10 most disgusting facts about your bed

I love a freshly made bed and would have new sheets on everyday if I could. Lovely, cottony ones that are oh-so-soft to touch in cool, inviting colours. I adore my sheets! And my bed.

But I didn't know that my bed is a health hazard:

1. Bed bugs infestation has increased by 30% year on year in the UK over the past 7 years. They breed at an alarming rate; a female bedbug can produce over 1,000 eggs in a life time.

2. Bed Bugs are nocturnal blood-sucking predators that live entirely on the blood they can suck! They pierce your skin with two hollow tubes, one tube to inject its' saliva, which contains anticoagulants and anaesthetics, so you remain blissfully unaware while the other sucks your blood. A bed bug feeds for about 10 minutes; in that time it gorges up to 7 times its own body weight of blood. When fully fed they return to their hiding places until it is time for another feed. Bed Bug bites are small, hard, swollen, welts that can develop at the site of each bedbug bite. This is often surrounded by a slightly raised red bump and is usually accompanied by severe itching that lasts for several hours to days

3. Bed bugs can live for 18 months without a feed but usually feed every night.


4. The main cause of the global infestation of bed bugs is caused by increased travel and general mobility of the world's population Bed Bugs are great hitchhikers they travel the world in and on your suitcases. They have been discovered in aircraft cabins and luggage holds where they hop from person to person and from bag to bag, looking for a suitable home to settle in. They also travel on your clothes being transported freely.

5. Bed Bugs infestation in hotels and other multiple bedroom dwellings are widespread; they are waiting to greet you and it's not unusual for Bed Bugs to turn up in hospital beds.

6. One of the clearest tell-tale signs to watch out for is tiny patches of bloodstains on either the sheets or mattress. Horrible as it may sound, if you are away from home, you should always check before settling down for the night, as these stains are the blood of a former occupant of the bed you're about to be attacked in!

7. Bed Bugs are a global problem. America and Australia have seen a bed bug epidemic and nearly every country is Europe has seen a dramatic rise in infestation. The UK, Italy, and Germany have all been particularly badly affected.

8. There can be 10 million dust mites sharing your standard double bed. But the problem doesn't stop there, their excrement, microscopic in size, adds significantly to the problem and you can't even see it! Allergens from dust Mites are the major trigger of allergies like asthma and eczema

9. The perfect breeding conditions for dust mites are the centre of your mattress, it is warm, humid with your sweat and unfortunately your dead skin offers them a plentiful food supply. When the dead skin food supply runs out they will eat their own faeces and there are millions of them to eat. Not pleasant at all.

10. Over 30% of the weight of a two year old pillow is made up of dust mites their corpses and their faeces! Try the pillow test rest it over your arm, if it sags either side, that's a sure sign that it is full of dust mites and their faeces! When you inhale dust mite enzymes and faeces from your pillow you come into contact with the second most common allergen affecting people with atopic illnesses.