You don’t have to be a financial wizard to know that a home is a huge, expensive investment. That being said, it can also be one of the best and smartest investments you ever make. Now, it wouldn’t be very smart to invest a whole lot of money in a home and not protect it to the fullest of your abilities. If you aren’t currently utilizing
bed bug toppers or covers, you aren’t doing just that.
Bed Bug Mattress Covers
Not utilizing
bed bug mattress covers is like leaving your front door unlocked in the middle of the night. No, scratch that! It’s like leaving your door unlocked and wide open. That’s what you are doing for bed bugs. You are giving them free access to your mattress. Given, the mattress is the insect’s number one go-to hiding spot. You can see how troubling the situation becomes. Ninety percent of bed bug infestation cases in a home target the host’s bedroom. This is mainly due to the fact, the bedroom provides the bed bugs with quick and easy access to essential blood meals.
The bed bug cover are an excellent tool to utilize. It will not only eradicate existing bed bugs but also deter new bed bugs from infesting the mattress. The mattress protector can be an excellent prevention tool as well as an extermination tool. So, what are these toppers, how do they work, and how do you choose one best suited for your home?
What Is A Bed Bug Mattress Topper?
The bed bug mattress encasement, topper, protector, and cover, all refer to the same bed bug prevention tool. Contrary to belief, each mattress protector has a unique design. Some of which over partial protection, while others offer full protection from bed bugs.
A mattress topper is exactly as its name entails. The design offers partial protection against bed bugs. The topper covers the top half of the mattress, which is how it gets the name “topper.” It only makes sense the percentage of protection offered by the mattress is approximately 50 percent.
As pest control experts, we do not recommend a mattress topper as a bed bug protector for your mattress. If the topper is not capable of offer 100 percent protection, it will be rendered a useless bed bug deterrent.
Choosing The Right Product For Your Home
Consumers have several mattress protector designs at their disposal. As mentioned previously, the mattress topper delivers 50 percent protection against bed bugs. Then, there is the mattress encasement, which delivers 100 percent protection against bed bugs. As a mattress protector, the encasement is the best prevention against bed bugs. Why? First, and foremost, the percentage of protection is the maximum, compared to the mattress topper.
You must decide which design will suit your needs and preferences the most. However, we continue to stress the importance of full protection against mattress infiltration by bed bugs.
Does It Fully Encase?
It depends on which mattress protector you are referring to. For example, the mattress encasement fully encases the mattress. The topper, on the other hand, does not encase, but only protects the top half of the mattress.
Does It Properly Seal?
Again, it depends on the design. While an encasement fully engulfs the mattress, it may or may not create a seal. Manufacturers utilize a variety of fasteners – ties, Velcro, zippers, and buttons – for their mattress encasement designs. Do all of these fasteners work? Of course, they work, but do they work to prevent bed bug infiltration? No, most of them do not create a full seal to keep bed bugs from making contact with the mattress inside the encasement.
The only mattress encasement fastener designed to keep bed bugs from infiltrating your mattress is the zipper. However, there is one exception to this theory. This exception is related to the zipper design. Have you ever compared zippers utilized for mattress encasement designs? If not, you will not know which designs can create a perfect seal.
To create a full seal, the zipper must be integrated perfectly into the mattress encasement. There should be no gaps or other openings that will interfere with the fastener’s ability to create a full seal.
Has It Been Tested?
How many things look good on paper or seem good in theory, but fail when applied to a real-life situation? More than you’d probably like to admit. Unfortunately, this is also the case for mattress toppers. Just because the theory seems good, it doesn’t mean that the product will stand up once put in the field. This is why you only want to choose toppers that have been tested and tried in various scenarios. The best products will be put through extensive testing and scenarios.
Is It Toxin-Free?
Most of these products are designed with either polymer or plastic. While there is nothing wrong with this, these products can sometimes be built with toxins and other harsh chemicals. You have to remember, you are sleeping with this product. Exposing yourself to these toxins can and will be dangerous. Luckily, you can just simply air the mattress out for two or three days, and you should be good to go. This is just something to keep in mind.
Do Mattress Toppers Work?
If you are still concerned with mattress toppers and their validity, you can always do more research. When conducting research, you will discover a mixture of conflicting information, which is contributed to paid product reviews.
