If you have had the luxury of buying a new mattress recently, it is likely that you have a foam mattress. Foam mattresses once were something that most people could not afford, but as the market for them has increased, the prices have dropped considerably. Now the average person can afford to sleep on a comfortable and luxurious foam mattress instead of dealing with those pesky box springs. All these years you have had a regular mattress, so cleaning a foam mattress is probably something foreign to you. No need to fret, though. My tips that will come in handy now, as well as in the future, on how to clean your beloved foam mattress. Spills are inevitable if you eat or drink in your bed, so it is best to have a quick, efficient method for removing them. Do not use bleach or any product that contains bleach. For best results, allow the cover to air dry. If you do put it in the dryer, use a low, cool setting and check it frequently. There's no need to pre-treat the cover unless the spill is a result of red wine or another staining liquid.
If liquid has been spilled on the foam mattress, you'll need to remove as much of it as possible as quickly as possible. Do not put the mattress cover or the sheets back on the mattress until your foam mattress is completely dry. To remove urine stains or odor from a foam mattress, you'll need an enzymatic cleaner or distilled white vinegar and baking soda. Enzymatic commercial cleaners work well, but they are very expensive. Vinegar, on the other hand, is inexpensive and it is a natural deodorizer that absorbs odors by breaking down bacteria. Vinegar does not leave any kind of residue, and the smell goes away when it dries. Note that neither is guaranteed to completely remove stains and odors from a foam mattress, and that you should never saturate the area with any liquid, even water. It's important to be cautious when removing stains because you don't want to risk pushing the urine further inside the foam. The only cleaning that's necessary is a simple vacuuming once a month or so.
While your foam mattress is less susceptible to dust mites (than a traditional mattress is) dust, hair and dead skin will still accumulate on the mattress. An Ounce of Prevention is Worth a Pound of Cure My cleaning tips will keep your foam mattress in the best shape so you won't need to worry about replacing it! Image courtesy of Michael Cory, CC BY.Best memory foam mattress topper Memory foam mattress toppers are the most popular choice among users, and we found more reviews for them than for any other type of topper. A number of memory foam mattress toppers get very high ratings at different review sites across the Internet, but none fares better than the Serta Ultimate 4-inch Memory Foam Mattress Topper (Est. $200 and up). Owners say the Serta Ultimate Foam mattress topper is very comfortable and supportive, and many report that it provides relief from pain and stiffness. This Serta is reported to be on the soft side, so it gets better ratings from back sleepers than from side sleepers.
That's not unusual for softer mattresses and mattress pads as side sleepers tend to sink deeper into those. However, for those who love a soft bed, the Serta Ultimate is the "ultimate" in comfort, users say, with many likening it to sleeping on a cloud. For some, though, that cloud feels more like a giant sponge, and some say that this memory foam topper traps heat too much and also makes it difficult to move around. This Serta memory foam mattress topper comes in a wide range of sizes, twin, full, queen, king and California King. The four inch thickness is a great choice if you're a heavier individual, or if your mattress is significantly hard or sagging. The 2-inch thick Serta only comes in three sizes, queen, king and California king. The Serta Ultimate mattress topper is a good choice for allergy sufferers as it's is hypoallergenic and antibacterial. Long-term reviews indicate that this mattress topper is quite durable, although some experts say that you can only expect a memory foam mattress topper to last about three to five years.
Since the Serta comes with a long, three-year warranty, it seems that this one may be at the longer range of that scale. The Red Nomad 2-inch Memory Foam Mattress Topper (Est. $70 and up) is another great choice that gets raves from experts and owners. It also comes in a wider range of sizes, twin, twin XL, full, queen and California king. The Red Nomad also comes in a 3-inch thick size. , where it earns an overall owner satisfaction sample of 94 percent. However, that is based upon far, far fewer owner surveys (for example, 788 surveys for Red Nomad, 25,542 for Serta; Serta earns a rating of 89 percent). That's significant because in our research on both mattress toppers and mattresses, which we cover in a separate report, the more input a manufacturer has, the lower their ratings tend to be. Still, owners at retail review sites love the Red Nomad mattress topper. They say it adds a lot of comfort to a too-hard bed and that it fits extremely true to size. Most say they noticed absolutely no odor upon unpacking the mattress topper;
others say it had a slight odor, but that it aired out very nicely. , is another popular memory foam mattress topper. Owners give it high praise for comfort and pain relief. Many say that after trying this on their own bed, they have purchased additional mattress pads for other beds in the home. This mattress topper also comes in a full range of sizes, twin, twin XL, full, queen, king and California king. The Memory Foam Solutions pad gets more durability complaints than the Serta or the Red Nomad, with some saying the foam disintegrates within a few months. gets good reviews for dealing with complaints. If you tend to get hot when you sleep, you might prefer the Lucid Gel Memory Foam Mattress Topper (Est. $85 and up). This memory foam mattress pad is infused with a gel designed to disperse heat and improve airflow. Owners generally agree that the Lucid mattress pad doesn't make them too warm, and most say it's very comfortable, although, as with all memory foam mattresses, there are those who say it's just too soft.