon UK link) in continuous mode where possible, especially in communal environments. In larger facilities more than one unit may be beneficial.
9) Communal Seating: Clean communal seating extra carefully and treat it as though it is already infected, because it may well be! Vacuum soft furnishings VERY thoroughly and consider covering everything in mite proof casing. If hiring a rental car, consider putting a mite proof cover / plastic bagging over the seats before you sit in it – and when you are done, remove it straight into a plastic bag to be laundered.
10) Vacuuming: Vacuum the house, car and any other communal areas VERY, VERY thoroughly and regularly, using a HEPA vacuum cleaner. It MUST be genuine HEPA filter equipped – otherwise you will be blowing mites in all directions! Ideally, vacuum all surfaces, especially seating. When emptying the dust collector, do so outdoors, wearing disposable gloves, straight into a bin and take great care to avoid getting the dust on yourself or your clothing. Steam cleaning (of carpets etc) is regarded as even more effective.
