by
Kent Corness
For the past three years, Andre Lainey has been fighting a
resilient foe in homes across Greater Sudbury through his
mattress sanitizing business.
Prior to becoming a destroyer of dust mites, Lainey worked in
the mattress retail business for 18 years. It was there his
crusade to rid peoples' beds of the millions of dust mites that
plague them began.
"I always asked myself, why shouldn't people be able to clean
their mattresses like they clean their carpets," said Lainey.
"In the old days people would drag their mattresses outside in
the extreme cold and beat them like a carpet. That's something
you don't see very often these days, which makes you wonder how
people are cleaning their mattresses."
Dust mites congregate in soft-surfaced places where there is an
abundance of shed human skin, which makes the mattress and
pillows in a bed a prime breeding ground.
Dust mite allergy is a common problem, according to
organizations such as the Asthma Society of Canada and Eczema
Canada. The excretions and body parts of these tiny,
spider-like creatures can be a powerful trigger of asthma
symptoms and can irritate eczema.
Dust mite exposure may also cause itchy skin, red and irritated
eyes, a stuffy nose, sneezing, headaches, sinus aches,
difficulty breathing, fatigue, hay fever, bronchitis and
inflammation of the mucous membranes. These problems become
much more prevalent in young children.
"Many people don't realize just how important it is to clean
their mattresses properly," said Lainey. "That's why I started
this service, because I believe the health benefits of ridding
your mattresses of dust mites should be available to people in
Sudbury."
Lainey has been using the Hygienitech mattress sanitizing
system for three years  and says he has always blown
people away with the results. Using an UV-C light attached to a
powerful vacuum cleaner, Lainey is able to destroy the dust
mites, bacteria and viruses in the mattress and remove them
along with the dust. UV-C light has been used to sanitize water
for years.
"A normal vacuum just sucks the dust mites to the surface,
actually making the problem worse," said Lainey. "The
Hygienitech system is by no means a permanent solution. It is
something that would have to be done on at least a yearly
basis, but it does greatly reduce a person's exposure to dust
and dust mites."
A mattress can't simply be steam cleaned like a carpet either,
because the moisture from the process would break down the
fabric inside. This voids the warranty and causes mold and
mildew to grow inside the mattress, as well as compounding the
dust mites problem.
Dust mites thrive in moist conditions, which is why it is also
important to keep the humidity levels inside as low as
possible. This is the reason that mattress-sanitizing systems
employ a dry, UV method for cleaning.
Proper mattress and pillow covers are also an excellent
deterrent against dust mites.
"Dust mites do eventually go through the mattress and pillow
covers, but I still recommend using one to limit your
exposure," said Lainey.
Hygienitech, and other companies like it, have been receiving a
great deal of response from their service. Featured on both CNN
and Oprah, mattress sanitizing is quickly becoming a new trend
for health conscious consumers. In Europe, nearly 30 percent of
the people living there get their mattresses sanitized at least
once a year.
Some other tips to reducing dust mites indoors include:
-  Use a dehumidifier in damp or humid areas
-  Strip beds of linens and let the mattress air out on a
regular basis
-  If possible, avoid carpeting, especially in bedrooms
-  Place stuffed toys, drapes and curtains in a hot dryer
or outside in the extreme cold to kill dust mites
-  Change your furnace filtres regularly
For more information, call Lainey at 561-9377.
