Help With Mites

I am not able to get rid of these mites that are spawning from around and in my composting toilet... It's BAD. Diatomaceous earth keeps them at bay but they seem to reproduce and come back at very alarming rates... They're tiiiiny almost like a fine powder and very light colored they're pretty much white except when they're clumped together in a huge pile then they have a like tanish color. I've searched online a lot and there's like no info on like specific things that will work I feel like the only person having this problem... The only thing I've found is I think they might be called mold mites? all I know is that they like humid environments but I can't just change the climate of the region I live in.

Anyways If anyone has any sort of tips on helping me I really need them. I'm about ready to just set fire to everything they make my skin crawl XD

Fire bad.   Very bad.   Avoid setting compost on fire.

Personally, I would suspect that the eggs are in your cover.  

We have been using an Air Head composting toilet for 6 years. We've had these tiny little critters only once. They sort of look like yeast when they clump, if they're the same kind we had. We cleaned the area around the toilet VERY WELL with vinegar. Not IN the toilet, but the seat, the outside, the fan unit, the screens EVERYTHING. We did this a few times a day for two or three days and they disappeared. They have never returned, though nothing else has changed. That's all the advice I can offer. Sorry it's not more, but take heart, they WILL go away!

I have never had that happen to me.   But if I did, I would move to another State.

other than solutions already mentioned by Connie your best bet would most likely be intense UV light.

In our microbiology lab we run a sterilization protocol that runs UV for eight hours.
while you would not need such a length of time run, a two bulb or 4 bulb UV light would most likely render all exposed surfaces sterile when run for a minimum of 2 hours.

Like Connie mentioned, most likely the critters are using hide holes in places like the seat, side walls and any other surrounding pieces of the toilet fixture.
If this is the case you would need to create a situation where all these parts are exposed to the UV lights for the minimum time period (that is if you choose to try this method).

If they are using the frame as a breeding storage area then replacing it should solve the problem. I would consider shifting to another room for a few days as well. I would not get rid of the original frame but I would leave it in the hot sun for a few days, maybe inside a sealed garbage bag? Not sure if direct sunlight or built up heat would kill better.

We had this problem with mites in our sawdust toilet as well.  It turned out that they were coming from the sawdust we had gotten from a sawmill.  When we switched to sawdust from kiln dried wood the problem went away.  

This is the only forum I have found with a conversation around compost toilet mites. We have a Nature’s Head toilet in our rv, I have never had issues with mites until we moved to AZ…now no matter what medium I use, and no matter whether I spray the whole toilet down and sit it in the sun for a long time, they come back every month for the past 3 months…not sure what to do, it is driving me mad. We are in the desert, so there is no moisture issues, so I am at a loss as to why they have returned once again, when I just switched from the coconut coir to the peat moss, thinking they were in the bag of coir we bought. Help

I am also having a recurring mite problem with my Air head, every 3-4 months. In my experience the highest concentration of mites are on the OUTSIDE of the toilet, mostly on top of the lid, and up in any rubber piece. They seem to love the rubber lid seals the most. They do patrol the whole outside surface, and I see them inside as well but not so concentrated (as far as i can tell).

I have had the most luck keeping them at bay by cleaning the toilet completely and hosing it down with lots of water, using a high pressure spray (thumb over the hose :p) making sure to blast all the rubbers and corners well. Then l leave it in the sun to dry completely for a few hours. I come back and spray a DIY permethrin solution (concentrated insecticide/repellent) and let it dry on. I might even do it twice. I have added a small amount into the coco before as well. It seems to be the only thing ive tried that keeps them from coming back almost immediately. This works at least for a couple months, longest I've gone without them coming back is maybe 6 months. The repellent effects must wear off after a while because they always come back eventually.

Other steps I take are drying my coco in the sun after breaking it down to prevent excess moisture build up in the toilet,  and adding some diatomaceous earth to it too.

I'm not convinced the mites are coming in on the coir itself as the DE should kill any eggs and I've tried several brands. I've had the most luck using loose coir intended for reptile bedding opposed to brick,  but its more expensive.

I think it's possible the mites can get inside of the hollow rubber tubing used for the seals and lay eggs that survive the extermination, then remain dormant until the time is right for them...or the eggs are dormant somewhere around where the toilet is located. I'm even considering replacing my toilet after 3 years to see if that helps. But who knows, maybe it IS the coir, I've even gone as crazy to think the eggs are possibly originating from something I'm eating....

Seems this the only forum talking about the issue, hopefully someone posts a permanent solution someday!

Hello all,
I've been here on this page before and back again to see if anything effective for a process has surfaced. I am also dealing with the damn mites. These are resilient beyond words. It's not the housing,its definitely the medium (although they may be for some as said in crevices etc) but.... I know this as I have been adding steps to rule out 1 thing from another.

I have washed it completely, done the whole bleach and water pressure thing. Different mediums, coir and moss ( moss is how it originally occurred btw). I know it's the medium for 2 reasons, 1 this happens in other medium applications and regular soil. These are soil mites. Potting soil, composts outside and our toilets. 2 I have used boiling water over every inch of the toilet after washing let it air dry, refilled and they return. It's impossible for them to survive water at this temp.

As for diatomaceous earth this has also been used by me as well, the issue with it in the medium is it needs to be dry and them to be at crawling stage to work. If the medium becomes moist (which it does from us) it no longer can do what it's supposed to do.

