Suggestions for bedding encasing.

April 15, 2010 8:12 AM

Have you tried encasing your mattress/box-spring/pillows/comforter for allergy relief? Did it help?

My allergies have recently become much more severe. My allergist recommended keeping the cats out of the bedroom, encasing all of our bedding with zippered cases, and washing the linens once a week in hot water. My mother, from whom I inherited the allergies (Thanks a bunch, Mom!) has tried encasing but gave it up because the cases made noise every time she moved in the night. Given how much my husband thrashes around at night, I really don't want ones that make noise when you move.
I am overwhelmed by the choices available for encasing. Have you done this? Can you recommend a particular brand or style? Did they really help you? Did you find them useless? Did they, perhaps, help enough that you could let the cats back into the bedroom?
Thanks!

posted by Adridne to shopping (13 answers total)

I bought a dust mite cover for my mattress and to my pleasant surprise it wasn't the crinkly kind and doesn't make any noise. (Sorry I don't remember the brand). I think they are only really for dust mite allergies though. If it is cats you are allergic to then keeping the cats out of your bedroom is big. Also get a vacuum cleaner that can handle pet hair like a Dyson Animal and get an air purifier with a HEPA filter. Keep your cats well brushed so they aren't shedding everywhere.
posted by dino terror at 8:29 AM on April 15, 2010 [1 favorite]

Mattress and pillow encasings have made a huge difference to my dust mite allergy.

There's no reason why your mattress casings have to be the type that rustles. I ordered casings that didn't rustle from National Allergy Supply or Allergy Control Products (don't remember which). I like the membrane-type encasings best, because they are more effective than the sheets that are alleged to be so tightly woven that no dust mite can climb between the threads. Synthetic encasings sound unpleasant, but they can be quite comfortable under cotton sheets and pillowcases. Just don't use a waterproof vinyl encasing, if you can help it (though a mattress pad over the vinyl cover can make it bearable). The non-waterproof breathable encasings are more expensive, but they are absolutely worth it.

A new mattress will work better with the encasings than an old one that is already full of dust mite allergen. I remember reading on PubMed about a study that said that encasings don't work at all well with an old mattress. Buying a new mattress might not be practical for you now, but you should certainly buy a new pillow, preferably encasing it before the first use. The pillow matters the most, since it's right next to your face. My first quack of an allergist told me I was allergic to feathers, so I bought a new pillow; it turns out I was not allergic to feathers, only dust, but the new pillow made a huge difference right away because it wasn't full of dust mites like the old one.

When I had a box spring under the mattress, I used a cheap vinyl cover for that, because its comfort doesn't matter like the mattress itself does.

Check the temperature of your water heater—put a thermometer in the water coming into your machine. Dust mites die at 135°F or above. Tap water that is turned down below the standard 140°F temperature, to reduce the risk of scald injury, will not be as effective in killing dust mites. If you must use water that is below 135°F for laundering your bedclothes, you can buy a miticide to add to the wash water.

My first allergist also told me I had to get rid of my cats, because, she told me, I was allergic to them. She was wrong, as confirmed by two better allergists since then. I knew it, because even burying my face in the cat's fur did nothing to me. So, I can't tell you whether the encasings help enough with a cat allergy to allow the cats back into the bedroom. Probably not, if you're really allergic to cats. The encasings should help reduce your allergen exposure some, though.
posted by Ery at 8:31 AM on April 15, 2010 [1 favorite]

The wife and I recently bought a new mattress, and bought a dust-mite cover to go along with it.

We've stopped using it. Whether or not it works, it caused us to sweat in our sleep (because it's not breathable)—perhaps if we had a conventional mattress pad with some loft on top of that, it wouldn't have been a problem. It also caused our mattress to smell funky.

You also need to wash the cover occasionally, and because it's essentially plastic, it's hard to dry—you need to dry it at very low heat, which takes a long time. Line drying didn't seem to work.
posted by adamrice at 8:35 AM on April 15, 2010

Helped me. Casings over the mattress and pillow had the greatest effect on my allergies compared to everything I've tried. Don't remember the brand, but it's was not crinkly at all. Spend a little extra and get a nice one.
posted by pyro979 at 8:43 AM on April 15, 2010

i use nice tight-weave fabric (probably faced with something else) allergy covers on my daughter's pillows and a vinyl liner on her bed. they work, have done wonders for her health, and we have not had problems with smelly mattresses and sweating at night. not crinkly.
posted by lakersfan1222 at 8:47 AM on April 15, 2010

When we bought a new mattress, we purchased a high-quality allergy case to go with it. It does seem to help a lot. Shortly after, I bought new pillows and encased them with allergen covers from Target. I do fine at night as long as we wash the sheets regularly. We also have an air purifier that runs in the bedroom constantly.

