Dry your mattress quickly to save it from life in a landfill. A soggy mattress soon takes on a musty smell, and within a day or two, may even begin to grow mold deep inside it. Of course, not every wet mattress is salvageable. If the mattress was in a flood, the water likely was contaminated with biohazards and dangerous chemicals or fuel. In that case, even if you could sanitize the inside of the mattress sufficiently, mold from lingering moisture could invade unseen. Mattresses that avoid complete saturation -- such as those wet from spills, rainwater leaks, water used to put out a minor fire or similar sources -- can be salvaged, as long as you work quickly and dry them thoroughly. Blot up the moisture if the spill or wet area was minor and small. Use a clean, absorbent cloth or towel and apply as much pressure as possible to force the moisture out of the mattress, into the drying pad. Follow with a hairdryer, set on high. Hold the hairdryer a few inches from the mattress surface and apply heat for at least 15 to 20 minutes.
Allow the area to cool down completely before determining if it is dry or not. After 30 minutes, proceed to another drying method. Sprinkle clean kitty litter over the mattress surface. Apply pressure to the litter to force moisture out of the mattress and into the absorbent littler. Place a towel or cloth over the litter before pressing, if you prefer. Wait an hour or two and press again. Suck up the litter with a wet/dry vacuum. Repeat with fresh litter if moisture remains, then vacuum. Follow with heat from a blow dryer or proceed to another drying method if moisture remains. Flip the mattress up, on its side, and securely prop it in place so there is at least 2 feet of air space on either side. Place a fan at the end, blowing down both sides, or use two fans to point directly at the mattress on either side. Open windows in the room and turn on ceiling fans, as applicable, to create as much air movement in the room as possible. Turning up the heat, using a space heater -- set as a safe distance from the mattress -- or similar measures also help accelerate drying.
Alternatively, take the mattress outside. Set up a platform, if possible, such as concrete blocks or sawhorses, to rest the mattress on and allow maximum air movement. Otherwise, turn the mattress on its side and securely prop it up. Allow the mattress to stay outside in the wind and sun until it is dry. Speed the drying process with a couple of fans, hooked up to extension cords, pointed at the mattress. Return the mattress inside once it is completely dry. Things You Will Need Absorbent cloth or towel Hairdryer Cat litter Wet/dry vacuum Fans Concrete blocks or sawhorses (optional) Extension cords (optional) Tip Warning References North Carolina State University: Cleaning Flooded Upholstered Furniture, Curtains, Bedding, Table Linens, and Other Household TextilesRestoration SOS: Clean, Dry, Repair and Disinfect MattressesMattress Detective: How to Dry a Mattress With Ease Photo Credits Medioimages/Photodisc/Photodisc/Getty Images Suggest a CorrectionThis is definitely a your-mileage-may-vary type of task.
I've never had to attempt it, but here's my best shot, assuming the rainwater was basically clean. Start the drying process as soon as you possibly can. Mold can start growing within a day or so. Blot up as much as you can. Use plenty of dry towels to squeeze and press the water out and absorb as much as you can. Get air circulation around the mattress. Prop it up on end if you possibly can, so that both of the big, flat surfaces are exposed to the air, not pressing on the floor or a wall. (If it's particularly soggy, standing the mattress up might also help some of the excess water run out.) If you can, prop the mattress up on something that won't stain it.Put it out in the sun if you have sun. The light and heat will help to evaporate the water.This one may be at odds with the part about standing it on end, but try using kitty litter to absorb some excess moisture. Get the air moving around the mattress. If you have a natural breeze, use it. If not, set up a fan. Indoors, running either the heating or the air conditioning will tend to decrease the relative humidity of the air.
If part of the problem is that it's still damp outside, these might be worth adding to your efforts. (This one's not in any of the instructions I found.)For spot drying, try a hair dryer.Leave the bedding off until everything is thoroughly dry.Good luck, and next time, try not let your mattress play in the puddles.Jolie Kerr is a cleaning expert and advice columnist. She'll be here every week helping to answer your filthiest questions. I spilled a very small amount of beer on my bed. My immediate thought was, "What would Jolie Kerr do?" so I stripped down my bedding and tossed it all in the wash. The beer got only on the corner of a pillow and on the fitted sheet. I had a mattress protector on the bed which did its job and mostly absorbed the brunt of the blow. I tossed that in the washer too, after checking the care guide symbol thingy. However, a tiny bit of beer did make its way onto the mattress, so I put a minimal amount of soap and water on a washcloth and wiped it, then dabbed it up with a different clean towel.
