FAQ
Q: What are Allergies and Allergens?
A: People with allergies react to substances called allergens. Allergens are harmless to most people. But when you have allergies, your body finds these substances to be dangerous and reacts by producing antibodies against them. People vary in their degree of sensitivity to allergens, the types of symptoms they experience, and the severity of their allergic reactions. Controlling your home environment is a great step in finding relief from allergies. The three primary indoor allergens are dust mite allergens, mold spores and pet dander.
Q: What is an Allergic Threshold?
A: Your allergic threshold determines how sensitive you are to an allergen. If you are very sensitive and it doesn’t take much exposure to cause an allergic reaction, you have a low allergic threshold.
Q: What is the Allergen Load?
A: The total exposure at any given time to the various allergens that you are sensitive to.
Q: What can I do to avoid Allergens?
A: Allergen avoidance steps are actions taken around the home to reduce your exposure to allergens. These steps involve cleaning and containing allergens to minimize your exposure. If you take simple allergen avoidance steps around the home, you can help reduce your allergen load by keeping exposure to various allergens to a minimum, which will go a long way toward achieving allergy relief and a healthier lifestyle. Reducing your overall exposure doesn’t have to be an all-or-nothing project. As long as you keep your exposure below your allergic threshold, you can prevent allergy symptoms from flaring up.
Q: What is a dust mite / house dust mite and how do I recognize one?
A: Dust mites are eight-legged arachnids, and are relatives to spiders and ticks. Dust mites are microscopic and, unlike bed bugs, cannot be seen by the naked eye. Adult dust mites live for 2-to-3 months. During this time a female dust mite can lay 25 to 50 eggs every 3 weeks. Large dust mite populations can result, with up to 1 million dust mites inhabiting a single bed!
Q: Where do dust mites live?
A: Dust mites are found in nearly all homes, even in the cleanest ones. Dust mites prefer warm and humid environments. If relative humidity is greater than 50% and above, for some portion of the year where you live, you can expect to have dust mite populations in your home. In Hong Kong the average annual relative humidity is approximately 80%. Keeping humidity levels in your home below 45% will help control dust mites, thereby limiting your exposure. Dust mites thrive in dark, warm and humid environments and are typically found in pillows, mattresses, comforters, blankets, carpets and upholstered furniture. These areas also provide the dust mite’s greatest food source - the shed scales of human skin.
Q: What is the difference between dust and dust mites?
A: Dust is made up of many different particles, a variety of which can cause allergies. The dust mite is much smaller and can leave behind more than 100,000 waste particles in a gram of dust, making it a main cause of allergy symptoms.
Q: Am I allergic to the dust mite itself and what are dust mite allergens?
A: Allergies are not caused by the dust mite itself. Instead, people are sensitive to a combination of the dust mite's waste particles and their dead body fragments. These particles are called dust mite allergens. Tiny dust mite allergens become airborne and are inhaled when you sleep at night or walk or sit on the carpet or sit on upholstered furniture. Unfortunately, long after a dust mite dies, its allergen particles will continue causing allergy symptoms.
Q: What is the difference between dust mites and bed bugs?
A: Both dust mites and bed bugs can find an ideal living environment in your bed and, unfortunately, both also find humans to be an excellent food source. Dust mites feed off of our shed skin cells while bed bugs bite us directly in order to feed off of our blood. Dust mites cause inhalant allergy symptoms; bed bugs do not.
Q: Where do I start when I want to reduce Allergens in my home?
A: It is most important to focus on the bedroom first, since the bedroom is where you spend up to one-third of your day, and it is also where you come into contact with the biggest allergen source — your bed! What should be a clean and restful place is packed with up to 1 million dust mites that produce the allergens that cause your symptoms. Physicians recommend covering your bed in allergy encasings to find relief.
Q: Why is encasing the bed important for allergy relief?
A: Dust mites can live in any part of the bed, including pillows, mattress, box spring and comforter. While you sleep, you are inhaling allergens from the bed from dust mites or pet dander. As you move while sleeping, these allergens are released into the air and inhaling them can trigger allergic symptoms. Covering the bed with an Allergo encasing blocks the allergens from being released into the air and keeps you from inhaling them throughout the night.
Q: What is an encasing and what protection does it provide?
A: Think of an encasing as a protective barrier (like a sealed envelope) between the source of the allergens and you. Only the right encasings can truly provide this protective layer. Encasings are either made from tightly woven fabrics or they include a membrane layer - each of which is designed to trap allergen and keep them away from your body. The encasing zips around the bedding, preventing dust mite allergens or pet dander from escaping where they could become airborne and trigger symptoms. Certain encasings also provide certified protection against bed bug infestations.
Q: What other steps should be taken in the bedroom?
A: After encasing the bed, we recommend washing sheets, blankets and other bedding weekly in hot water to kill dust mites. In addition, because carpet is the second largest source of allergens in the home after the bed, carpet in the bedroom should either be removed or treated with products specially formulated to eliminate or neutralize allergens in carpets.
Q: What can I do in addition to prevent dust mites in the bed room?
A: Remove flower pots and carpets from the bedroom, air out the room regularly. Do not use humidifiers which are attached to the heater. After getting up – remove the duvet from the bed or fold it back to allow the mattress to air out.
