
Bed bugs pillow allergy accumulate over time. Excrement and the bodies of
expired bed bugs gradually build up to an ever increasing concentration in
bedding, upholstered furniture and carpets. In the bedroom, frequent
cleaning can keep the accumulated level low. But getting a puff of the
accumulated dust from an old pillow as you lay down for the night is not a
pleasant prospect - similarly for the bedding that you flip up to cover
yourself. Cleaning is helpful but only partially effective. With periodic
replacement with inexpensive pillows and covers, you start with a low level
of exposure to accumulated allergens and limit the total level of
accumulation. Of course the usual attention to cleanliness of sheet and
mattress should still be observed.
the typical 1-2 year old hollow fiber pillow will be
saturated with sub-micron sized bed bugs allergen particles along with the skin
scales and the bed bugs, I doubt that vacuuming the surface will pull it all out
of the wadding, although it will reduce it to some extent. Sub-micron
particles in particular adhere to surfaces by molecular cohesion and the
only way to remove them is scrubbing, so vacuuming the pillow surface is
likely to be only partially effective.
allergen load in "hypo-allergenic" synthetic pillows
was no better than in feather ones. Interestingly they say in their
discussion that synthetic pillows may release volatile organic compounds
that may exacerbate the allergic response, so perhaps feather pillows
would be better in that respect; but of course feather pillows are a lot
more expensive.
The synthetic pillows are extremely cheap nowadays in supermarkets;
That's probably cheaper than the cost of washing those same pillows once
a month at 60 degrees C, particularly in England where electricity and water
charges are high.
More: Bed Bugs Allergy