I am now leaving my mattress to air dry. So my question is: Did I do that right? If in future this happens again, is there anything I should do differently (other than not drink beer in bed)? You totally did that right! Wow, I'm so pleased right now—you got the "grab for the soap" part right, you got the "dab at the stain" part right, and you even got the super important "let the mattress dry" part right. It is a grand day indeed!With your question more or less answered, let me say this: I think it's fine to drink a beer in bed. If that makes you happy, keep on keepin' on.Still though, there are more things to say, so today we'll cover what to do about other kinds of stains that commonly occur on mattresses, like blood and urine. We'll also touch on what you should know if your mattress develops a mold or mildew problem, and talk about routine mattress care.We spend a lot of time in our beds and all kinds of stuff goes on in there, so it's likely that at some point along the way, you're going to end up with a mess of some sort that needs to be cleaned up.
But the "how" of removing a stain from a mattress isn't all that intuitive—I mean, you can't just chuck the thing in the washing machine and be done with it. We're going to talk about some specific stains that can commonly occur on mattresses, but before we do there are three general rules of thumb to follow.The first is that you want to be aware of not saturating the mattress with water or liquid cleaning solutions—in addition to being not-washing-machine-chuckable, a mattress also poses the problem of being tricky to dry out when it's gotten wet. And a wet mattress is not only unappealing in terms of a sleep environment, but also is a breeding ground for mold and mildew. It probably goes without saying that you don't want to be sleeping atop a sea of mold.The second thing to say about dealing with a stain on the mattress is that, provided you know what it is, you'll want to treat it with the right product. That's especially important because a number of substances that typically stain a mattress (think: blood, sweat, urine) are protein stains which, when combined with bleach, for example, can be made worse.
The third thing to say is that the Letter Writer's approach—using a damp rag and a small amount of soap—is a very good one that you can and should bear in mind in the event you, too, spill some beer or wine or juice or soda in bed and catch it immediately.Blood stains can happen on mattresses (or pillows) for a number of reasons; menstruation is an obvious one, but things like nosebleeds happen, sometimes dry skin cracks overnight and bleeds, etc. There are a lot of ways to treat blood stains—you can make a paste of baking soda or crushed up aspirin, use hydrogen peroxide or lemon juice, or a product like Carbona Stain Devils #4 or Zout.If you go the paste route, apply it to the stain and allow it to sit for 30 or so minutes before wiping away with a cleanTo use a liquid stain remover, start by applying it to a slightly dampened rag or sponge, and then dabbing at the stain. That will help you to control that amount of moisture the mattress is exposed to, though you may have to take several passes to fully remove the stain.*Or the dog, cat, child, etc.
If they happen to you, and you catch an accident right away, grab some paper towels or rags to soak up as much of the urine as possible. Then, use a product like Nature's Miracle, which is designed for use on pet messes but can be used on human messes as well, or a laundry pre-treatment spray like Zout, to remove the remaining stain.After removing the stain, there may be a lingering odor; if that's the case, when the mattress has dried, spread baking soda on the area, allow it to sit for 30 or so minutes, and then vacuum it up.In the event that you have a mattress that's developed mold, you should think seriously about replacing it. Mold spores aren't things you want to be breathing in while you sleep, and mold can be particularly trick to eradicate entirely when it takes root in a mattress. However, there are cases where replacing a mattress isn't an option. Lysol can be a good choice for blasting mold out of a mattress, though you can certainly also employ rubbing alcohol, bleach, or white vinegar.
To use one of those options, apply to a sponge or rag and scrub at the moldy spots until they're gone. Then allow the mattress to dry completely.If you live in a warm, dry climate, you're in luck—a damp or wet mattress will dry fairly quickly, especially if several windows are open to help with air circulation. Setting a fan and/or dehumidifier near the mattress can also speed along drying time, and is recommended for those in damper climates. If the spot you've been treating is on the small side, a hair dryer will allow you to quickly dry that area out.Sometimes mattresses may take on a funk that is unrelated to stains, and sometimes those stains leave behind an odor even after cleaning. Here's what to do about that: Sprinkle plain baking soda or one of the scented household deodorizers that Arm & Hammer makes on the mattress. Leave it to do its deodorizing thing for, say, 30 minutes (more for very strong odors) and then vacuum the powder up. Setting a mattress outside to air out and take some sun is also an option, provided you have the space for such an operation.