Keep your bed fresh to avoid the bed bugs!

It doesn’t matter what style your bed is –Metal, Leather, Divan or Wooden beds can all suffer from the infestation of bed bugs if you don’t take proper care of them!

The Daily Mail reported today that 1 in 8 people are currently sleeping in bedding that has not been washed for over a month.

Tracy Emin Wooden Bed

It is said that many people cited lack of time and washing costs as the reason for not changing their bed clothes and although these seem like honest reasons for this, what is the cost to those sleeping in the dirty laundry and the bed they sleep in?

Well an infestation of bed bugs can cause a skin reactions, psychological effects and allergic symptoms. The bugs themselves can live for up to a year in your mattress and bite you once every 5 days. Once an infestation has broken out the biting and irritation can be constant and both this and the infestation can be hard to control. Calling in an expert pest controller is really your only option at this stage.

However, long before things have got this bad you could take preventative measures to stop the bugs getting there in the first place. Simple measures like cleaning your mattress, leaving the sheets to air during the day, not eating in bed and changing the sheets regularly will all assist in keep bed bugs at bay. Regular vacuuming of the room, dust removal and general cleanliness are also helpful factors.

The newspaper showed Tracy Emins Turner Prize winning unmade bed as an example, and although most of us don’t have a bedroom like this, there are clearly lots of people who need to improve their bedroom cleanliness.

Interestingly the report also confirmed that many people also sleep on mattresses that are over 10 years old. As I have mentioned before, old mattresses are a common reason for back and neck pain as well as being a principal culprit in causing poor sleep patterns. Some people hoover their mattress in order to assist with cleanliness and remove any dust or skin particles that can get stuck over time.

Of course, if you have an old bed then purchasing a new one is often a good way of starting your journey towards a good night of sleep. And if keeping bed bugs at bay is your principal concern then you might want to get a lightweight and easy to clean frame to make hygiene practices far easier for you.