If you're not using any mattress protectors or pillow casings, can you imagine just how much allergens your bed will be harboring in say, two years? It might keep you awake if you knew! Just think: it's been said that mattresses can double in weight every 10 years due to microscopic allergens that accumulate inside! Ugh!

Dr. Clifford Bassett, an allergy expert and the assistant clinical professor of medicine at Long Island College Hospital, endorses the Aller-Ease protective beddings.

"Protecting your pillow and mattress with allergen-filtration products such as Aller-Ease(R) is one of the most important steps allergy and asthma sufferers can take to minimize their symptoms. For maximum allergy relief, it is critical to build a complete allergen filtration bedding system that protects pillows, mattresses and box springs."

Here are other facts Dr. Bassett says you should know about your bed, particularly if you suffer from allergies:

1. Beds are a hotspot for allergens. Pillows and mattresses provide the perfect environment for collecting dust and dust mites, mold spores, pet dander and other microscopic allergens.

Simply encasing your mattress and pillow in protective allergy-filtration bedding is an effective and affordable solution to block dust mite droppings, pet dander, fungal and mold spores and other microscopic allergens, so you can sleep comfortably and wake refreshed.

2. A heavy sleeper? Unprotected mattresses can double in weight every 10 years due to microscopic allergens that accumulate inside mattresses. These particles are taken into the body through respiration and can lead to increased allergy symptoms.

3. All bedding is not created equally when it comes to filtering allergens. It's a common misperception that using regular mattress pads will protect your bed against allergens. But they don't. In fact, they're likely to harbor even more allergens.

Protective bedding works beneath the mattress pad and sheets to not only filter allergens, but reduce the number of allergens collected in bedding over time.

4. It's what's on the inside that counts 10 percent of an unprotected pillow's weight is comprised of allergen particles after two years(2).

Preventing allergy symptoms shouldn't be left to chance. Look for lab-tested, allergist-recommended and affordable products like Aller-Ease protective bedding, which have earned the Good Housekeeping Seal, to provide 360-degree protection from the fungal and mold spores, dust mites and their droppings and other allergens that can cause unrest.

5. You should breathe easy and so should your bed. Blocking allergens doesn't require blocking air. Aller-Ease protective bedding systems use innovative fabric engineering techniques to provide a breathable, cotton encasement that filter microscopic particles that cause allergies and asthma, so your bed can breathe as easy as you do while sleeping allergen-free.