Temporary mattress protector

This is my first post but I have done a lot of reading here and I appreciate all the great advice here.

I recently bought a 9" latex mattress from Foam Sweet Foam and also bought the protector from them. The mattress seems great but I am not sure I want to keep the protector since it seems pretty thick and so might be hard to fully wash.

  1. My question is whether I can use a “homemade” protector for the time being? I was thinking of putting a cotton blanket in between two flannel sheets until I got another protector (all things I have at the home right now). I have not slept on my bed yet because I am worried about ruining it without a protector and I really want to try it out. Would two or three flannel sheets work just as well. I don’t have to worry about urine (no kids/dogs/cats), just sweat and natural body oils.

  2. Is the St Dormier mattress protector thinner than the one from FSM (which they claim is 1/4" thick)?

  3. Has anyone gotten bed bugs from a mattress protector? The thing that I am worried about with these quilted mattress protectors is if someone with bed bugs bought one and then returned it (and then the company resells it), then they could hide inside of the wool filling and even when drying it on hot, the insulation of the foam batting could protect them. Perhaps I am being crazy but I had bed bugs 2 years ago and never want them ever again.

  4. The other option is a wool puddle pad (the bed bugs would have nowhere to hide so I could dry them on hot) but I am not sure where s a good place to buy them since I cannot find much information on the places that sell them. Are these usually 2 sheets of wool stitched together? That would give a place for bed bugs to hide. I think these need to have a cotton sheet or blanket or protector on top of them?

Hi shellylh,

Congratulations on your new mattress :slight_smile:

As you know I think you made a great quality/value choice.

Most mattress protectors are a personal item that aren’t returnable once they are opened but it can be machine washed in cold water.

There is more about the pros and cons of different types of mattress protectors in post #89 here and your homemade protector would probably be somewhat similar to one of the cotton types of protectors. It would be less water resistant than the wool quilted protectors or the protectors with membranes but it would offer some protection that would be “good enough” for many people but not for others.

I don’t know myself but hopefully someone that has owned both of them and compared them will see your post and share their comments about how they compare. If you compare the amount of wool in each of them it should give you some idea about their relative thickness.

Companies wouldn’t generally resell personal items and in most cases they don’t allow returns either once they are opened. It’s certainly not something that I’ve heard of and there are many other ways to get bed bugs that would be much more likely. Bed bugs tend to hide in cracks in the walls or in seams or in foundations or many other hiding places in the bedroom and near where people sleep but not so much in the bedding itself (see the chart here). The best solution if you are concerned about bed bugs would be to use a mattress encasement that protects against bed bugs (see the links at the end of the mattress protector post I linked).

The post I linked also has some sources for wool puddle pads but these wouldn’t protect your mattress from bed bugs.

Phoenix

Thanks Pheonix!

It sounds like my temporary solution may work ok for a week while I am waiting for another pad as long as I keep my water bottle away from the bed and keep the air conditioner on so that I don’t sweat too much. Will several layers of cotton make me sweat more?

I thought about just going ahead and trying out the mattress pad from Foam Sweet Foam but now I am worried that it might have some mold/mildew in it so I may just have to throw it out (since I will alwasy worry that there is mildew on the inside). The problem is that I got it about a week ago and immediately put it in the hot dryer for a couple of hours to kill any potential bed bugs (I do this with all clothing, sheets, blankets, etc. to be cautious). I was worried that the bed bugs wouldn’t be killed so I through the hot blanket into a garbage bag and sealed it up. This was a mistake. Since the protector was warm at the time, I fear that there could have been condensation in the closed up bag, causing a bit of mildew to form on the inside. It turns out that keeping natural fibers like cotton and wool in a closed up plastic environment isn’t a great idea.

I may go ahead and order the St Dernier since people seem to like it quite a bit.

If one ordered a puddle pad, would it be sufficient to use a flannel sheet on top of it or should one get another cotton mattress protector to use over it.

Has anyone tried just using a wool blanket instead of a puddle pad? Perhaps they are too thin?

Hi shellylh,

Probably not because cotton is very breathable and does a good job or wicking moisture as well. There is more about all the many variables that can affect sleeping temperature in post #2 here.

Wool is also a very breathable material and also stores moisture inside the fiber itself so it’s very resistant to mold and mildew and this isn’t something that I would have any concern about with a mattress protector that has quilted wool covered with cotton.

Hopefully you didn’t ruin the protector by putting it in a hot dryer for a couple of hours (they recommend a medium dryer setting).

The previous post I linked includes my comments about using a puddle pad with either a sheet or a cotton protector on top of it. While it’s not waterproof it would be water resistant and it would certainly be “good enough” for most people.

It would depend on the specifics of the blanket but a wool blanket is normally woven rather than needle punched or felted to densify it so it wouldn’t be as water resistant and it also may feel a little more prickly and not as soft as a protector or puddle pad so if you decide to go in this direction then it may be a good idea to felt the blanket.

Phoenix