Will Mattress Cleaning Really Kill Dust Mites

Last year Laura Johannes, wrote an article, published in the Wall Street Journal, that looked at the effectivnes of mattress cleaning to get rid of dust mites.

“A growing number of companies will come to your home and clean your mattress. Techniques vary by company, but generally they involve using either ultraviolet-C light or a dry-steam method to kill the mites. A high-powered vacuum is used to remove dead mites and their waste products.

There is scant published scientific data on the services’ effectiveness. But at least one outfit, Delray Beach, Fla.-based Hygenietech Inc., says it hired a lab to test the potency of ultraviolet light as a mattress sanitizer. According to those findings, the company claims its system removes 98% of mites and debris.” Read Complete Article

The article goes on to say while there may be something to the cleaning process but the science really does not support the claims.

The one thing that stood out for me was the part about a high powered vacuum. I don’t know about you but I have never seen a vacuum that has enough suction to clean the inside of something that is 10 to 12 inches thick. Dust mites live inside the mattress and that includes the middle. We had a powervac truck we used for duct cleaning that pulled over 10k CFM at the head and it could not pull air through a mattress.

The other thing I need to look into is the UV. My understanding of using UV light for cleaning is it does a great job on virus, bacteria and thing like mold. But kills dust mites?

Anyway read the article and make up your own mind.  I for one will keep learning more ways to prevent dust mites and their allergens from taking over and just keep my mattress covered and wash my sheets weekly.

One thought on “Will Mattress Cleaning Really Kill Dust Mites

  1. You’ve got it right on this one. Couldn’t have put it better if I tried.

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