Q: Will an encasing be comfortable to sleep on?
A: Yes. The right encasings offer the protection you need along with the total sleeping comfort found in the quality, high thread count microfleece and high tech polyester fabrics used in Allergo Natur’s encasings.
Q: How can I be sure that encasing the bed will help my allergy symptoms?
A: Encasings have been used in major independent scientific studies, which tested various environmental and health benefits associated with encasing the bed. Thousands of allergy patients took part in the studies, and test results proved the effectiveness of encasings as part of an allergen avoidance plan.
Q: What protection does an encasing provide?
A: An allergy encasing creates a protective layer between you and the dust mite allergens in your bed. Allergy encasings are made from either tightly woven specialized fabrics or they include a membrane layer, and each is designed to block allergy particles from escaping from the bed. So, encasings trap the dust mites and keep their allergens away from your body. Certain encasings are also certified for bed bug protection based on the quality of the encasing material and the way the encasing is made.
Q: What effects does hypoallergenic bedding have?
A: Hypoallergenic encasings help you sleep more relaxed without experiencing the known symptoms. If you take no action against a dust mite allergy, initially one can develop bronchial asthma and in the worst case a chronic asthma.
Q: Do I need an additional cover over the mattress encasing?
A: Hypoallergenic mattress encasings are “in between” bedding, in all cases you encase the mattress, then put on the private mattress cover.
Q: Majestic Gold - premium brand for the highest standards
A: Our Encasings in premium quality Majestic Gold are made of a new 120 gr / m² lightweight high-tech microfiber blend. The extremely high particle retention capacity ensures that you are optimally protected in your sleep against mites and mite allergens. Due to its high breathability and water vapor permeability, the uncoated smooth material also ensures excellent sleeping comfort. Thereby you are well protected during your sleep and you do not have to go without your usual comfort. The easy-care quality Majestic Gold is particularly durable. The material is easy to clean in the washing machine or by hand. Allergo Encasings in the Majestic Gold quality are prepared without the addition of chemical substances and are ecological and physiologically harmless.
Q: Should the partner’s side of the bed also be encased?
A: Yes, absolutely. Dust mites are released from the mattress with any movement that takes place in the bed, therefore one would breathe them in.
Q: Is the encasing of the mattress sufficient? How about encasing pillows and blankets?
A: The mattress is the biggest source of dust mites, however, it is recommended to use Allergo Encasings on your mattress, pillows and blankets, to get the best possible protection against mites and mite allergens.
If you are yet undecided – observe yourself after applying the mattress encasing. Within a period of 14 days you should experience noticeably fewer symptoms than before. If you then want to opt for the pillow and duvet encasings as well please give us a call.
Q: How do I measure my bed and my mattress?
A: You will need to measure the length, width and height of your mattress. This is key when determining which size of encasing to buy. Since mattresses and box springs come in different depths, you must carefully measure the height of your mattress to ensure proper fit. Using a ruler, measure from the bottom edge of the mattress to the highest point on the top edge. If you have a pillowtop mattress or topper, a memory foam pad, or other mattress pad that you want to encase along with your mattress, include this in the total height measurement. Do not press down on the mattress while measuring to ensure that you get the correct depth.
Q: What measures do I need with regard to the dimensions of the mattress (length, width and height)?
A: Product - Base & Top:
BASE: The base is made up from length and width which depend on the size of your bed (Queen, King). Length and width size vary and the offered sizes can be found in the product list. The height is always 8 cm/ 3.15”.
TOP: For this purpose, the matching top (length and width with the same size as the Base), especially the height you calculate from the said mattress height measure minus 8 cm/3.15”.
Example:
152 cm x 203 cm x 20 cm = Base 8 cm + Top 13 cm (Top Sizes are 13 cm, 20 cm and 36 cm)
60” x 80” x 8” = Base 3” + Top 5” (Top Sizes are 5”, 8” and 14”)
You need to make sure that the cover is no more than 5 cm/2” higher than the said measure. Otherwise the sleep comfort is affected by wrinkling of the bedding.
Bed and Pillow Cover: Length and width are sufficient for ordering the products.
Q: How often do I wash the encasing?
A: The encasing needs to be washed before you use it for the first time, so that the encasing becomes softer, and cuddlier. It needs to be washed at 95⁰C / 194 ⁰F. After the first wash you should hot wash your encasings at least twice per year at more than 60⁰C / 140 ⁰F. The products can be put in the dryer. All the Allergo Encasings can also be washed by hand.
Q: What laundry detergents do I need to machine wash the encasing?
A: To wash your encasings you should use a liquid laundry detergent without softener. Preferably you should use a liquid laundry detergent with antistatic properties. Do not use laundry pacs or laundry powder. Fabric softener should not be used with any bedding because these products almost always contain enzymes which do have a very similar structure to dust mite excretion.
Q: How long does the order take to be shipped to me?
A: On average you need to allow 2-4 days for the shipping. What is your shipping address? (Confirm shipping address matches the mailing/invoicing address, confirm if there are any address specifications e.g. c/o Partner Surname).
Q: Return policy
A: Please note our products cannot be returned.
