I’m always blown away by how many college students don’t know what a mattress protector or encasement is. If you hate sleeping on nasty stuff and don’t want to worry about damaging the school’s mattress, then you need a mattress protector.
You’re going to be sleeping on a mattress that is supplied by the school; you have no clue if it’s clean or who slept on it last. Even worse than not knowing how dirty the mattress is – bed bugs and other bugs like dust mites like to show up when you get a group of people together.
I want to go over 5 reasons why college students should have a mattress protector. I will also explain a bit more on each reason and hopefully, it will be enough to prove to you why you need a mattress protector.
Dorms Are Nasty
Let’s be honest here; dorms are nasty. If this is shocking, then welcome to college and group living. People are just nasty, and if you’re not, then you have not realized it yet.
Every person sweats when they sleep, and some even drool. Let’s not forget that some adults still wet the bed and many excrete other things from their body without knowing as it’s typical human nature.
Yeah, nasty – but true.
You simply don’t know who or what slept on your dorm mattress last. You also don’t know what they did to it. The dorm mattress is the central location; it’s where you eat, do homework, and spend most of your time on. Don’t you think having a clean one would be ideal?
Cleaning the dorm mattress is pointless, you don’t own it and won’t see it again after you leave. But what does make sense is putting a mattress encasement like this one* on it to put a barrier between you and the nasty. Then you put your bed sheets over that and wash your bed sheets when need be (once a week). The mattress encasement should be washed when you spill something or every 6 months. Be sure to follow the care instructions when washing them or do what I do and buy a new mattress encasement as they’re not that expensive and the value they give is worth the money.
Tip: I know that many people think mattress protector or mattress encasements are hot and noisy, but that was the old one. The ones we talk about in this post are light years better than the old ones.
You’re Messy
I’m not done talking about being messy. You know that other people are messy, but you’re messy too!
Like I said before the mattress is your central location for everything. You’re going to eat and drink on it, and that stuff can stain a mattress. And yes, many universities that give you the dorm bed will also inspect it after you leave for damages. If they find damages guess who pays for it? You do!
And guess what could have saved you from spills? A mattress encasement! Most, if not all, mattress encasements will also block liquids from getting to the mattress. It’s a two-way road that works perfectly for you. The encasement will prevent the mattress from getting to you and will also block you from the mattress. Get two just in case you do spill something so you can put a new one on and wash the messy one, this way you’re not out sleeping on the nasty mattress.
Bugs
The most convincing part of a mattress encasement is that it can help to block bed bugs and dust mites. Let’s be clear, a “mattress protector” is not going to stop all bugs but its brother “mattress encasement” will help stop a lot of them. A mattress encasement is different in that it covers the whole mattress while a mattress protector is like a bed sheet that you place on the top of the mattress.
If you worry about bed bugs or dust mites then consider looking at a Mattress Encasement like this one here*.
Once one person has bed bugs in a group of people sleeping together in a dorm or even an apartment, then everyone gets them. Just the way it goes sometimes. We can assume the school sprayed for them as they should but they’re not perfect, and there could be some in the mattress or bed frame still. Why risk it? Just get a mattress encasement to protect you and like we said early to protect the mattress from you.
Mattress Topper
A lot of college students like to get a mattress topper for their dorm mattress as they’re not the most comfortable one. This is an excellent idea, and I recommend doing that if you can, but also ask if you can bring your own mattress and get something like the here*.
But if you do go with the mattress topper and you want it to last for all the years in school than a mattress encasement is perfect. Just like before the mattress encasement will help protect the mattress topper from you and your nasty ways. Just keeping the sweat your body releases away from the topper is worth it as the topper is just a giant sponge and will soak that nasty sweat up and make it so much heavier and gross.
Just make sure to get a mattress encasement that is big enough to support the mattress and the topper together. Most dorms mattresses are 8 to 10 inches thick so keep that in mind when shopping for a topper along with a protector.
It’s The Perfect Gift!
If you’re a Mom, Dad, or have someone in your life going to college and need to give the college student in your life a thoughtful and useful gift, then the mattress encasement is perfect!
No one, and I mean no one, thinks of getting a mattress encasement. When I got one for college, I was a God among the people for such a bright idea that made sense. Sounds silly but it was true.
While everyone gets the bed spread, lamp, new laptop, you can get the most practical and most useful gift ever – a mattress encasement.
When you do get it tell them about how nasty mattresses can be from people sleeping on it. Tell the student about how people before them were sweating, sneezing, drooling, and doing other activities we will not talk about on the mattress before them. Tell them about how expensive a mattress replacement could be if they damage the school’s property and how this could help to limit that or try to save you when you spill that morning coffee from a night of all night studying.
And since you’re so thoughtful you get them 2, because it’s not a matter of “if” you’ll spill something on the mattress but a matter of “when”. Laundry is often not a top priority when you have a paper due so having two can be so helpful when one gets wet.