Dust mites, bed bugs and mold in a mattress: the facts

Wherever skin flakes collect in warm, humid, soft surfaces: mattresses, pillows, bedding, sofas, carpet and rugs. They are common in homes, and their presence does not mean a home is dirty.

Washing bedding hot, covering the mattress, lowering humidity and vacuuming reduce them; the measures people use, from the EPA's guidance and common practice, are below.

• wash bedding often, in the hottest water the label allows
• cover the mattress and pillows with zippered covers
• keep the air indoors dry; the EPA puts the ideal indoor humidity at 30 to 50 percent
• vacuum the mattress, the couch and the carpet regularly
• reduce soft clutter in the bedroom

It is not a mite treatment. Cleaning takes dust, dirt, sweat residue and loose debris out of the fabric; for a health question, ask your doctor, and the EPA's page on biological pollutants is linked below.

With slow, regular vacuuming and a dry room. Vacuum the cushions, the seams and under the cushions with an upholstery tool, wash removable covers as their labels allow, keep the room's humidity in the EPA's range in the list above and vacuum the rugs nearby too. A fabric furniture cleaning takes the embedded dirt out of the fabric; let the couch dry fully afterwards.

Steam can kill the bed bugs and eggs it reaches, but only where it reaches, so it rarely ends an infestation alone. Pest-control guidance is to use a steamer with a wide nozzle rather than a narrow jet that blows bugs away, to move slowly along the seams, folds, underside and frame joints, and to let the couch dry fully; steam leaves no protection behind. WATERFALL cleans the couch but does not treat bed bugs; if you think you have them, call a pest control company, and the EPA's page below explains what to look for.

Usually not fully, and WATERFALL does not promise to take all of it out. Mold grows into foam, fabric and padding, and the EPA's guidance is that mold in a soft, porous material is hard to clean out fully, so a mattress with visible mold is normally replaced. The EPA's mold page below gives the details.

What to do:

• stop sleeping on it, and do not brush, shake or vacuum it indoors
• wear gloves and a mask when you move it, wrap it in plastic and follow your city's rules for bulky items
• wash the bedding as its labels say, and wipe and dry the bed frame and the floor under it
• find the moisture: a leak, condensation or a solid base with no airflow
• keep the room's humidity in the EPA's range in the list above
• if mold covers a large area of the room, get advice from a mold professional before you clean it

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• Mattress care: all guides
• Is mattress cleaning worth it? — Yes when the mattress is sound and the problem is sweat, a stain or a smell; home care every few months, a professional cleaning when there is a reason.
• Can you steam clean a mattress? — Strip the bed, work in a shampoo, extract it with the dirt and let the mattress dry before it is made up again.
• Cleaning a mattress at home, by type — Use little water on every type, vacuum first, blot instead of rubbing and let it dry fully; foam types take water worst.
• How to get urine and stains out of a mattress — Blot fresh marks with cold water and mild soap, avoid heat, dry fully; old stains may lighten and cannot be promised out.