If you have to deal with a bed bug infestation, one of your major concerns is obviously going to be eliminating the bloodsucking creatures from your bed. Washing and drying at high temperatures will eradicate any bugs or eggs clinging to your sheets.

While sheets and pillow cases are easy to launder, you will still be left with the problem of possible infestation of your mattress, box spring and pillows.

With your sheets safely laundered, you need to turn your attention to the rest of your bed. The best (and most people would say the easiest) way to kill bed bugs that might be hiding in these items is to encase them. Specially manufactured bed bug proof encasements are available for your mattress, box spring and pillows.

The way bedding encasements work is simple. They completely seal each item of bedding. This prevents bed bugs getting into your mattress etc. If there are any bugs or eggs already in there, they won’t be able to get out in order to feed on your blood and they will die.

The key things to look for when choosing bedding encasements are:

1. Tightly woven fabric
2. Specialist zip fasteners
3. “Breathable” qualities
4. Cotton layer to add comfort
5. Ease of laundering
6. Good fit
7. Manufacturer’s guarantee

Let’s look at each of the seven keys in more detail.

1. Check the encasement fabric and the fastenings

Bed bugs are small, the young ones are about the size of a poppy seed, and adults are only about the same length as a grain of rice, so you can imagine how easy they would find it to sneak through any fabric not sufficiently closely woven. For this reason, you need to make sure that you purchase bedding encasements made of the right kind of fabric, with the correct sort of anti- bed bug seams.

2. Look out for specially designed anti-bed bug zip fasteners.

You don’t want to have fastening that will let you down; the fastenings need to be completely bug-proof. The encasements should have special zippers that won’t let bed bugs through and that won’t come undone during normal use.

3. Make sure any bed bug proof mattress encasement you buy has breathable qualities.

As well as being up to the job of keeping bed bugs out of your bed, mattress encasements need to be comfortable. Don’t be tempted to economise and use cheap plastic materials to seal up your mattress. Sleeping on this kind of material would cause you to become uncomfortably hot. You would sweat as a result and, without a sufficiently absorbent outer layer, you would find yourself lying in a pool of perspiration.

4. The importance of cotton fabric

Natural cotton or terry cotton fabrics are used by encasement manufacturers to add to your comfort. Cotton is a natural fibre and has the ability to absorb moisture. An outer layer of cotton fabric will be bonded to a waterproof membrane, so you will be sleeping in a comfortably dry environment.

5. Check the laundering instructions

Look for mattress and pillowcase encasements that can be easily laundered. You don’t want to be forced to sacrifice the enjoyment of fresh clean bedding as a result of your battle to eliminate bed bugs. The best quality bedding encasements can be easily machine washed and tumble dried.

6. Make sure you get the right size encasement for your mattress

For the sake of comfort you won’t want a mattress encasement that is too big as it would be likely to move around and make uncomfortable creases for you to lie on. Equally, a too-small encasement is not a good idea, as stretching it to fit your mattress would put undue strain on the seams and zip fasteners.

7. Look for bedding encasements that carry a manufacturer’s guarantee

You want your bedding encasements to be reliable and – let’s face it – buying good mattress, pillow and box spring encasements is going to cost quite a bit. Look for encasements that carry a full replacement guarantee. The better quality bed bug proof mattress encasements carry a manufacturers’ 10 year guarantee.

Bedding encasements are not only useful in the aftermath of a pest infestation, they are useful to prevent infestation occurring. They are also beneficial to people who suffer from various allergies and medical conditions such as eczema.

Author Bio: Good quality bed bug proof mattress encasements are manufactured to fit all sizes. You will find everything from king size mattress encasements down to crib size mattress encasements. Visit http://getridofbedbugsnow.info to find out more about eradicating bed bugs.

Category: Home Management
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