Do Mattress Covers Stop Bed Bugs?
Bed bugs are usually associated with filthy living conditions. However, as most people don’t know, these pests can live even in the cleanest living spaces. As long as there are a stable food source and an untouched breeding area, a bed bug infestation can start.
Among the common breeding and hiding places of these pests are mattresses. The fact that you stay longer on your bed without moving too much give these critters the ease of feeding off you and hide conveniently in the seams and folds of your mattress. So, how do you prevent these critters from biting you as you try to get a night of restful sleep? Mattress covers.
Will Regular Covers Protect Your Mattress from Bed Bugs?
Some people are familiar with using covers for mattresses. These covers are typically designed to protect the top part of the mattress, its sides, or even its bottom.
Though these ordinary covers may look that promising in protecting you from bed bugs, these can do little or even nothing to stop bed bugs. Aside from the limited protection, most of these covers are only made with thin materials. Since it is thin, bed bugs can easily puncture through the cover and still reach you.
Also, these covers usually have more seams and folds where bugs can hide. This will only allow the bugs to reach you easier as they can quickly come out of hiding while you’re asleep and hide right after every meal.
Without knowing, your cover is already harbouring adult bugs, nymphs, and eggs. This will only worsen the infestation in your home and result in a full-blown infestation. In the long run, it may require you to get professional bed bug treatment to handle the situation.
What’s the Right Solution for Your Bed Bug Problem in Your Mattress and Box Spring?
There are two kinds of covers that you can use for your mattress. One is the regular cover that you only place on top of your mattress while the other is specifically designed for bed bugs. This special cover is a bed bug mattress encasement.
A bed bug mattress cover is a tightly woven fabric encasement that surrounds your entire mattress. There are also box spring covers or encasements that are made from the same type of fabric and are also bed bug proof.
These encasements don’t immediately kill bed bugs, but they help in preventing them to escape from your bed and protect you from getting bed bugs bites. Bed bugs are also easier to see on the surface of this type of covers.
Since the fabric is tightly woven, all the bugs, nymphs, and eggs left inside the mattress will all EVENTUALLY die. There’s an emphasis on the word “eventually” since it will take a long period before all the bugs die in it.
Aside from trapping bed bugs, it can also prevent the bugs from getting in your mattress or box spring. The surface of bed bug encasements is made to prevent bed bugs from getting in and out. This means that you won’t be expecting more bugs getting in the mattress and continue infesting it.
If you’re only relying on this cover to deal with the bugs in your mattress and the box, you’ll have to wait for at least a year to starve them out. They might go into hibernation or a dormant state for a couple of months without food and still live. This is why you have to keep the encasement on for a maximum of 2 years.
If you have to re-use the cover to another mattress, you have to wash and dry it at a temperature of 140°F. This will assure you that it is free from any bugs and eggs that were stuck on it while it was being used on the other mattress.
Benefits of Using Bed Bug Mattress Protectors
These mattress encasements come with a lot of benefits unlike the use of regular covers. Some of its main benefits are the following:
1. Encasements help in dealing with existing infestations.
You can use this even during an infestation. It can trap those that are already in the mattress and prevent new ones from getting in. Those that are trapped inside won’t be able to feed, so they die in the long run.
2. These covers help you in confirming an infestation in your home.
Though these covers won’t stop the bugs from getting inside your home, the covers can help prevent the critters from hiding on the seams and folds of your mattress. These critters are also easier to see on these covers, so confirming an infestation is easier.
3. It can also protect your new mattress from being infested.
If you are moving to a new place, this can protect your mattress from getting infested. Most of these encasements are not only bite-proof but are also stain and waterproof. It can protect your mattress from bloodstains or fecal spots. Since it is waterproof, you can save your mattress from leaks and spills.
4. Getting a high-quality mattress can also protect you from dust mites and other allergens.
What makes these covers more interesting is that there are those made to protect users from dust mites and allergens. This means that you get maximum protection not only from the bloodsucking pests.
To get all of these benefits, you must spend some time finding high-quality options for your mattress. Make sure that you also look for an encasement for your box spring and bed bug pillow covers to get complete protection for your bed. This will give you the advantage of being protected not only from the pesky critters but also from other allergens.
Using It with Other Bed Bug Solutions
Keep in mind that using these covers is not the only solution that you should use for dealing with bed bugs. These can only protect your bed and you from getting bites.
When dealing with an infestation, you have to combine the use of various solutions around your home. You can use these covers before, during, or even after any treatment that you choose for killing bed bugs.
There are various solutions that you can use on your own to handle an infestation. However, for uncontrollable situations, calling for experts is your last resort.