At the moment (it's soaking to be cleaned) , I'm adding 2 things to the mix so to speak. I will be doing the boiling water to insure nothing remains on the frame after I clean it, I have permethrin and a product called premo mite killer. I haven't decided on the particulars of exactly where there both going but I know that I will be using them both and I have had delivered moss again (I haven't used this in 2 yrs and been using coir from different places trying to get a fix on this), this moss supposedly is advertised as bug free, I will see about this. Btw these little basterds feed on decomposition of matter(bark, food, our leave behind) and seem to hatch apon our use of the toilet.

If you guys want I'll repost and give an update, as you can tell I'm a tad tactical about this and determined to deal with it.and as for the earth (thought just crossed my mind,having it on the sides after the medium may help after cleaning as they need to crawl up the sides to get to the lid)..... If I seem obsessed, kinda at the moment.

I'd be going mad too! I hope a solution is found and you can share it with the world.

I would think that a spray with either rubbing alcohol or essential oil (tea tree, cinnamon, or peppermint, orange?), or both, would help, if you can determine where they are harboring. Or borax. Isn't that what's in the ant poison, Terro? Some in our soils is okay but it can easily be too much. I know orange essential oil can kill internal parasites in small ruminants...maybe I'm grasping at straws. Also, repeated spraying or killing of adults as they hatch, like lice.

Hi Evan,

Welcome to Permies.

We used to have issues with Phorid flies. We use pine shavings as our cover material. I decant a bag of shavings into a tote then add a couple of cups of diatomaceous earth put the tote lid on and give it a good shake to disperse the powder through the flakes.  Then, when we use the shavings as cover there's a dry layer of diatomaceous infused material the insects have to crawl through which worked in our case. We also have a urine diverter which keeps the content much drier which I'm sure helps as well.

Hello everyone,
Update thus far, nothing showing up so far which is inside the window of my normal experience. Ok so here's my attack process.

1 the moss is by a company called "premier" purchased from Amazon.
2 I spread the moss in a maybe 4 ft long shallow container, sprayed (not alot) it with permethrin (trying not to offset the ability of the moss to do it's job so to speak and inhibit the composting function.
3 sprayed neem oil, also from Amazon (I think captain Jack is the brand) on the underside of the lid all around and the walls and seal of the base.
4 since the fan obviously can't get wet, I sprayed it with permethrin just enough to make sure nothing could surface from it later as a problem point.
5 I have sprayed the under lid and walls once since then as a just in case (issues on my part likely)

This may be the new routine. Mind you this is after the boiling water to set a clean slate. The problem here is I've done several changes at once so I can't target the absolute source nor can I say it's not 2 together as a resolve. I will say this, the premier brand claims no bugs, that's promising as non others have (moss nor coir). The neem is natural, the permethrin not so much so I feel better using the neem often and used the permethrin as an attempt to I guess sterilize the moss just in case.

I will return again to update. Finger crossed. For my sword is still on my back waiting, it will be a bit before I'm not suspect as like others, after awhile it gets to you. Ptsd I suppose lol.

I decided to try a different medium after my last cleaning. I was traveling and couldn't get my hands on coco coir, so I picked up a bag of cedar shavings from Walmart.  They don't make the best medium as cedar doesn't compost well, but I was in a pinch and it smelled nice through the package so hey, why not give it a go? It worked alright so I thought, maybe I'll try this for a while and see if the bugs come back...I have been using cedar shavings for about 2 months, no mites.

It seems to me that the medium is indeed the source of the mites. Most coir is likely riddled with eggs just waiting for the right conditions to hatch. I do prefer the "texture" of the coir medium to the cedar. Next time I get my hands on coir I'll be sealing the brick off in plastic ziplock bags and boiling or pressure cooking it before hydrating it...hopefully that will fry them before they have a fighting chance.

I created an account specifically for this thread.

To the poster who suggested cedar mulch—thank you! This seems to be the quickest and most effective fix. If you're traveling or need an immediate solution, I highly recommend removing the peat moss or other medium and stopping by a farm supply or hardware store to pick up some cedar mulch. Cedar is used as a natural bug repellent, so it makes sense that it works well against mites too.

We've been using an Airhead composting toilet for 10 years and have encountered mites on three or four occasions.

Here’s what I’ve tried over the years when mites have arrived:

1) Daily use of diatomaceous earth: I placed the D.E. in a baby-powder bottle and dusted the infected areas daily. Also poured two cups into the peat moss in the toilet. While this works, it's only a temporary fix, mites still returned after a week.
2) Soak the entire toilet in a bleach solution for 24 hrs: I did this in the bathtub twice, and it was effective both times.  Fresh dehydrated peat moss and good to go for another year or two.
3) Clean the toilet twice daily with a vinegar solution for one week: Unfortunately, the mites returned days later after using this method.
4) Replacing the peat moss with cedar chips and cleaned the toilet with bleach solution. This worked immediately for me, and the mites did not return.

Your mileage may vary, but I hope these suggestions help someone dealing with a similar issue. I'll be sticking with cedar for the next year before deciding whether to move back to a different medium. Well, perhaps cedar is my new medium. We use our toilet in a van conversion and typically only replace the medium once a year based on our usage.  I'll report back next year...

Hi Nate, Welcome to Permies and thanks so much for sharing your experiences! One person's real experience is worth 100 people's opinion I think!
I've given you an apple for your post because I think it is so good - read all about permie's apples here.

Ok yes I am here to also ask  about this mite issue in my Nature’s Head composting toilet!! First most important question, other than being really annoying and after looking at them through a microscope, totally freak me out, are they harmful??? Like, can they spread around my house elsewhere? More importantly do they bit, crawl into or under skin, or anything else terrible?? Or do they just eat the compost and are pretty much just annoying??? I use the coco bricks and have had this unit for almost exactly one year as my only indoor potty so it’s necessary to keep it running smoothly!! Yikes and ugh and eek and all that!!