How to seal in allergens with a clear coating?

February 19, 2008 7:17 AM

Roommate purchased a new Japanese tatami bed this weekend. He woke up with one of the worst allergic reactions in his life. He didn't think about it until afterwards, obviously, but he's highly allergic to the hay material the tatami is crafted out of. Help me brainstorm ideas to resolve the issue.

Unfortunately, the store will not accept a return, all sales final. He absolutely adores the Japanese-style simplicity and would love to be able to keep it. I wanted to get information about possibly covering the whole tatami mattress in some sort of clear varnish or lacquer that would permanently seal the allergens in, but retain the cool look of the tatami. Is that even possible? Would it be something we could do or are there any places that might be able to do that for us (Oakland area)?

For information sake, the tatami mattress looks like this. Thanks!

posted by Nerro to home & garden (9 comments total)

Don't muck about with things like this - he can't keep it. There is a non-zero chance that this mattress will kill him.

To prevent allergens escaping you would need to have an airtight seal around the entire mattress, which would doubtless significantly affect its feel - and there's always the chance of it bursting, and again, possible death.
posted by thparkth at 7:22 AM on February 19, 2008

If his allergic reaction was that severe, I too would very much advise against trying to find a work-around. Sell the mat on Craigslist and be thankful that he was able to discover this allergy in California instead of some rural nowhere in the 3rd world.
posted by Nelsormensch at 7:25 AM on February 19, 2008

Is he sleeping directly on the tatami?? Tatami really itches your skin if you even sit on it with bare skin for too long; my floors are tatami, I never sit on them with exposed skin for long.

He should be sleeping on some kind of thin futon, perhaps. Although I've never personally seen someone sleep on one tatami mat, usually they just cover the floor.
posted by fan_of_all_things_small at 7:26 AM on February 19, 2008

Yeah, I would go for craigslist - getting a 50% return on it (which seems like a reasonable CL deal for a like-new item of this sort) is better than nothing.
posted by bettafish at 7:29 AM on February 19, 2008

Yeah, if you read the description on the link you provided, it says "The traditional tatami mat used as a base board for futon beds". It is the base, not the actual sleeping surface.

Get a piece of 3 inch-thick memory foam cut slightly smaller than the frame to lay on top, cover with a sheet. Ta-daa!
posted by hermitosis at 7:40 AM on February 19, 2008

Is he sleeping directly on the tatami??

Speaking as someone with severe allergies, I would react to a tatami bed even if a futon mattress was on top of it.

The reaction doesn't necessarily mean he was in direct contact with the mats, just near them. And allergies aren't something to mess around with.
posted by Kellydamnit at 8:00 AM on February 19, 2008

I wish you would post what "allergic" symptoms he was having, so we knew whether or not it was just a skin irritation like fan_of_all_things_small mentioned.
posted by hermitosis at 8:40 AM on February 19, 2008

To clarify fan_of_all_things_small's comment above, you need to get a Japanese style futon to lay over the mat/mattress. Not to be confused with a Western style futon.

Sorry if that is obvious to everyone else, but never knew about Western style futons until I was in college.
posted by spec80 at 12:25 PM on February 19, 2008

spec80, he did have the Japanese style futon and was laying on top of that -- still had the major reaction.

Luckily, the store was nice enough to make an exception to their normal policy so he was able to return it today.

Thanks!
posted by Nerro at 6:30 PM on February 19, 2008