Severe Dust Mite Allergies? What The Doctor Didn't Tell You.
When selling mattresses, you hear and see it all. After all, a mattress is a very intimate and important part of someone's life. And part of that process is hearing about our customer's health issues, such as snoring, sleep apnea and dust mite allergies. Dust mite allergies, which is actually an allergic reaction to the waste product produced by the dust mites, can be a very serious issue for some customers. These customers come into our stores all the time and tell us that their doctor directed them to get an encasement for their mattress. While I am not a doctor, I do know a thing or two about mattresses and have had a lifetime love affair with insects, which dust mites are. Ask my parents and they will tell you that I terrorized them with jars full of any and every bug I could find as a kid. Insects are fascinating! And one universal thing I learned about insects: they need food and water, just like every living thing.
An encasement is designed to make the mattress impervious to dead skin cells, which dust mites eat, along with pet dander and any organic material that they can get their nasty little hands on. The problem with encasements is just that: they encase the mattress, making them very difficult to remove. But are they necessary?
The short answer is NO! The long answer is since dust mites are insects, they are attracted to surfaces that contain food and water. In a sleep environment, that consists of body sweat and dead skin cells that come from your body. If you simply use a waterproof, breathable protector, the type found on in our stores and on our site, and widely available, you will keep moisture out of the mattress and thus cut off the water supply for the dust mites. With no water, there is no reason dust mites would be attracted to your mattress, thus, making an encasement unnecessary. Encasements are hard to put on and take off, while the waterproof, breathable protector found in our store fits like a fitted sheet and is designed to be washed as often as you wash your sheets, keeping your sleep surface from from dead skin cells, effectively making your mattress dust mite-free.
I hope this sheds some light on a very important issue!