Patent ID: 7618794

Claim:
A method to certify a new manufactured article with respect to dust mite allergen removal and the integrity of said article, the method comprising the steps of (a) pre-testing the new manufactured article to detect the presence of dust mite allergens remaining from the manufacturing process; (b) seeding the article with a population of live mite species; (c) exposing the seeded article to environmental conditions that promote an accelerated growth of the live mite population; (d) after said accelerated growth, washing the article to remove mites and dust mite allergens from the article; (e) selecting a target level of dust mite allergens to remain after washing the article; (f) testing the washed article to determine the level of dust mite allergens remaining and whether the remaining level of dust mite allergens is below the target level; (g) if the remaining dust mite allergen level is below the target level, subjecting the article to a selected number of additional washings; (h) subjecting the article to at least one quality integrity test to determine if the article retains its integrity over a plurality of wash cycles; and, (i) in the event the quality integrity tests determine that the article retains its integrity during the additional washings, certifying the article with respect to dust mite allergen removal and the ability of the article to retain its integrity over a number of wash cycles under specified wash condition.