How to Clean a Mattress at Home | Easy Step-by-Step Guide
According to a study, the average person sweats about half a pint every night. Given that we spend about a third of our lives lying horizontally on a mattress, one might think that this would be at the top of our list of routine cleaning duties. But the truth is that we rarely think about cleaning mattresses.
The problem is that once you take off all the sheets, you are left with a mattress that has a lid that you cannot remove. It's not like it has a zipper and you can just open the cover and put it in for washing. The sad truth is that once we take off all the sheets, we turn a blind eye to any dirt on top of our mattress.
I know you don't want to admit it, but mattresses accumulate harbor spills, stains, dirt, dust, dust mites, and worse. So keeping the mattress clean is important for a number of reasons, the most important of which is that your partially clothed body lies on top of it and only a sheet is separating you from the mattress.
Don't worry, as we've put together some useful tips and tricks that will make cleaning and caring for your mattress easier. And if you read the whole article, I'll show you something that you'll never have to worry about stains, spills, and other dirt on your mattress.
Now, let's look at some maintenance tips first.
1. Vacuum the mattress
This is an important step as it removes dust, dead skin cells and other debris falling on your mattress. Consider doing this every time you turn your mattress, or once in a season. Now, the important part here is to use a clean upholstery attachment, because remember, your vacuum sucks up all kinds of nasties, and you specifically don't want to be depositing those onto your mattress.
You can actually add an old spray nozzle to the bottle itself. Which will makes it much easier to spray and use.
The important thing to i would like to mention here is to write the date of opening the bottle on the bottle itself, because hydrogen peroxide will be spoiled in 1 to 6 months, and it will not clean anything after it gets spoiled.
2. Deodorizing your mattress
You can enjoy vacuuming your mattress by adding another step, and it's deodorizing. I guess because of the sweat, dust and other things on your mattress, it's going to start to develop its own unique scent.
And to deal with that, just sift the baking soda on your mattress, leave it on for about 30 minutes, and then vacuum it with upholstery.
As you know, baking soda is a natural deodorant, so it will definitely help neutralize any odor.
But keep in mind that using this dry cleaning method will not allow it to actually clean or remove any stains.
If you want to add some essential oils, you can add a few drops to the baking soda pre-sift, and you'll enjoy that lovely scent for a few nights afterward.
3. Spot cleaning and stains.
There are three types of stains, but usually only one end up on your mattress. These are three types of stains, protein stains, grease stains, and tannin stains, and out of these stains you'll see only protein stains on your mattress.
Liquid stains need to be blotted up first with a cool, wet cloth, and then excess moisture can be blotted up with a dry cloth. Use a pressing motion, rather than a circular motion, to lift the stain to avoid further rubbing the stain in, which is what this will do.
Therefore, while handling them, use only cold water. Now, fresh protein stains can usually be removed with a mixture of salt, baking soda, and water. So just make a paste of equal parts, rub it on the area, and then brush it after 30 minutes. Then, pour some cold water on the damp cloth to remove excess water and then let the mattress dry. If this doesn't work, upgrade your solution and try our favorite home stain removal product, which contains two parts hydrogen peroxide and one part dish soap.
Put a small piece of that solution on the stain, gently apply it to the area, and then gently brush with a cleaning toothbrush. Leave it on for about five minutes, and then wipe it with a cold, damp cloth. This will also help deal with any unsightly color changes. Some people like to use enzyme cleaners to remove protein stains, and you can try it too. They are highly effective. Just remember to use as little fluid as possible and make sure your mattress is completely dry before using it again, to avoid growing your own colony of mold spores.
4. Steam cleaning or deep cleaning.
Now a kind of terrifying and, well, fun fact I guess if you will, is that we as humans shed about 1.5 lbs of dead skin cells every single year, and we spend a ton of time on our mattress, so there's going to be a lot of those in there as well.
An article published by BBC Science Focus Magazine cites a 2011 study published in the journal Environmental Science & Technology that estimated humans shed between 0.03 and 0.09 grams of skin every hour, which adds up significantly over a lifetime.
So we're going to pay special attention to the canister and see how much we pick up.
There is a difference between steam cleaning or deep cleaning the mattress.
Steam cleaning is just covering the mattress with steam to kill dust mites, and extraction or deep cleaning is simply wetting the mattress and then extracting the moisture.
If you have allergies or very difficult mattress stains, you can get a professional service provider who does all the work.
Flip your mattress so it wears evenly. And it is recommended that you do this at the end of every season. Or else, one side will be much deeper than that other side if the weights of persons vary. It takes us a total of a few seconds to do it, No big deal.
5. No water on your mattress.
Now, mattresses don't really like water or liquids, and memory foam mattresses can't really handle liquids at all, because liquids will get stuck in that cellular structure, and then there will be no room for the liquids to go. Make sure to never wet your memory foam mattress.
6. Use fans to dry the mattress.
So if you have access to a wet/dry vac, of course, using a clean attachment, use it to help further extract the moisture. Don't even think about sleeping on mattresses until they are completely dry.
Now, we've been asked several times how to deal with bedbugs, and this is a serious issue. It shouldn't be a DIY project. Act fast and call a professional if you think you have them. Have the professionals treat your mattress, the room, and any other areas affected in your house immediately. If you get them, you want them gone, and these are the guys that know how to do it.
Now, the last thing that you are waiting for is that I mentioned something about a tip which would save your mattress from those spills and stains and everything else. Well, it's not really a huge secret, but a mattress protector is one of the best investments for your mattress.
Important to note that many mattress manufacturers strongly recommend using a mattress protector, because stains on your mattress will actually void your warranty.
To keep your mattress clean and in tip-top shape, there are a few things I like to recommend. Now the first, please, please, please invest in a mattress protector. I'll actually have my favorite one linked down in the description below. But these are so important, especially after you just got done cleaning your mattress, because they create a barrier between you and the mattress, making sure things like spots and spills don't happen and it keeps your mattress cleaner longer. Now the second thing is to vacuum your mattress every month. Remember all the dirt and stuff we pulled out of this one? Well, you want to do that on a regular basis so it doesn't build, build up, plus it will keep your bedroom much more dust-free and you get rid of all of those allergens as well. Now the last thing is it's a good idea to rotate or flip your mattress every 3 to 6 months, depending on the kind, and this will help it to wear evenly.
