subject: Protecting Mattresses With Mattress Pads [print this page] Many people think that they do not need mattress pads, but all people should consider using them on their beds. They protect mattresses from damage and make them last longer. A mattress pad may seem like a superfluous item that stores encourage customers to buy in order to increase profits, but it is actually a bedroom essential.
A mattress pad looks like a white fitted sheet that is a little thick on top. It fits tightly around the mattress so that the real fitted sheet can be placed over it. The mattress pad will not be felt by the person who is sleeping on the bed; a mattress pad is not meant to make the mattress softer or more comfortable. It is supposed to absorb water and other fluids that could damage a mattress so badly that it needs to be replaced.
Mattress pads are great investments for women who shower at night. When they go to bed with wet hair, they are soaking their pillows, sheets and mattresses with water and then lying on top of all of that moisture. The water is not able to evaporate. Mold will eventually develop in areas that are subjected to these constant sources of moisture. Pillows and sheets can be washed with bleach in hot water to kill the germs and bacteria, but a mattress cannot. It will eventually start to smell bad, and the internal structures will begin to decay and break down. Water damage can be prevented by simply using a mattress pad. It can be washed with the pillows and sheets and then placed back on the mattress.
A mattress pad is a must-have for every college student who will be living in a dorm. Dormitory mattresses are rarely new, and obviously they are never cleaned between semesters. They are soaked through with the natural skin secretions, dead skin cells and dried sweat of countless other students. Many young adults embark upon phases of experimentation when they enter college. Much of that experimentation occurs on their dorm beds, which are then unceremoniously assigned to unsuspecting freshmen the following semester. In an instance like this, a mattress pad protects the student's sheets and provides peace of mind. The student can take pride in knowing that she will not be contributing to the cesspool that is surely brewing in the innards of her mattress.
The same logic applies to subletting. People who stay in sublets in major cities will usually be using the furniture that is already in the room. The mattress may have been there for years and been used by several people. A sublet mattress carries with it all of the unsavory possibilities of a dorm mattress, with the potential addition of bedbugs. There has been an epidemic of bedbugs in New York City for the past few years. One of the biggest sources of bedbugs is used mattresses. Since the cost of living in New York is so high, young people sometimes eschew hygiene in favor of affordability. They buy their furniture in secondhand stores or take it for free from street corners. There is no way of knowing for sure where the mattress in a sublet was purchased. A mattress pad will help to keep the bugs inside the mattress and away from one's sheets and skin.
