We have a colony of dust mites in our Malmesbury Campus. They are fed with a mixture of dog biscuits, wheatgerm, yeast, and skin flakes – their favourite food –  and the colony is kept at 25-degrees with 70% humidity where they thrive, enabling our microbiologists to study and understand how they behave. 

We spend millions of pounds each year on dust samples to better understand the composition of household dust. We also rely heavily on Dyson employees to bring dust from their homes, between 300-400kg a month. Dust samples are sourced globally, to ensure we get a representative sample.

Real household dust needs to be washed and sieved before any tests can be done with it. Here, fine dust is separated from the larger dust particles before being weighed and passed on for further testing. The dust tunnel also allows us to perform tests on prototypes and filters with real dust in a safe environment. 

The composite of household dust can be extremely small, making it difficult to see under a normal microscope. We use an SEM that uses a focused beam of electrons to produce images 4,000x more magnified, so we can see the smallest of particles including pollen and pet dander.