You spend a lot of time in very close contact with your mattress, and it's important to keep it clean. As you can't just throw it in the washing machine, you need to gets hands on, and Katie Berry has a few tips to help get your mattress looking like new again. There are lots of unpleasant types of dirt, odors and stains that build up over time—we won't dwell on it too much!—and Katie has a trick for the most common problems. You can banish smells with good old-fashioned baking soda, but stains require a little more work. Blood stains, for instance, may seem unshiftable, but there is a technique:Dried blood stains can be treated by making a paste of 1/4 cup hydrogen peroxide mixed with 1 tbsp. each liquid dish soap and table salt. Rub this into the stain and allow it to sit until dry before scraping the residue off. Dab at any remaining stain with a white rag dipped into hydrogen peroxide, rotating the rag as the stain lifts off. (Using a white rag prevents dye transfer from the cloth to the mattress.)
Don't happen to have any hydrogen peroxide around? Katie suggests you "make a paste of meat tenderizer and water instead. The tenderizer's enzymes will dissolve the blood's protein bonds." To avoid the need to clean so much in the future, considering using a mattress protector—it'll save you more work further down the line.How To Clean A Mattress | Housewife How-To'sPhoto by Tifonimages.Got something to say? Join the discussion »I have never used baking soda for cleaning my mattresses. I use it for everything else. I am going to try, though. Next week I am planing deep cleaning so I have a chance to use your method. Great article and informative to everyone , how can clean the mattresses. Thanks to you for sharing this article. Thank you for the tips, now I know how to clean my memory foam with no worries. Thank you for sharing this. My cat peed on my memory foam matterss right where I lay. How should I go about cleaning it/is it salvageable? Yes, the vinegar solution is great for removing smells!
If it's just a faint odor, the vinegar should take it out with the first try. If it's a more pungent odor, or an odor that is more saturated into the mattress, it might take a couple applications of the vinegar solution to remove the smell completely. A faint odor would just be from it being an older mattress. A pungent, saturated odor that might require a couple treatments would be something like pet urine, or spilled perfume. There is an initial vinegar smell, but it does wear off as it dries. If you feel like there's still a slight scent of vinegar, you can set your mattress outside for a few hours to let it air out. 1. Would the vinegar solution / detergent solution remove residual smells? 2. If you were to use the vinegar solution, would my bed end up smelling like vinegar? Use Natures miracle (red bottle) the enzymes will remove the stain and eliminatate odors. Press firmly on the wet spots with paper towels to remove excess moisture, then use baking soda and the hair dryer (l method to
I have a memory foam mattress that got smoke damaged in a house fire it doesn't look all that bad, but the smell is over powering what do I need to use to clean it? Very well written post. Keep sharing good things. To dry I have found standing mattress on its side next to a radiator can dry within the day. rotate as necessary to be thorough. A mattress protector with elastic on top of a bed base A mattress protector is an item of removable bedding that sits on top of, or encases, a mattress to protect it. Some mattress protectors also provide protection to the person sleeping on the mattress from allergens and irritants such as dust mites, bed bugs, mold, and dead skin (like dandruff). Although the surface of a mattress can be cleaned with a vacuum cleaner, it is very difficult to completely remove stains from most standard mattresses. An unprotected mattress can become marked or stained quite quickly as natural perspiration produced throughout the night passes through a standard cloth sheet and creates a characteristic yellowish-brown tidemark where it has been absorbed into the upper surface of the mattress.
Mattresses are also susceptible to many other contaminants. The simplest form of a mattress protector is a lightly quilted fitted sheet. It provides minimal protection against liquids and little or no protection from dust mite allergens. In addition to conventional natural fabrics, new forms of synthetic protector or topper have appeared over the years including memory foam and spacer fabrics. These are more expensive than conventional protectors but add the advantages of pressure relief and in the case of the later, the ability to be washed. Waterproof mattress protectors keep the mattress clean by securing it from absorbing body excretions (such as sweat) or other liquids resulting from spills. These can take the form of flat rubberized flannel pads (commonly used under a bedsheet for infants) or special breathable fitted covers. The plastic pads are hot to sleep on and change the feel of the mattress. A urethane laminate on cotton that has good wicking properties is an alternative to a rubberized flannel pad.
A protector with a thin laminate that is not pulled too tightly across the bed will not change the feel of the bed. Also, the laminate is still breathable which means that it will not trap body heat. Most mattress warranties are voided if the mattress gets a stain, so most sleepers use mattress pads to prevent stains. The use of a mattress protector is often recommended to individuals who are known to be susceptible to certain kinds of allergies, especially dust mites. Dust mites produce waste products that irritate the lining of the airways and lungs and particularly with children can bring on allergic reactions, asthma and can irritate skin conditions such as eczema. A full zippered encasement allergen filtration mattress protector can provide an extra layer of protection between the user and their mattress, filtering allergens that are known to trigger allergy and asthma symptoms. For protection against bed bugs, the mattress and box spring must both be fully enclosed with no possible openings.
Zippered cases are commonly used for this purpose. This prevents new bed bugs from getting into the mattress and box spring, and traps any bed bugs that are already inside. Mattress protectors must be left on for at least a full year to make sure that the trapped bed bugs and their eggs die.[1] If the cover is taken off early, the bed bug infestation may relapse. Waterproof mattress protectors also reduce allergy symptoms by reducing the ability of mold to grow in a mattress. Mattress protectors which can be easily disinfected are commonly used in children's nurseries and health care facilities. A 2002 Norwegian study has found that foam mattresses are 4 to 8 times more likely to host dust mite feces than spring mattresses. There are different types of mattress protectors. Encasements are shields that protect the mattress directly, typically from bed bugs, and are often used in hotels. Protectors are used to protect the mattress from bed-wetting or allergic situations. In contrast, mattress pads and mattress toppers are primarily used to provide comfort features for the user.