Does Your Mattress Really Gain Weight?

Whatever you've read or heard about mattresses gaining weight ten years after you've owned or so is probably true. Yes, just think about it. Mattresses really do gain weight over time as they absorb dead skin, colonies of dust mites (which feed on dead skin), oil and moisture from you and whoever else lies there and sleeps in your bed. (Yecch!) And, I hesitate to ask, has anybody actually studied the additional heft? Are mattresses getting close to breaking bed frames with their bulk? Well, probably not, but the idea is ... gross!

"To the best of my knowledge, there is no scientific answer to the mattress weight and dust mite query," says Glen Needham, an entomologist at Ohio State University. "I've heard that mattresses double in weight every 8 years or so, but I'm not aware of any scientific study that backs this up," says Karin Mahoney, a spokesperson with the International Sleep Products Association. She adds that it's well known that beds, in general, are a prime habitat for dust mites where one third of their nasty and brutish life occurs.

According to materials published by Ohio State University, a typical used mattress may have 100,000 to 10 million mites inside. (Oh, Double Yecch!) Ten percent of the weight of a two-year-old pillow can be composed of dead mites and their droppings. (!!!) Mites prefer warm, moist surroundings such as the inside of a mattress when someone is on it. One of their favorite foods is dead skin, and people shed about one fifth of an ounce of the stuff every week, some of which surely ends up flaking into your mattress.

So with all those mites and dead skin, the mattress is bound to be heavier than a new one. Are you ready yet to buy a new bed?

Yes? Call 1-800- XXX-XXXX ... 

(Just kidding!) ... 

(Sorry!!!) ...

(Yecch!!!) ...