How To Clean a Mattress

Saturday morning comes, and the list of chores has been written out:

• Kitchen – Tick
• Living room- Tick
• Bathroom – Tick
• Clean the Mattress –  ehhhh? 

Don’t worry, cleaning a mattresswouldn’t spring to mind for the majority of us! We all have things besides mattress cleaning on our minds. However, maintaining and cleaning our mattress should be a top priority as we spend hours sleeping on it every single night.

Why do you need to clean a mattress?

On average a 7 year old mattress has found more than 16 million units of bacteria per square inch. This includes mould, Yeast and E. coli, now add not cleaning your mattress to the mix and you have A LOT of germs. There can be more germs in our beds than a toilet seat. 

Let’s face it, germs love our beds more than we do. 

How to clean a mattress

How you go about cleaning your mattress depends on just how dirty the mattress may be i.e. how long it has been since it was last cleaned. (If at all)

• First thing first – strip the bed, get all the dirty sheets and duvet covers into the wash and have your new clean bedding at the ready.

• If you see any stains, be patient and accept that it is going to take longer to clean the mattress than would normally be the case.

• Get the hoover at the ready, and start gently hoovering the top of your mattress. The hoover will pick up dust and dead skin that may be stuck to the mattress, after hoovering the top make sure to turn over to get the other side too.

• Last but not least - let your mattress get some air before remaking the bed.

How to remove a mattress stain

The best time to try to remove a mattress stain is as soon as the stain occurs - try to clean it straight away. If you haven’t had a chance to get it cleaned immediately, it might take a little longer but you will get there.

If you are struggling to remove a stain from the mattress, here are some tips: 

• First, be make sure to read the mattress label to check which cleaning products you may not be able to use to wash the mattress stain away.

• Start with a small amount of cleaning product first to check it works ok before you put it all over the mattress stain and it maybe not work. 

• Many customers find mixing water, washing up liquid and baking soda and leaving it on the mattress stain for around 30 minutes helps lift the stain out, if it doesn’t, repeat until it lifts it completely. 

• All going to plan, you now have a stain free mattress!

How to stop your mattress from smelling

Your bedroom is a place where you feel that you can relax and unwind, a mattress that doesn't smell fresh and clean makes relaxing much more difficult!

If you have a brand new mattress, you may get an unusual smell when you remove it from its packaging. This is normal and is referred to as "off gassing". When a mattress is manufactured and packaged, safe gasses (from the materials used in its construction) build up over time. When the mattress is delivered to a customer and the packaging removed, the off gasses release creating the ‘new mattress smell’. To help get rid of this smell we advise you to let the mattress air for 24hours before fitting any bedsheets and duvets.

If your mattress isn’t new and there is a smell – it may be due to a spillage or stain that has soaked through to the mattress. Again let the mattress air out once you have cleaned the stain, if it hasn’t went away try putting baking soda over the parts where you think are smelling the worse and let is air again, this should resolve it.

How often should you clean your mattress?

It all comes down to you and how you much time you spend lying on the mattress. It is advised to clean your mattress every 6 months, but our advice is that each time you change your bed sheets, it is worth taking a little bit more time to give your mattress a clean, a quick run around with the hoover is enough.

Finally, it is a good idea to leave your bedroom window open for a few minutes each day, not only does it help with the stuffiness of the bedroom but also helps air out the mattress and any bacteria that might be lingering. 

Is it time you bought a new mattress?

If none of our tips helped with cleaning your mattress or getting rid of the smell, it may be time to start looking for a new mattress. We are always here to help customers get the best use out of their mattress but sometimes it has just gone too far and it is time for a new one. You can check out our full range of mattresses here.