About MiteGuard dust mite allergy bedding covers

MiteGuard bedding covers are made in New Zealand for dust mite allergy sufferers. Inspired by our own experience with allergy symptoms, our mission is to help families get a better night’s sleep.

Hi, I’m Kathryn – one of the owners of NZ Natural Bedding Ltd. We're a small family-owned company specialising in MiteGuard and AllerProtect - 100% natural cotton bedding covers for dust mite allergen protection. Our covers for mattresses, duvets and pillows help our customers to manage their allergy symptoms. 

Our NZ History

MiteGuard has a long history in Aotearoa. Whilst we have owned the business for a few years, the products were first developed in 1994 by Richard Thorogood, a leading New Zealand Microbiologist.

Richard worked in the school of biological sciences at Auckland University to develop products that would help people to manage their allergy symptoms at home.

Why did Richard choose this allergen? 

Dust Mites live in home furnishings – and they love beds, because our bodies also produce sweat and warmth in bed, creating an ideal warm, humid environment for them to live in.

As your mattress and pillow are usually the biggest store of dust mites and their allergen particles in homes (one mattress may contain 2 million dust mites) and you sleep on them for hours every day, developing protective mattress & bedding covers has been proven to be a key step to help people manage their allergen exposure and health.

How do you know if you have Dust Mite allergen?   

Allergies are usually medically diagnosed and can be complex. If you suffer from Dust mite allergy you might struggle to sleep with symptoms such as coughing and sneezing at night, a stuffy nose or your eczema, asthma or breathing may get worse. Read more about dust mites and dust mite allergen.  

Developing the covers

Richard wanted to create an alternative to the heavy hospital grade vinyl covers in use at the time. He followed up a 1990 article in the Lancet⁽¹⁾ medical journal  about new allergy fabrics developed in the UK, then in 1994 made the first Miteguard covers via his own small company Allergen Services Limited.

With advances in technology, there have been several changes to materials over the years – and the scientifically researched design elements continue to make our products a market leader. 

On retirement, Richard passed the company to New Zealand Natural Bedding who also manufactured quality bedding for the New Zealand tourism industry and many local designers. We continue to use the same quality manufacturing services today.

Why us?

When our children were little, they struggled with allergies and asthma. Interrupted sleep was a huge issue for us all, as our kids struggled with a blocked noses, wheezy breathing and skin irritation. Dust-mite was one of the allergens that would trigger the symptoms, so we tracked down some anti-allergy bedding, which was hard to find at the time. It was such a relief to know we could do something as simple as covering their mattress and bedding to help control their illness. It made a difference to all of our lives as we all got more sleep – better health and less stress for everyone!

A shout out here - we are forever grateful for the support we received from our community - asthma support nurses, Allergy NZ, teachers, medics, whanau and friends who helped us. We UNDERSTAND having allergies, eczema, and asthma is a struggle, not just for the person but for your whole family and support community.

Having gone through this experience, we are proud to be involved with a business that is NZ based and makes products that can help people with dust-mite allergy to manage their home environment and help their own health. Our company is now based in the sunny Hawke’s Bay; we love supporting Kiwi workers and manufacturing in New Zealand, whilst providing great products and service.

References: (1) Owen S., Morganstern M., Hepworth J., Woodcock A. Control of house dust mite antigen in bedding. Lancet 1990; 335: 396-97