A good night’s sleep is essential for our well-being. Many factors affect how well we sleep at night including food that we consume, our medical conditions, and even our relationships. Also our environment is important: How much light falls on the area where we sleep and how comfortable our bed is. When we think about bed, one of the first things that comes to the mind is the mattress. It is the mattress, or its cleaning to be exact, that we are going to discuss in this post. Cleaning your mattress regularly is crucial if you want to wake up fresh and full of energy every morning. That doesn’t only suggest vacuuming it once in a while. Depending on how diligent you are in cleaning your mattress, it may also have some unpleasant things such as allergens, stains, sweat, or dust mites. So, more work is required to keep this element of your “sleeping kit” in good shape. Here is how the mattress-cleaning process looks in a nutshell.
1. Take off the bedding
First, take off all the bedding, wash, and dry it. In order to ensure that no parasites remain in your linens after washing, bring the water temperature to the peak value and set the maximum heat for the dryer.
2. Vacuum the mattress properly
To achieve the best effect, use the upholstery attachment that comes with your vacuum cleaner. It will allow you to vacuum the seam lines well. That is important because most of the bad stuff accumulates in the seams. The upholstery attachment will also facilitate cleaning the sides. Vacuum only one side of the mattress for the moment and leave the other for a later time.
3. Remove the stains
Your mattress can be covered with stains of all types over time due to various reasons (children, pets, coffee in the bed, etc.). The best way to get rid of them is to use the combination of salt, water, and baking soda. Put this paste on the stain you want to remove and keep it there for about half an hour. Then, use your brush to clear the paste and wipe it with a wet cloth. Next, dry the spot with a hair dryer. Some types of stains (urine, blood, etc.) can be also removed by applying water and hydrogen peroxide in equal proportions and rubbing them into the stain with a toothbrush. After that, let the spot dry for five minutes or so. If the stain persists, keep on applying the water/peroxide mixture and working with a toothbrush.
4. Get rid of unpleasant smells
You think that because you take a shower every time you go to bed at night, your mattress will smell the same way it did when you just bought it? Think again. The mattress gradually absorbs your sweat and other bodily smells. There is no avoiding that. To get rid of these odors, sprinkle baking soda over the whole surface of the mattress and rub it into the top layer with a brush. You can accomplish the best result by keeping baking soda on your mattress for a day and exposing it to sun rays.
5. Vacuum the mattress again
Now that the baking soda has absorbed the funky smells from the top of your mattress, vacuum it one more time.
6. Flip the mattress side-to-side or top-to-bottom
Depending on what kind of mattress you’ve got, you can turn it top-to-bottom and repeat the procedure described in the previous steps, or simply rotate it in order to minimize its wear.
Cleaning a mattress should not be limited to using a vacuum cleaner. You also need to remove the stains, get rid of unpleasant smells, dirt and dust that accumulate in the top layer of the mattress over time. We highly recommend cleaning your mattress at least once three months. If you find this task overwhelming or you are too busy to attend to it, you can use the services of a mattress cleaning firm or buy a mattress cover and mattress pad that will protect your mattress from parasites, odors, and stains.
