FUNNY! My Great Aunt (Who had a daughter my age) covered EVERYTHING in plastic...couches-lamps-headboards. She had a theatre type, velvet "whatchmacallit" to keep us out of her formal living room because she had white carpet.
Her reasons were that my cousin had asthma, but the only time she had an attack was when the house needed to be cleaned.
She didn't really have asthma. This I know for a fact. Just knew how to work it!