Protecting sleepers from their beds
Photo by David Bergeland/The Record/MCT
Arnold Hershbain, CEO of FabricTech in Cedar Grove, N.J., with two of the company’s mattress envelopes.
HACKENSACK, N.J. -- Arnold Hershbain, 64, leads a Cedar Grove, N.J., company, FabricTech International, that makes mattress and pillow protectors. But to hear Hershbain talk, they really should be called sleeper protectors: devices that protect sleepers from their beds.
FabricTech was founded by the late Sam Chase, a mattress industry veteran who wanted to create a mattress cover that would help his highly allergic son. The mattress protectors he produced originally were sold in physicians' offices. They're now sold in retail stores, including Sleepy's, the nation's largest mattress chain.
Q: Why should someone buy FabricTech protectors?
A: Here's what distinguishes us from all the other companies making mattress protectors: All of the other companies, their focus is to protect the mattress from the individual -- from it getting stained.
Q: And you're protecting the individual from the mattress?
A: Right. We protect the individual from the mattress, from what grows in the mattress, from what can trigger allergic reactions, anything that can be a detriment to your health. Everything we do is focused on the health and wellness of the individual. Our high-end products have been tested and certified so that they protect the individual against anything that would grow in a mattress, like mold spores, mildew, dust mites and the residue from dust mites. We've also tested our products against bedbugs. Our full-enclosure products have been certified to be totally bedbug proof. If they're in a mattress, they cannot get out and they cannot poke through the fabric.
Q: Why not?
A: The fabric is of a medical grade. It is a circular-knit polyester coated with a medical-grade urethane coating that prevents moisture from getting into the mattress but that is highly breathable. We're also coming out with products that actually eliminate germs, bacteria, staph and MRSA.
Q: How do they do that?
A: The fabric interferes with the ability of the microbes to live on fabric. And it's all natural.
Q: What kills the microbes?
A: Silver. Silver is a natural antimicrobial substance. It interferes with the ability of the microbes to ingest nutrients. We're also launching a product that promotes healing -- the Celliant line -- with a material that helps heal aches and pains.
Q: How does it do that?
A: The fibers are made from minerals. They are infused and woven into the fabric and it oxygenates your blood. Oxygen promotes healing, so if you have aches and pains, it can promote a better night's sleep.
Q: Do you sleep on FabricTech protectors?
A: Yes. I use our PureCare line.
Q: Have you noticed any difference in your sleep?
A: Absolutely. Without a doubt.
Q: How so?
A: When you're sleeping on one of our products, anything that grows in the mattress that you can breathe in that will trigger an allergy is eliminated, so you're basically sleeping in an allergy-free environment, provided you've washed your bedding. You know how when you make your bed in the morning and you see the dust in the sunlight? That's what you're breathing in eight hours a night. By using our products, you eliminate breathing that in. You're breathing in clean air.
Q: How about when you travel?
A: When I travel, I usually take a pillow protector with me because I don't want to put my face on a hotel pillow. If I'm going to be at a hotel for more than one night, I'll usually take a mattress protector along and put it over the mattress as well.
