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apexncgeek t1_iswtt7f wrote

How old is your mattress? Something like 80% of dust is dead skin. Mattresses collect POUNDS of it.

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KyokoKurihara t1_isxggre wrote

I have to do a little myth busters work here: A paper from 1973 shows that it is actually only 0,4 to 10% skin present in common dust (depending on where the dust is coming from):

https://www.nature.com/articles/246039a0

So ni worries here: it is also dust from the streets, soil, dead plants and mainly fibers from the clothes you are wearing instead of skin

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apexncgeek t1_isxgywy wrote

Fair enough I was just saying what I heard in the past but looking at outdoor ratios is not accurate either. The bedroom probably has the highest percentage of dead skin in the house for a lot of what should be obvious reasons. So call it 40-50%. Feel better? 😉

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siouxze t1_isxspxw wrote

Oh well if a 50 year old paper says it, it must still be true. Nothing has changed since then.

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Admiral_Swagstick t1_isy31lq wrote

I'm really interested to know why your opinion about this is so strong lol. Also not all that much has changed about how much skin people shed, I'd bet. Maybe the remaining percentage is significantly different because of all the materials we've discovered since the 50's, but the skin fraction should be about the same?

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apexncgeek t1_iszd6d4 wrote

If you're asking me, I don't have a strong opinion about it. I was joking with the other person that responded.

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Windblown_Mattock t1_isxgulg wrote

Jumping on this to add that OP should vacuum their mattress and make it part of their weekly sheet change routine. Also adding a hypoallergenic mattress cover, which they wash with the sheets will stop/cut down on the dust migration both into and out of the mattress.

Same for pillows. Although pillows can be washed whole, I only ever do that when I'm willing to say goodbye to it anyway, because some turn out a lumpy mess.

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