Whether it’s from the body – we sweat a lot during sleep – or water/juice, these things happen and it can often be a disappointment to find a stain the next time you change your bedsheets, especially on an expensive mattress.
That’s why waterproof mattress protectors have been invented. And to make life even easier for you, I’m here to test them out. I tested the Defend-a-Bed mattress protector for quality of rest as well as its ability to actually be waterproof. Let’s take a look!
Breakdown of the Defend-a-Bed Mattress Protector
When compared to other mattress protectors in its category, the Defend-a-Bed bed protector seems like the real deal, from the outside at least. Packaged carefully in a small, protective, and easy to carry bag and advertised as a ‘premium’ product, this item at least talks the talk.
It claims to be a great product to protect your mattress from any spills, sweat, or dust mites and will fit anything up to 22” deep. That’s all fairly common for these items, so that’s awesome. It also promises a noiseless sleep, which I was pretty happy about because other covers I’ve tested had this awful plastic feel and sound when I slept. It’s hard to get away from, with the waterproof membrane, though.
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Features & Benefits
Despite some small reservations on the product due to some customer feedback and the lack of true brand identity and recognition, the price and the claims of full waterproof features and other good additions, it would be rude of me not to try this for myself. After all, that’s the best way to get a true gauge for a product.
The 22” sides were awesome, they fit over my pillow top bed with ease and stayed put all night long. The waterproof membrane wasn’t uncomfortable or noisy, either, giving credit to its “noiseless application”. And the product comes with a great little carrying case with zipper access. Even after using and washing, it fits backs in quite easily.
Protection
Obviously, this is the primary reason we have the Defend-a-Bed cover. Coming in to this review I had high hopes yet still some small reservations do to with how the cover would hold up in the spill test, of which you can see below.
However, I knew I needed to find it out for myself. On initial inspection, the cover seemed good quality, which pleased me. Before the spill test, I took a couple of nights to use the cover to test out things such as noise and comfort. This is the area I was very pleased with. There was literally no noise when moving around on my bed with this protector applied. It was so thin you could barely notice it was different to my usual cover, and considering that’s one of the core benefits to the sheet, I was obviously delighted.
When I did the spill test a couple of days later, I knew that, if the 100% waterproof claim was correct, we would have one heck of a product on our hands. This feeling was short lived. After administering the liquid on the bed, I initially seemed to have great protection. The liquid wasn’t seeping in. After 4 hours, though, I was disappointed. The liquid started being absorbed by the sheet and, after 8 hours, I removed the cover to see what the damage was. The liquid had indeed seeped through and made a wet mark on the towel underneath. Bad news. Good thing I used a towel, though!
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Spill Test
As I touched on above, the spill test is where we truly discover which products are best, and as I mentioned in the section above, this product disappointed.
When I administered the liquid, I lay a dry hand towel at the center of my bed, and proceeded to cover the whole area with the Defend-a-Bed sheet, after which I poured 8 ounces of liquid onto the cover and waited. On 5 different intervals; 10 minutes, 2 hours, 4 hours, 6, and then 8 – I checked back upon the sheet to check how it was reacting.
Initially, things went well. On the first 4 checks, it looked as though my towel would be fighting clean by the end of the test. However, on hour four I noticed a change in the amount of liquid that was above my bed. It looked as though it had seeped through. Disappointed, I let the test run its course. On hour eight, I removed the cover to find that the liquid had indeed seeped through and the towel was wet. Not a good sign.
Construction
The Defend-a-Bed mattress cover is made out of white polyester terry material with a noiseless protective barrier that is supposed to keep the liquid from reaching your mattress. It’s an easy to construct cover when applying it to your bed, and the 22 inch deep cover should fit any sized bed. There are also multiple different sizes available. I tested the Queen sized cover. The sheet was thin and noiseless as advertised and if I had not known this was on my bed I wouldn’t have noticed any difference.
Comfort
As mentioned previously, this is the element that excelled with this product. As the liquid test was poor, the comfort test really needed to be good. And it was. For three whole nights, I enjoyed my sleep. It was soft under my sheets and there was pretty much none of that dreadful plastic crinkle sound.
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Heat Retention
Heat retention was fine. I never found myself to get too warm and ventilation was great. That may work against the product in terms of the waterproof feature, though.
Maintenance, Care and Warranty
To best care for this product, you should be washing it at a medium heat or even a cool cycle with mild detergent. If you use a tumble drier, you should put it on a low heat, otherwise you will damage the waterproofing cover within the sheet. There is a 15-year limited warranty on the product, and the company boast a 5-star customer service team.
Bonuses
The noiseless application! I was thrilled with this. And now that I think of it, for the price point that the Defend-a-Bed comes in at, this would make a great mattress cover (not protector) if you want to cut down on allergens or smooth out the surface of your bed.
Customer Reviews and Feedback for Defend-a-Bed
Here is what the online world said about the Defend-a-Bed cover I tested.
Protection
Reflecting what I found out, there are a lot of poor responses and reviews to this cover. It does not hold water and is a poor quality of sheet. Although the majority of reviews favor the sheet, it is worrying that over 10% of customer reviews we checked out were displeased with the waterproof qualities of the sheet. Some even showed pictures.
Durability
Customers seemed to be pleased with the durability of the product, overall. Even the ones who complained about the leaking said that the make of it was still good.
Odor
There was zero odor on the product for me and there is never any mention of smell during customer reviews.
Customer Support
A couple of customers have posted how the customer support from the manufacturer is poor, stating that the 15 year warranty may well exist on the product, but the customer service team seem completely uninterested in returns, money back or offering replacement products. Disappointing. I hate seeing that. At least it’s not too costly.
Feedback on its Features
The feedback on the features is average. To be honest, there’s only really one feature on this product, aside from the lack of noise, which is the waterproof protection which is very hit and miss. There are even people who have used this product initially, been happy and actually come to find that after a few weeks the product begins to become less waterproof. Safe to say the feedback on the cover could be better.
Conclusion
My conclusion is a pretty low-key affair. Unfortunately, the Defend-a-Bed protector does not do what is needed of it. While it is soft, made from fairly good material, when it comes down to it, it does not act well as a waterproof layer above your mattress.
But since I don’t like to be negative and try my best to find a use for any product, I say, for the price, this protector makes a great allergen cover. And that’s what I’ll use it as.
If this review helped you out at all, or if you had any questions, feel free to comment and share below!
Defend-a-Bed Mattress Protector Specs
| Material | Sizes | Odor | Warranty | Shipping Weight or Weight |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Polyester Terry | Twin, Twin XL, Full, Full XL, Queen, King | None | 15 Years | 2.1lbs |
Frequently Asked Questions
Is protector attached with corner anchors or fitted like a sheet?
Attaches like a fitted sheet.
Is this protector machine-washable?
Yes, machine wash medium to cool and tumble dry on low heat.
Will the pocket depth be enough for my mattress?
Will fit mattresses up to 22 inches.
Is there a warranty?
Yes. 15 years.