We often get asked if customers can just buy mattress encasements to cover their beds instead of getting full bed bug treatments when they have bed bug problems.
A bed bug mattress cover is like chicken soup for a cold. It doesn’t hurt and can often help.
While mattress encasements are effective complements for, and we do recommend and sell them to consumers and institutions, they are not substitutes for bed bug treatments.
Mattress covers can prevent bed bugs from getting onto a mattress (or inside a box spring), and can even lock insects inside these encasements so they can’t get out to bite victims. Mattress covers also protect your mattress- extending its life. They guard against allergens and spills on a bed. We point out that bed bugs find it easier to hide inside box springs than mattresses, so if you’re purchasing encasements, you should cover your box spring too. Moreover, you may also want to use a mattress cover on your box spring as opposed to a box spring encasement (yes there is a difference), as the material used in the mattress covers is more resilient, and box springs get wear and tear from the bed frame.
We do highlight that using a mattress encasement to seal a bed is not enough to solve a bed bug problem. Bed bugs can hide many other places on or near your bed, and elsewhere in the room. Most bed bugs live near the bed area, but that can also mean the bed’s headboard, frame, behind picture frames and mirrors on the walls, in the nightstand, in clock radios and electronics, etc.
It’s really best if you have bed bugs to use a professional pest control company that is highly experienced in solving bed bug issues to treat your whole home for the problem. Please contact Bell Environmental if we can help!