Cleaning a Mattress

My bed is one of my favorite places to be. I love snuggling down under my covers and reading a good book and proceeding to fall asleep on a nice soft mattress. Even a lame, hard, poky mattress can feel good after a long day of school, work, parenting, or other vigorous endeavor. Because you use your mattress every day (or even multiple times a day depending on whether or not you're a nap person), every once in a while you'll probably want to clean your mattress. You'll especially want to clean your mattress if your mattress has experienced pet accidents, food or drink spills, or dust mites. If now is the time for you to check off "cleaning the mattress" from your to do list, then here's what you need to do.

Before you can do anything to clean your mattress, you need to strip your mattress of all the linens and blankets. This may seem like an obvious first step, but one you definitely need to consider and make sure you do. Also make sure to take the mattress pad off the mattress; you may not take the mattress pad off when you regularly clean your sheets, then you need to remember to take the pad off when you're ready to clean the mattress.

Cleaning mattresses can be kind of a project, so block out a significant amount of time out of your day to ensure that you can properly complete your task. Sometimes your mattress may just have to lay out in some fresh air to air out a bit; you'll usually have to do this if your mattress is only smelly or musty. If this is what you have to do, then you should probably air the mattress out in a clear place outside, so you'll want to make sure the weather is nice outside and that it's not too windy. (If it's too windy then you might have to deal with not a smelly mattress but a smudged and dirty one).

However, if there are stains on your mattress, then greater cleaning measures are needed. You'll have to get some stain remover, the strength of which depending on how bad the stains on your mattress are. You might be able to get away with a more mild stain remover, or if your stains are more intense, then you might want to purchase a more vigorous stain remover. Use the stain remover according to the instructions, and then let your mattress dry and air out. You can then put the linens back on and enjoy a clean mattress. If the stains on your mattress don't come out or have a more difficult time coming out with basic scrubbing and stain remover, then it might be time for you to get a new mattress. Removing stains from your mattress can only go so far before the mattress should be replaced.