If you are like most people, you get around six to eight hours of sleep every night. Over the course of time, those hours add up. In fact, the average human will spend around one-third of their life in bed, asleep. Since you spend so much time in bed, it is important that you keep your mattress as clean and comfortable as possible. Impermeable mattress covers and fitted sheets are a perfect way to prevent water and mold damage, dust mites, bed bugs, and other mattress-related issues that might hinder a good night's sleep.

The benefits of using an impermeable mattress cover are numerous and varied. One of the most obvious reasons to cover your mattress is to prevent water damage and, consequently, mold damage. Water damage isn't limited to the occasional spill in bed. Rain from an open window can also accumulate over time and cause prolonged damage. Mold and mildew can grow on an uncovered mattress in cool, damp environments and be quite a pain to get rid of. And parents know that it is definitely worth investing in a mattress cover if you have young children. Bed-wetting and accidents are the most common reasons parents throw away mattresses otherwise in good condition.

Mattress covers are also a great way to increase the longevity of your mattress. Impermeable covers are invaluable tools in keeping your mattress clean and like new. Most mattresses are thrown away because of simple wear-and-tear type damage. Mattress covers help prevent this damage and extend the life of your mattress.

Impermeable mattress covers help decrease allergy attacks among seasonal allergy sufferers. Pet dander is one the biggest contributing factors to common seasonal allergies. Dust and pet dander can build up in a mattress over time and aggravate allergy symptoms. By encasing your mattress in an impermeable cover, however, you prevent pet dander and dust build-up and lower the risk of serious allergic attacks.

Dust mites are another major reason to invest in impermeable mattress covers. A two-year-old mattress can be home anywhere from 100,000 to 10 million dust mites, and while the mites themselves are harmless, their shed skin and fecal matter can cause bronchial irritation and inflammation in asthma and allergy sufferers. Mattress covers prevent mite infestation by cutting off their primary food source ?shed human skin cells.

A far more serious reason to invest in an impermeable mattress cover is the rise of bed bug infestations happening today. Bed bugs are very small parasites that thrive in temperate climates and feed off the blood of humans. They are primarily active at dawn, and are common in most every part of the world. Bed bugs inject an oily, odiforous liquid into the skin of the host it is feeding from, causing swelling, itching, and other irritating skin conditions. A female bed bug can lay up to 500 eggs during her lifetime. These eggs take approximately one to two weeks to hatch, and the hatchlings begin feeding immediately. Bed bugs take around four to five weeks to reach maturity, at which point they become reproductively active and start the whole cycle again.

Because bed bugs are extremely resilient in all stages of life, it can be fairly difficult and frustrating to get rid of an infestation. The best way to deal with bed bugs is to not let them take over your mattress to begin with. Impermeable mattress covers help keep bed bugs populations down immensely. Like dust mites, bed bugs need their human hosts to survive. By using an impermeable mattress cover or fitted sheet you effectively cut off their food sources, eliminating a large portion of the population.

Mattress covers exist in a number with varying features. Impermeable mattress covers made of non-organic materials are the most effective you can buy. Look for covers that are also waterproof as this will keep the moisture and dampness away from the mattress. Try to avoid mattress covers with zippers as dust mites and bed bugs are often small enough to crawl through zipper openings, no matter how slight.

A good mattress cover will help increase the longevity of your mattress and provide a clean, mite- and bed-bug-free place for you to get those much needed hours of sleep.

~Ben Anton, 2008