Bed bugs feed on human blood, and do so during the nighttime hours when we are sleeping. They like to stay close to their food source (you), and so make their homes in our beds. Between 85 and 90% of the bed bugs in an infested home will be found on or within 15 feet of the bed. Using a bed bug mattress cover can help minimize such infestations.A bed bug mattress cover, also called a mattress encasement, is a tightly woven case that keeps bed bugs from infesting your mattress or box spring. Once it is installed, bed bugs already in the furniture cannot escape, and will eventually die inside the encasement. Bed bugs on the outside of the mattress cover will not be able to live and breed in the mattress, since they can't penetrate the barrier of the encasement. Bed bugs are easier to spot on a mattress cover, too, because there are no deep seams or crevices where bed bugs can hide.Bed bug mattress covers can be purchased for as little as $20. Many pest control supply companies sell them on the internet.
Make sure you choose one that is specifically designed for bed bug protection. If you have both a mattress and a box spring, you'll need to purchase two mattress covers. Adult bed bugs can live for well over a year without a blood meal. You'll need to leave the mattress covers on for at least that long to be sure all resident bed bugs are dead.If you have bed bugs, many pest management professionals and entomologists recommend encasing your mattresses in high-quality encasements that are designed and tested to keep bed bugs in or out. If you do not yet have bed bugs, bed bug encasements may be a good preventive measure for keeping bed bugs out of your box springs and mattress. The use of bed bug encasements is not without controversy. We are aware of several highly respected UK bed bug experts (namely Richard Naylor of the University of Sheffield and David Cain of Bed-bugs.co.uk), who don’t recommend encasing mattresses. However, at this writing (8/2011), I can’t think of any North American PCOs or entomologists who generally recommend against bed bug encasements.
The design of beds may play into this: keep in mind that UK beds tend not to have US-style box springs, and that box springs are notorious for harboring bed bugs. And British-style divan beds tend to have wheels attached, which makes them impossible to encase. The argument for encasement use: The argument against bed bug encasements: Click the following link to read discussions tagged as being about “encasements” on our forums. My own sense gathered from the input of various experts is that the vulnerability of North American-style box springs means they should be securely encased. (As you’ll see below, some experts recommend this be done with mattress encasements, which may be better-designed in some cases than those marketed as box spring encasements.) And while using a mattress encasement does not prevent you from getting bed bugs in your home, if kept intact, it will keep them on the encasement surface and prevent bed bugs from harboring on and leaving fecal stains on the mattress itself — and the staining in particular is something many people would like to avoid, especially on a nice or newer mattress.
If your pest management professional does recommend encasement use for your box springs and/or mattresses, make sure you are using ones which have been independently tested to keep bed bugs in or out (more on that below), make sure they are installed correctly and carefully, and inspect them regularly and carefully for tears. On the other hand, if your pest management professional does not agree with the use of bed bug encasements, and they seem to know what they’re doing, then I would recommend you follow their protocols. You need to encase both the mattress and the box spring (if you have one). North American style box springs are even more vulnerable than most mattresses to harboring bed bugs. (Bedbugs can get “inside” a box springs, whereas they will only get inside a torn mattress.) You should obtain bed bug encasements before the pest control operator comes to treat your home, but I recommend not putting them on until treatment occurs; many PCOs will want to treat/remove bed bugs from your mattress before it is encased.
Keep in mind that you need to be careful with any encasement to avoid tearing. If you have a bed frame with sharp edges, put tape or felt around them to avoid having them poke or rub against the encasement fabric. While encasements are available at all kinds of retailers (and from many pest control operators), they are not all alike. A few years ago, Richard Cooper performed tests comparing six encasements which were being marketed for protection against bed bugs: Protect-A-Bed AllerZip with BugLock Zip, National Allergy Elegance, National Allergy Classic, Mattress Safe, CleanRest and Bed Wetting Direct. You can watch the videos and read more about the tests here. To summarize, in the first experiment, Cooper found that all six encasements kept first instar nymph bedbugs (the smallest life stage) from escaping through the zipper teeth of the encasement. In the second experiment, only three encasements (Protect-A-Bed, National Allergy Elegance, and Mattress Safe) kept first instar nymphs from escaping from a completely closed zipper end stop (the place where the zipper closes).
National Allergy Classic, Bed Wetting Direct, and Clean Rest encasements failed this second test. And in the final experiment, only one of the bed bug encasements, Protect-A-Bed’s AllerZip, kept bed bugs from escaping even if the zipper was not completely closed. This gives added protection, since even if the zipper is open by one to two teeth, bedbugs will be kept in. In fact, Cooper says in the third video (here) that the Protect-A-Bed bed bug encasements have to be opened 3.5 inches or more in order for bed bugs to escape. Otherwise, the BugLock (TM) design feature keeps bed bugs in. There have been some developments since those tests were conducted. MattressSafe encasements has a zipper mechanism which it did not seem to have during the tests described above. Mattress Safe has passed independent entomologists’ tests, which you can consult here. SafeRest Encasements are another newer product which was tested in Dec. 2010 by Snell Scientifics (who also conducted studies for Mattress Safe and BugStop).
You can buy SafeRest encasements at Bed Bug Supply and view the testing data which is linked from there also. BugStop Elite encasements (sold in Canada by the Allergy Guy) have also passed independent entomologist’s tests (conducted by Snell Scientifics). Protect-a-Bed: This article about bed bug encasements from the Wall Street Journal describes the tests the Protect-a-Bed AllerZip encasements were put through: It’s important to buy a good-quality cover, one with a zipper that stays in place and doesn’t have large gaps between the teeth, scientists say. The Protect-A-Bed, made by JAB Distributors Inc., of Northbrook, Ill., uses a zipper with tiny teeth and a “bug lock” system, a fabric channel with foam backing that keeps bugs inside even if the zipper pulls open slightly. In developing the Protect-A-Bed, JAB first tested fabric to make sure bugs couldn’t bite through (they couldn’t), then hired an independent lab to put starved, live bedbugs inside the zippered covers and tempt them with a human leg at regular intervals.