I never kicked the cat out of the bedroom and I am OK with it as long as she sleeps toward the foot of the bed. I think the cat thing is going to depend heavily on your allergy to the cat, the cat itself and where in the bedroom the cat would be.
posted by bristolcat at 8:59 AM on April 15, 2010

I concur with the earlier postings that you can find something that does not rustle or make you sweat. I use a padded mattress cover over the vinyl case. No noise, no sweating.
I did find that encasing the box spring, mattress and pillows made a difference. If you have rug, I would strongly suggest that you take it up. Bare wood floors are far easier to damp mop to get stuff up. For me, that made a huge difference. And if you actually look at the base of a rug that has just been vacuumed, you will be appalled at how much junk is still there. I would recommend starting with the bedroom and keep it as clean as you can. Don't let clothes and so on pile up. Put them away. They not only gather dust but you pick up allergens when you are outside and they can cling to your garments. So make the bedroom spartan. Also check out whatever you use to cover the windows. Plush drapes can hold a lot of crud. Metal shades are easy to clean.

I have had dogs and did not give them up, despite the advice from my allergist.

As suggested above, you probably do want to get a good vacuum cleaner or a central vac. Mediocre cleaners just end up exhausting allergens into the air. I also use a HEPA filter on my furnace A/C.

You might be interested to know that there are also some allergen-neutralizing sprays that you can get that help with hard to clean items like couches, that can be difficult to clean. I have not had to use those: I found that the bedding and flooring changes, along with a central vac made a huge difference.

If you are allergic to pollen or mold, you might like to find some web sites that monitor environmental conditions and can warn you when the levels are high or your condition can be aggravated. I use www.mediclim.com for asthma alerts. Some of the weather sites I reference also give pollen and pollution counts. On bad days, turn on your A/C and keep your windows closed.

Works well for me. Good luck.
posted by PickeringPete at 9:16 AM on April 15, 2010

On the recommendation of my allergist, I got pillow covers and covers for the mattress and box spring. I don't find that it helped at all with my dust mite allergy. I hope you have better luck.
posted by lawhound at 9:49 AM on April 15, 2010

Yes did an allergen protected matress pad. Do you have wood floors? It did a 1,000% wonder for me. Carpet with dander was so bad I had to sit outside of my own home during the middle of the night from the stupid cats.
posted by stormpooper at 11:48 AM on April 15, 2010

This is the worst allergy season in years -- it might not just be the cats that are causing your recent flare-up. You're probably going to have to eliminate your triggers one by one and ramp up your allergy meds until your symptoms are under control.

Getting rid of all carpets made the biggest impact for the allergy sufferers in our house. We now use throw rugs where necessary and wash them once a week. Vacuum high traffic and pet areas daily and the rest of the house as needed.

Get a quality true HEPA vacuum cleaner that doesn't release dust and dander back into the environment as you're using it. (We really love our Miele.)

Rather than allergy cases for the beds, which we hadn't had much success with in the past, we chose to spend our money on new floors, the Miele vacuum, and HEPA air cleaners. We also did a complete decluttering of our house (got rid of a ton of books, excess clothing, old papers and manuals, etc), switched out our mattresses and box springs for platform beds and memory foam mattresses and banned the pets from the beds.

Usually my go-to weapons of choice for instant relief are a neti pot, Quercetin, Nasalcrom and drinking tons of water, but those things are barely making a dent this allergy season. I've had to whip out the Claritin and my inhaler for the first time in years.

You have my sympathies. Good luck!
posted by LuckySeven~ at 12:47 PM on April 15, 2010

Thanks for all the answers. I should probably have mentioned- I am allergic to dust, dust mites, various pollens, and mold, in addition to the cats. I mentioned the cats because out of all of the triggers, they're the one I actually want to have in the bedroom.
We do have all wood floors. I'm already taking Zyrtec, which has been amazing at stopping my itchy eyes, but not really gotten rid of all the nasal swelling. It sounds like I should de-clutter the bedroom, and get the cases.
Thanks for all the advice.
posted by Adridne at 4:48 PM on April 15, 2010

I have the National Allergy Ultra casings on our mattress and primary pillows, and their Basic covers on the decorative pillows and the futon in the living room. Neither one is noisy. The Ultra breathes well. Its only drawback is that it's slippery and our pillow cases slide off sometimes.

Mattress covers are the best thing for dust mite allergies, followed by getting rid of carpets. For pet dander, washing bedding frequently and using a HEPA vacuum probably does the most. For mold, let someone else rake leaves outside and don't have live plants in the house (Christmas trees can be evil with mold.) I'm just putting up with the pollen this season; other people have better advice in that regard.
posted by zinfandel at 8:29 PM on April 15, 2010

Update:
I got a Micro Protection mattress case and some Pristine Completee pillow cases from Allergy Control Products, as well as a new pillow.
Along with keeping the cats out and washing everything in hot water once a week, it's definitely improved the sleep situation. I used to fall asleep only after spending 1-2 hours tossing and turning and it's now down to more like 30 minutes. Not waking up in the middle of the night is great, too!
The mattress case doesn't crinkle, exactly, but it does amplify the normal sheet noise. Instead of " swish swish swish", it's more like "swish! swish! swish!" Which is a little annoying, but quickly becomes normal and unnoticed.
Overall, definitely worth it.
Thanks for the advice, all.
posted by Adridne at 7:35 AM on May 5, 2010