Dust Mite Guide › Dust Mite Mattress Covers: What to Look For
The “best” dust mite cover isn’t a brand. It’s a full zip encasement, made of fabric tight enough to hold mite allergen in, that you’ll actually keep on your bed. Allergy specialists recommend zippered, allergen-proof covers on the mattress and pillows[2][3], and woven microfiber with a mean pore size under 10 microns can block the main mite allergen.[1] Here is the checklist, and an honest look at what covers can and can’t do.
Mattresses, box springs and pillows are major sources of mites and mite allergen. An allergen-impermeable encasing lets you keep an existing mattress and traps the mites and allergen already inside.[1] It also keeps new allergen from building up in the mattress you sleep on. In a double-blind trial, the impermeable covers provided a 98% barrier against allergen, compared with 15% for the placebo covers, and mite allergen levels in the mattress fell by a factor of 2.6 over a year.[4] For why the mattress matters, see How to Get Rid of Dust Mites in a Mattress.
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Pillows are a major source of mites and allergen, and a non-allergenic or foam pillow is not a substitute for covering it.[1] ACAAI and the American Lung Association both advise covering pillows as well as the mattress.[2][3] The rhinitis trial covered the mattress, pillow and duvet.[4] Anything that isn’t encased, such as blankets, sheets and pillowcases, remains a potential source of exposure, so wash it regularly.[1]
Covers reduce exposure, but the evidence that covers alone improve symptoms is weak:
So treat a cover as one piece of the plan, not a cure. See What Humidity Kills Dust Mites? for the humidity step, and the Dust Mite Guide for the whole plan. Not sure mites are the problem? See Dust Mite Allergy Symptoms.
Wash the cover as its label says. For sheets, blankets and pillowcases, the practice parameter advises washing weekly, and says high temperature is not necessary.[1] ACAAI and the American Lung Association also say to wash weekly in hot water, around 120°F.[2][3]
They reduce the allergen in the mattress that reaches you: in a randomized trial, mattress allergen was about 2.6 times lower with impermeable covers. But that trial found no improvement in rhinitis symptoms after a year, and a Cochrane review of asthma trials found no clinical benefit. Guidelines recommend covers as one part of a combined plan, not on their own.
The practice parameter says woven microfiber fabric with a mean pore size smaller than 10 microns can effectively block the main dust mite allergen, Der p 1. It calls mean pore size a useful rule of thumb but only a surrogate measure; what matters in the end is whether allergen can pass through the fabric.
Guidelines recommend encasings: allergen-impermeable covers that enclose the mattress, usually with a zipper, to trap the mites and allergen already inside. Check that a product is sold as an allergen-proof encasement, and that it says how it was tested, rather than assuming any mattress cover will do the job.
Mattresses, box springs and pillows are all major sources of mites and mite allergen, and allergy specialists recommend covering mattresses and pillows. Non-allergenic or foam pillows are not a substitute for a cover.
Follow the label. The practice parameter says woven encasings are washable but do not need routine washing because they do not collect allergen on the surface. Sheets, blankets and pillowcases, which are not encased, should be washed weekly.
Get the free, practical plan for your whole home: Read the Dust Mite Guide →
This page is for education only and is not medical advice.