Who is responsible
The Knowledge Center is owned by Matthew Brunken, founder of Sleep Sanitation. He is the named author of each page. Before a page is published or substantially changed, it is checked against the sourcing and labeling rules on this page. Sleep Sanitation is a mattress cleaning company, so we have a commercial interest in the topics we write about. We disclose that here and on the pages themselves, and we keep our own service out of definitions and evidence summaries.
Where our facts come from
We use the most direct source available for each kind of claim, in this order of preference:
- Government agencies and standards bodies, such as the EPA, the CDC, the Carpet and Rug Institute and the IICRC.
- Peer-reviewed studies, linked to the published paper or its official abstract, described with their real conditions.
- Manufacturer care and warranty documents, for rules about that manufacturer's own products.
- Equipment makers' own specification pages, for that equipment's own specifications.
- Trade press and other secondary reporting, used only when nothing more direct exists, and labeled as reported.
How we label claims
- Vendor claims are labeled. A figure from an equipment maker's brochure or product page, such as a moisture percentage or a pressure, is presented as the maker's claim, not as an independent measurement.
- Calculated values say what they were calculated from. For example, a steam temperature worked out from a published steam table names that table.
- Our own experience is labeled as field guidance. When we describe what we see on our own jobs, we say so and do not present it as a published measurement.
- Ranges match their sources. A range that summarizes several sources runs from the lowest to the highest figure in the sources we link.
- Unknowns are stated. Each article has a "What we don't know" section listing questions the published evidence does not answer.
How claims are checked
Every source is opened and read before it is cited, and each number, quote or rule is matched against the source text it is attributed to. Quotations are reproduced word for word. Studies are described with their substrate and setting, such as carpet rather than mattresses, or a laboratory surface rather than a home, because those details change what a result means. Links are re-checked whenever a page is updated.
Manufacturer instructions and warranties
We quote manufacturer care instructions exactly and link to them, and we treat the care label as the safe default. Where our own cleaning practice differs from a manufacturer's instruction, we say so plainly and describe our method as our own choice and reasoning, never as an exemption or approval from the manufacturer. We do not claim that any cleaning method keeps, voids or restores a warranty. Owners with warranty questions should check their own manufacturer's terms.
Health and safety language
Knowledge Center pages are general information, not medical advice. On these pages we use the CDC's distinctions between cleaning, sanitizing and disinfecting, we do not publish germ- or allergen-reduction percentages for our own service, and we do not present an EPA establishment number as an approval. Knowledge Center pages do not name or criticize other cleaning companies.
How AI tools are used
Drafts of Knowledge Center pages are prepared with the help of AI writing and research tools. Those tools help find and summarize sources, draft and edit text, and check pages for consistency. Every cited source is opened and checked against the claim it supports, and each page is checked against these standards before it goes live; we do not claim an outside expert review. Diagrams are made for Sleep Sanitation and labeled as illustrative; we do not publish AI-generated images presented as photos of our work.
Corrections
If you find an error, an outdated manufacturer instruction or a better source, email info@sleepsanitation.com with the page address and what should change. When a correction changes a fact, figure or recommendation, we update the page, change its "Updated" date and note the correction on the page.
Updates and review dates
Each page shows when it was last updated and when its sources were last checked. We update pages when a source, manufacturer instruction or standard changes, or when a reader reports a problem. We change the "Updated" date only when the content changes, not to make a page look fresh.