Purotex mattresses, anyone with experience? Any views?

Looking at mattresses right now and came across some mattresses with a Purotex cover, essentially, the cover is filled with micro capsules of probiotic bacteria and they eat dust mites, mold and moisture thus reducing allergies.

Any views on this guys? I’m a bit skeptical, especially because I am wondering what happens to the bacteria, do they just die out after a while? And what the side effects are?

Hi Facehair,

Purotex is a textile treatment that uses five natural bacteria or probiotics that are microencapsulated into a material and designed to attack dust mite and other allergens. Movement in the mattress breaks open the microcapsules and they self-activate, absorbing humidity as they do (a good thing for helping to keep the dust mite population down as well). The probiotics aren’t there to eat dust mites, but attack what they leave behind and what people can have an allergic reaction to. The allergenic potential of house dust mites rests with the mites themselves and with their fecal pellets. Their allergens belong to various protein families that contribute to allergenicity

There was a study conducted on Purotex in Europe that has been completed, but no results are yet available. Purotex is a Bakaert brand, and most commonly available in Europe.

Personally, I’d be more inclined to do my best to keep my sleeping area as clean as possible by frequently washing sheets and keeping the skin cell population as low as possible, minimizing the food source of the dust mite, and also keeping the relative humidity low (dust mites like 70-80% relative humidity levels). Here are a few other tips from the Allergy and Allergy Foundation of America about dust mites. I’d be interested in learning about the results of the Purotex study once they become available.

While having the Purotex might be a nice “bonus” to a mattress, I’d personally be more inclined to focus on the quality of the comfort and support materials contained within a mattress.

Phoenix