Bed or mattress protector

A bed or mattress protector is intended as a protective cover that fits over the top of a mattress in order to protect it from spills, accidents or incontinence. By using a mattress protector any liquid is prevented from touching the mattress and this stops the mattress being damaged or soiled.

Mattress protectors come in two forms, namely reusable and disposable.

Reusable protector

A reusable protector will normally cover the entire mattress and it will be made of a waterproof material like Teflon. This type of bed protector is left on the mattress permanently and it can be wiped clean if there is a spillage of any kind. An addition that many of these protectors include is a layer padding which means that they double up as both a protector and a mattress topper.

These toppers are available in different sizes that modulate with beds sizes, e.g. single, double, king etc.

Reusable or permanent mattress toppers come in different colours and those with a cushioning topper layer are available with different fillings.

Disposable protector

Disposable protectors come in packs of up to 25 units and they are normally large enough to adequately cover the area under the lower body. These same protectors can be used on chairs and other forms of seating.

Disposable protectors have a different composition to the more permanent protectors in that, whilst they still have a waterproof under layer, they also have a water and liquid absorbent top layer. This layer acts to absorb and consequently retain any liquid, thereby preventing it from escaping onto the sheets and mattress.

Disposable protectors are available in different sizes, e.g. two feet square (about 60cm square) or rectangular, e.g. two feet by three feet (about 60cm X 90cm).

They are normally white and are intended for single use only.