Your bed gets used for roughly a third of your time, and many people have their bed and mattress for upwards of five to ten years before replacing it. So when something is getting as much use as that, it certainly needs regular cleaning! Here are our top tips for keeping your mattress as clean and fresh as possible:
- Vacuum – When you take your bed sheets off to wash them make sure you leave the sheets off for a while. This enables some fresh air to reach your mattress and dry out any moisture, but it also enables you to vacuum the surface of your mattress. When you sleep you shed dead skin which can get trapped in your mattress and attract dust mites. This can make allergies worse so it’s important to regularly vacuum your mattress and lower the risk.
- Mattress protector – Using a mattress protector in between the mattress and the bed sheets will ensure that most of the dust and dirt can be caught on the protector and then machine washed, hot enough to kill dust mites and microbes.
- Bicarbonate of soda – To draw out any moisture and leave your mattress feeling fresh, sprinkle a generous amount of bicarbonate of soda onto the mattress and leave it for a good few hours. The vacuum it all up and you should be vacuuming moisture and odours away too!
- Avoid water – If you have stains on the mattress it can be tempting to attack them with soap and water, but it’s important to keep moisture to a minimum. Use a spray bottle to apply a citrus-based cleaner to the stain, and scrub with a dry cloth to remove the moisture.
- Fresh air – During the summer when the weather is warm and dry it’s a great opportunity to take your mattress outside and let it air in the sun. This will dry out any moisture and help to kill off dust mites and bacteria. If you can’t get your mattress outside then at least turn it on its side and open your windows to create a fresh breeze blowing through the room to air the mattress out.