Four months of every year is the amount of time the average person spends on his or her mattress. That means a mattress is an important part of our lives. Indeed, our quality of sleep and our health are influenced by the quality of our mattress.
Many people are willing to spend a sizable chunk of money on a high quality mattress, and this is a wise investment considering how much use it will get. Wiser still, is to protect a mattress by using a quality mattress cover. Mattress covers not only increase the life of a mattress, but they offer many other benefits as well.
Why Use a Mattress Cover?
People use mattress covers for many reasons. Some people suffer from allergies and need a manageable method for keeping their mattress allergen-free. Others are looking for a solution to bed bugs or are concerned with personal hygiene. And of course, some mattress pads can increase the comfort of an aging mattress.
Mattress Covers Help with Allergies
Allergies affect more than ten percent of the population. For these individuals, environments with allergens, in the form of airborne particles like dust or pollen, cause allergic reactions. These reactions are often referred to as hay fever, and they include irritation of the nose, eyes, and throat. Coughing, sneezing, and itchiness are common symptoms. In addition to allergies, ten million people in the US suffer from asthma.
The dust and dander that build up on mattresses from daily use often aggravate allergies and asthma. The only solution is to constantly clean bedding. Unfortunately, clean bedding alone won’t solve the problem, because the mattress itself becomes saturated with allergens.
Luckily, many mattress covers provide a barrier that can keep a mattress pristine. These covers can be laundered, which provides an effective solution to bedtime allergies.
Protect Your Mattress from Bed Bugs and Dust Mites
Dust mites feed on the skin cells that naturally fall off on our beds. These mites are too small to be seen with the naked eye, but their fecal matter can cause allergic reactions in humans.
Bed Bugs are parasitic insects that often infest mattresses. They generally come out at night and feed unnoticed on human sleepers. Some people might find they wake up with skin rashes or even blisters as a result of bed bug bites.
Mattress covers are the most effective solution to both dust mites and bed bugs. A quality mattress cover can provide a barrier that keeps these insects from infesting your mattress. If you already have an infestation, then a mattress cover will lock the pests inside the mattress, which effectively cuts off their food supply.
Mattress Covers Help with Health and Hygiene
We spend eight ours a day in close contact with our mattress, yet it is nearly impossible to launder a mattress. It is a fact of life that we sweat and drool in our sleep. Many children even wet the bed. A mattress cover, which provides a barrier between our bedding and our mattress, is the only viable method for keeping a mattress sanitary.
Luxury Mattress Covers
Many mattress pads are designed to increase the luxury of our mattress. These mattress pads are thicker than other mattress covers, which simply provide a barrier over a mattress. Foams are common materials for mattress pads. Memory foam in particular is popular, because it shapes around the body, which reduces pressure points.
Types of Mattress Covers
Mattress covers come in two main types: they either completely envelope a mattress or box springs, or they sit on top of the mattress. In either case, the mattress cover lays over the mattress and under the regular bedding.
Mattress covers that enclose a mattress are best for combatting bugs and allergens, because these can completely seal off a mattress. Mattress toppers, which don’t completely enclose a mattress, are best for adding comfort to a bed. Additionally, thick, luxurious mattress toppers may require a cover to keep them sanitary because they can be too large to launder.
When shopping for a mattress cover, chose a material appropriate to your needs. Mattress covers can be made from many materials, including vinyl, cotton, and various foams, most of which can provide an adequate barrier against allergens and bedbugs. Each material has its own feel, and not all of them are water proof. Shop around until you find a comfortable mattress cover that can protect your mattress from wear and tear while keeping it clean and free of allergens.