The Importance of Dust Mite Fighting Mattress Covers

Dust mites are nasty little microscopic creatures that invade every household. They feed on house dust and human skin flakes. Dust mites are harmless to most people; however for people with an allergy to them, they are a terrible nuisance. These little guys can cause big problems by excreting waste in the carpets, furniture and especially the mattress and those with a dust mite allergy are extremely sensitive to this excrement. The mattress is a smorgasbord for the dust mite because it contains a huge amount of skin flakes. It has been estimated that the average mattress contains anywhere from 100,000 to 10 million dust mites.

If you wake up in the mornings with a stuffy or runny nose, swollen eyes or a lot of chest congestion, you could have a dust mite allergy. Your doctor will be able to test you and tell you for sure. If you are diagnosed with dust mite allergy there are several steps you can take to lower your exposure to dust mites.

First of all, you need to give your house a thorough cleaning and dusting. Dust with a damp rag so you are not spreading the dust all around.

Strip the bed of all linens and wash them in hot water. Vacuum your mattress to get rid of excess dust and skin flakes. If you have access to one, a vapor steam cleaner may be a good idea for your mattress. Dust mites cannot live in high temperatures.

Once you have your bedroom cleaned, the linens washed and the mattress vacuumed and cleaned, its time to think about a mattress cover. When choosing a mattress cover to prevent dust mite infestation, make sure that the cover has a pore size of less than 10 microns. This is smaller than the average dust mite and makes it impossible for them to wiggle through. Choose the mattress cover that corresponds with your mattress size.

Here are some tips on installing your new dust mite mattress cover:

1) Stand the mattress upright or sideways next to the bed.
2) Unzip the mattress dust mite encasing.
3) Slip the rolled encasing over both corners of one end of the mattress.
4) Gently unroll the encasing working your way up the mattress.
5) When the entire mattress is encased with the cover, zip it shut.
6) Place the covered mattress back on the bed.

If you follow all of the above suggestions, you could be enjoying a good, restful sleep every night. After all, a dust mite allergy is nothing to sneeze at.