Key Takeaways
- Your bed might be the biggest allergen trap in your whole house—especially if you’re sleeping with synthetic bedding.
- Wool naturally resists allergens, no chemicals needed, thanks to its breathability, antimicrobial properties and ability to wick moisture.
- Beyond reducing nighttime irritants, wool bedding also supports the body’s thermoregulation for deeper, more restful sleep.
When it comes to indoor allergy triggers, the typical bedroom is full of them. Considering that you’ll spend roughly one third of your life in bed, it’s not an ideal scenario. Between your mattress, pillows, comforter and sheets, there are all kinds of places for allergens to hide, which can lead to symptoms like nasal congestion, coughing, watery eyes, sneezing and the disrupted nights that go along with them. The good news is that investing in the right materials for these bedroom staples can make a difference like, well, night and day. If you’re getting desperate for nighttime allergy relief, we can help. Here’s why Woolroom makes the best bedding for allergy sufferers.
Common Allergens in the Bedroom
There are a handful of allergens that thrive in the average bedroom. Dust mites - the most common allergen in household dust—are particularly drawn to synthetic mattresses, pillows, blankets and carpet, where they feed on dead skin cells and pet dander. These microscopic critters are happiest in warm, moist environments, and that’s precisely what synthetic materials create while you sleep. Up to 100,000 dust mites can be found in a single square meter of non-wool bedding, along with their droppings and the decaying bodies of their deceased comrades. It’s the latter that releases the allergens that trigger an immune response.
Guess what else loves a humid environment? Mold spores! A foam mattress or foam pillows in the bedroom of someone who regularly overheats at night is the perfect storm for mold to grow, especially if you add poor air circulation to the mix. Exposure to mold in bedding can lead to symptoms like congestion, coughing and even skin irritations.
If you have pets who spend time in your bedroom or your bed, their dander serves as another allergen. These microscopic flakes of skin are light, sticky and prone to becoming airborne, so they can and do settle onto your bedding. Like dust mites, dander has proteins that can make the immune system overreact, which means itchy eyes, a runny nose, sneezing and general misery.
The materials in your mattress and bedding may not just be creating a hospitable environment for allergens. Some of them actively increase your exposure to chemical residue in the form of volatile organic compounds from flame retardants, glues and adhesives, even synthetic dyes. This exposure may not trigger a true allergic reaction, but it can lead to irritation with comparable symptoms—sneezing, coughing, sore throat, watery eyes, itchy skin and, of course, sleep disturbances. The most likely culprits? Conventional mattresses made with polyurethane foam or memory foam, which are petroleum based and often laden with chemicals. They’re notorious for trapping heat moisture and all of those allergens, thanks to their dense structure that effectively prevents airflow.
Whether you deal with allergies or not, a low-allergen sleep environment can directly contribute to more restful sleep by reducing irritations and supporting immune health. It’s the kind of thing that has cascading effects for overall quality of life. And it all starts with a great mattress and bedding.
What Mattress is Safe for Allergies?
If you’re dealing with allergies, or just interested in creating a cleaner sleep environment, take a good look at what you’re sleeping on night after night. The ideal mattress supports sleep by promoting air circulation and wicking moisture to resist allergens. Here’s what to consider:
- Natural materials. Mattresses made with wool, organic cotton and latex are especially conducive to sleep because of their breathability and lack of chemical additives.
- Breathability and moisture control. A mattress that promotes airflow stays drier, which makes it less hospitable to dust mites and mold. Wool in particular actively absorbs and then dissipates moisture, and its unique fiber structure supports temperature regulation too. It means more comfortable nights, not to mention a cleaner sleep space.
- Certifications It’s not enough to trust the marketing materials. To ensure a mattress is made without harmful chemicals or the kind of materials that harbor allergens, look for certifications like the Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS), the Global Organic Latex Standard (GOLS) and OEKO-TEX Standard 100.
Wondering about bedding that’s advertised as hypoallergenic? That’s often the case with down alternatives and treated foams. The term “hypoallergenic” itself isn’t well regulated, so it can mean different things. Some hypoallergenic bedding really is made with materials that are naturally non-irritating, but some synthetic bedding materials are treated chemically to reduce allergens. Antimicrobial agents, mold/mildew inhibitors and dust mite-resistant coatings may do their jobs, but they can introduce new irritants to the mix.
If you prefer an option that isn’t chemically treated, natural materials are your best bet. Because wool regulates temperature and wicks moisture so well, it doesn’t harbor allergens that trigger symptoms. Here at Woolroom, we never treat our wool with harsh chemicals or bleaches, and our natural processing methods mean the finished product is also free of lanolin, too. That makes for a clean, safe bedding material that’s truly hypoallergenic - naturally.
Why Wool is the Best Material for Allergy Bedding
It’s not just its hypoallergenic properties that makes wool so well suited to bedding for allergy sufferers—or anyone interested in a better night’s sleep. The same moisture-wicking, temperature-regulating characteristics that nix dust mites and microbial growth also contribute to more restful nights. Before and during sleep, our body temperature naturally fluctuates as part of our circadian rhythm. It’s known as thermoregulation, and it’s an important part of restful, restorative sleep. A mattress or bedding that interferes with your body’s ability to thermoregulate can directly interfere with your sleep, decreasing time spent in deep sleep and REM sleep. That’s a problem not just when you have to function the next day, but for your health as a whole.
Wool mattresses and bedding won’t contribute to overheating at night the way foams, down and down alternatives can. Wool is actually scientifically proven to regulate body temperature and manage excess moisture, which keeps you comfortable all night long (and all year round). At the same time, it contributes to a cleaner, healthier sleep set up, reducing your exposure to allergens and chemicals alike.
Allergy Bedding That Supports the Whole Sleep Environment
It’s easy to focus on the mattress when you think about your bed, but your bedding is just as important, especially if you have allergies. In the pursuit of the cleanest, healthiest, most restful sleep, Woolroom uses natural and organic wool to craft the very best bedding for allergy sufferers. Woolroom’s collection of wool comforters, pillows, mattress toppers, pads and protectors are all naturally hypoallergenic, bringing the sleep-supporting benefits of this amazing fiber to your bedroom—where it matters most.
Our bedding is entirely free and clear of synthetic materials and down, and as a bonus, it’s naturally antimicrobial, with no chemical additives of any kind. It’s also machine washable, which is an important consideration for anyone with allergies. Regularly washing bedding helps clear away allergens like pet dander and pollen—the kind of stuff that has a way of making it into the bedroom no matter how careful you are.
We’re proud to have certifications that speak to the safety and quality of our natural wool bedding. Our fully traceable British wool bedding is certified by OEKO-TEX Standard 100 (the first and only wool bedding retailer!) and GOTS, and we have the Allergy UK Seal of Approval as well.
Breathe Easier And Sleep Better With Woolroom
When it comes to reducing allergens in your bedroom and enjoying a truly restful night’s sleep, what you sleep on matters. And if it’s not wool, you’re missing out on its natural resistance to dust mites and mold and its unmatched temperature regulation and moisture-wicking abilities. It’s allergy safe by nature’s design, and it naturally supports a cleaner, healthier sleep environment. Whether you're battling seasonal allergies or asthma, or you just want to breathe easier at night, Woolroom's natural, chemical-free wool mattresses and bedding offer a solution that's as effective as it is comforting.