After a hard day’s work, it’s always a good thing to lie on a soft and comfortable mattress. It gives us relaxation and allergies—what? Yes, that’s right. Behind the soft exterior of mattresses are actually 100 000 to 10 million allergy-inducing dust mites. We’ll share useful tips for mattress cleaning.
Apart from this, mattresses also endure our decade’s worth of dirt, drool, dead skin, and sweat. Gross right? But, more than being disgusting, these things encourage microbial growth, including the pathogenic ones.
Amerisleep researched the bacterial level of a 7-year old mattress, and results show that it tested positive on four strains of pathogenic bacteria. A 2015 study also observed 4 to 16 different species of fungus living off old pillows and mattresses.
To make matters worse, people spend 33 years in bed throughout their lives. It means that we’re exposed to these microorganisms for about half our lifetime. Yikes!
We definitely need to change these numbers, not the amount of time we spend in our bed, but the number of microorganisms relaxing with us. Hence, here are a few tips for effective mattress cleaning.
Strip the bed
We can’t clean a mattress without exposing it, right? So, start your mattress cleaning with the removal of bedsheets and pillowcases.
While working on the mattress, toss your beddings in the washing machine. Make sure to use a water temperature that effectively kills germs while still being tolerable to the material.
Remove mattress dust and dirt
Now that the mattress is exposed, vacuum its surfaces from the top to the sides. Pay close attention to the seams and crevices, these are where the dust and dirt usually gather. Also, try to reach as much of the box spring as you can access.
Give your mattress steam to clean
Unlike your bedsheets and pillowcases, mattresses are too large to fit in washing machines. Hence, these aren’t frequently washed with hot water to kill the dust mites.
An alternative to this is steaming. Using a garment steamer, go over the surface and press as much fabric as possible with the penetrating steam. This will ideally kill the dust mites living on the creases and crevices. Afterwhich, vacuum the mattress again.
If you don’t have a garment steamer, your trusty iron will usually do!
Treat mattress stains
Treating stains can be tricky. Since some foams are sensitive to excessive moisture, you can’t just pour water to remove the stain. Plus, the type of stain also plays a part. What can we do then?
For biological stains, like blood, urine, and sweat, you can use an enzymatic cleaner. The logic behind this is the enzyme’s ability to speed up chemical reactions and the breakage of stains.
No enzymatic cleaners? Fret not. You can also make your cleaning solution that’s just as effective. You can use a mixture of baking soda, salt, and water or just the all-around hydrogen peroxide with water.
Dry the mattress
To remove the moisture absorbed by the mattress, you can place it out in the sun and fresh air. But, if you have a small backyard, or maybe it’s a rainy day, you can count on baking soda to absorb both moisture and odour. You can even add a few drops of essential oil to give your mattress a fresh smell.
After some time, vacuum the baking soda off the mattress.
Ask for help
Still unsatisfied with your cleaning? Don’t hesitate to ask for expert help from cleaning services providers, like Cleanrific.
Professional cleaners have more sophisticated cleaning skills and tools, like ultraviolet light and allergy treatments, that will give your mattress the deep cleaning it needs.
Final Thoughts
As long as we’re alive, we’ll shed half a billion skin cells every day and produce 26 gallons of sweat in bed every year. These are natural processes that have made our mattresses dirty over the years. Well, there’s nothing much we can do about it.
What we can change is our mattress cleaning habit. Follow the tips we provided, and you’re sure to keep dust mites and all body wastes away from your mattress.
By keeping your mattresses clean, you’re not only taking grossness away, but you’re also protecting your family from diseases.
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