Get a mattress encasement, it's like a HEPA filter bag for the mattress (cuts off the mites food supply and preventing allergens becoming airborne).
Skips the whole trying to clean porous foam problem.
Skips the whole trying to clean porous foam problem.
I think the problem would be temperature control, as you don't want to damage the item, but need to maintain an even, specific air temperature, you'd need turbulence. Then vacuum clean afterwards.
Maybe a wallpaper remover style device with a hot air source instead of steam??
They also need humidity (~50% RH), hence why I got the dehumidifer, which has definitely knocked them back.
I guess they just don't want folks giving themselves burns during sleep.
AliExpress as always is tempting [1], but you'd have to be incredibly careful about regulating temperature [2] and adding safety interlocks that'd make falling asleep with it active, or forgetting to turn it off impossible.
1. https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005007963462500.html
2. Don't blame me when your house burns down, I warned you.
Do your research though!! I'm not sure if flexwatt tape could ignite your mattress, but you would definitely want to know for sure yourself beforehand!
There are ways to control heat though; I'm familiar with using flexwatt tape with reptile enclosures, hooked up to a thermostat with a probe in the habitat for temp control. Maybe some math, like desired_temp = watts_supplied * feet_of_fw_tape, where the watts_supplied is the independent variable you adjust based on the required feet_of_fw_tape for your mattress to get the dependent variable desired_temp. Probably include a fail safe, but I'm no electrician, proceed at your own risk.
They do sell self contained fire extinguishers you can hang on your ceiling that deploy automatically at a certain temperature, ideally putting out fire sources they are hung above. Nice to have around for things like this.
People do something similar to kill bedbugs, I think they make specialized equipment to do so, but it might just be something like an off the shelf heat gun.
The encasement I have is actually not a plastic wrap but a zippered tight weave synthetic fabric (polyester).
It’s suppose to prevent bedbugs and others from setting up shop inside the mattress but the surface is fair game. The idea being it’s easier to clean the surface than the insides.
I have had the encasement for years. No problems with humidity but I also live in a less humid area (41-45% rh all year round).
So a dust mite vaccuum still makes sense.
Also interesting fact: dust mites themselves are harmless to humans. It’s their fecal matter (after digesting our dead skin) that are allergens.
The plastic would also trap heat between me and it.
I'm not sure what you mean by trapping heat - once there are two normal cotton fitted sheets around it, I don't feel the plastic mattress cover at all.