Last week-end I was doing my own spring cleaning for our rental property (if you ever want a great place to get away from it all, check this place out Cabin On A Creek).  This included all those steps in the deep cleaning blogs I wrote previously.  As my dust mite covers were coming out of the washer and into the dryer a light bulb came on over my head.

In all the times I have written about the care and cleaning of zippered dust mite covers for the mattress, pillow, and duvet I never mentioned two important things.  First, when you wash your covers, make sure the zippers are open.  Second, when you are drying the covers don’t mix laminated and microweave fabrics. 

You want the zipper open so that both the inside and the outside of the cover can be laundered.  You don’t want to mix laminated and microweave fabrics in the dryer because they have different care needs.

The laminated fabrics protect because they are a conventional fabric to which a thin urethane laminate has been fused.  Because the membrane is fused to the fabric with heat, if it is subjected to high temperatures, the fusing will release and separate from the fabric.  This will ruin the dust mite cover and this situation is not covered by warranty.  Once the fabric and laminate separate, it is almost impossible to put the cover back on the pillow or mattress.

The microweave fabrics protect because they are a specially woven fabric that is constructed with a weave so tight that allergens cannot pass through the spaces between the fibers.  There is no urethane or any other form of laminate.  These types of covers can be dried on higher temperatures.

Drying of the covers becomes important when you are laundering a mixture of both types.  Since one takes higher heat than the other, they cannot be dried together unless you want to run your dryer for a long time on a low setting. 

What I do is wash both types of covers together (with the zippers open) and then I dry the microweave fabric first in the dryer on the medium setting.  While the microweave fabric (in my case it was the AllerSoft 100% Cotton) covers were in the dryer, I had my laminated covers (in this case it was the Bed Bug proof pillow covers) drip drying while they waited for their turn in the dryer.  When the cotton covers came out, I adjusted the heat to the low setting and tumbled the laminated the covers.  Because they were almost dry from the drip dry, it only took a few minutes for them to become completely dry.

The entire washing and drying process took place while I steamed the mattress and pillows with my Vapamore and treated the carpets with a denaturing agent.  So when all the covers were dry the bed could be put back together again and the room was finished.  It was perfect timing!

Don’t you love it when a plan comes together?

Til Next Time!

Cheryl
The Allergy Store