In our recent blog posts, we’ve been talking a lot about spring-cleaning. You’ve cleaned over, around, and under your bed—but now it’s time to attack the mattress.

When was the last time you cleaned your mattress? Have you ever cleaned it? Have you ever even thought about cleaning it?

Why Should You Clean Your Mattress?  

You spend a third of your life sleeping. That means, on average, you spend 318 months of your life curled up with your mattress. You want those 318 months to be useful and productive. You don’t want to be tossing and turning, missing out on sleep and impairing the time you spend awake.

Did you know that the cleanliness of your mattress directly impacts your sleep? Your mattress influences your health beyond just comfort and support. Your mattress impacts the room’s air quality, affecting the oxygen your cells take in as they rest and recuperate.

Mattresses collect dead skin, sweat, dust mites, stains, dirt, and sometimes even little insects you may not know are there. This gunk can seep past your linens and mattress pad, making a home in your mattress for weeks, months, or even years—they’ll stay there until a good cleaning.

Having old dirt, grime, and critters impacts what you are exposed to and breathe in for 8 hours every night. These trapped particles can cause respiratory problems, allergies, insomnia, depressed immune system, and even lowered libido in the bedroom! In order to stay healthy and give your body the chance to revitalize itself during sleep, you need to give it a clean place to rest.

Also, mattresses are expensive. The average cost of a mattress is between $800 and $2500. If you do not take care of your mattress, they have a 5-7 year life average. Cleaning (and rotating) your mattress with natural methods can boost this life expectancy to 8-12 years.

Cleaning your mattress promotes a better night’s sleep, higher quality of health, mattress longevity, and cost-effectiveness.  

How Should You Clean Your Mattress?

When To Clean  

You should clean your mattress approximately every six months. Spring and fall are great times to prepare your bed for the upcoming season.

It is also recommended to flip and rotate the mattress every 6 months in order to prevent sagging and extend mattress life—so why not clean it at the same time? (Not all mattresses can be flipped. Look at the label on your mattress for rotation instructions.)

What You’ll Need

• Vacuum cleaner with upholstery attachment
• Lemon juice
• Salt
• Baking soda
• (Optional) Essential oil of your choosing
• Several hours away from your mattress

Notice that we plan to deep clean with only natural solutions. Although you can use store-bought spot cleaners or deodorizers, it’s important to check the ingredients in these cleansers. You don’t want to fill your mattress with chemicals that you’ll then fall asleep with and inhale while you rest!

How To Clean

1. Take off and launder linens. 

Remove your linens, mattress cover, quilts, pillows, pillowcases, duvet covers, duvet inserts, and any decorative pillows you put on your bed. Separate by color and throw them in the washer. If the colors will not bleed, use the hottest water setting and dry on high heat. The hotter the environment, the more gunk it will remove and the more mites it will kill. Read our 7 Dryer Hacks article to learn how to best clean and fluff your bedding.  

Pro-Tip: If you don’t have a mattress cover, now is the time to buy one. These can help minimize heavy stains and grime reaching your mattress. They also absorb moisture and prevent pests from sharing your bed. They can easily be thrown into the wash monthly to keep your bed clean and healthy between mattress cleanings.

2. Vacuum the mattress surface.                                     

Use the upholstery attachment on your vacuum cleaner to go over the top of your mattress. You’ll be surprised how many crumbs, dust, dirt, and hair will be hidden in the crevices—even with all of those linens on top!

3. Spot-clean stains.                          

More than likely, your mattress has some sort of stain. Whether it’s sweat, blood, or a spilled liquid, stains love to make a home in the mattress. Chances are also that most of those stains have been there awhile and are set in pretty deep. It’s time to break out the big guns. Lemon juice and salt.

Mix lemon juice and salt together to create a coarse paste. Gently rub it onto the stain, and let it

sit for 30-60 minutes. Wipe it off with a clean towel, and the stain will have lightened. The bleaching powers of lemon and the moisture-removing properties of salt are a perfect union stains. However, if you

have a dark colored or dyed mattress, do not use lemon because it will bleach and harm the color.

Another option is to combine natural liquid dish soap, baking soda, a few drops of hydrogen peroxide, and water in a spray bottle. Spray it on the stain and then blot away with a clean rag. Although this takes a little extra elbow grease, it does wonders to remove old marks.

For more information on lifting deep-set stains, check out our article “How To Remove Common Stains.”

4. Deodorize and sanitize.             

Sprinkle a generous layer of baking soda over the entirety of your mattress. This baking soda will absorb any moisture from the stain removal process, while also deodorizing and killing off unseen germs. Let the baking soda sit for several hours—the longer it sits, the harder it works. If possible, leave it for a full 24 hours. (Take the time to treat yourself to an overnight trip out of the house as

a reward for cleaning your mattress!)

For more benefits, add your favorite essential oil to

the baking soda! Put 10-20 drops of the oil in the box, shake it up, and then sprinkle the baking soda on the mattress. Essential oils are naturally antibacterial, so it will assist the baking soda in cleaning and sanitizing. They can also help with common ailments—and they smell amazing! We recommend lavender or eucalyptus because these scents help calm the body and promote a restful night’s sleep.

After the baking soda has been sitting and working for several hours, vacuum it off. Pay extra attention to the crevices and corners.

After you have cleaned off the baking soda layer, immediately empty out and clean (or replace) your vacuum filter. You don’t want baking soda particles sitting inside your machine. Check out HomeRev’s vacuum bags and filters to ensure that your vacuum is always ready to handle tough cleaning jobs like this one.

A Clean Mattress: The Bottom Line 

In just four short, natural steps, you will be able to rid your bed of dirt, dust, pests, and allergens that can highly impact the wellbeing of you and your mattress. Cleaning your mattress periodically will save your health, your sleep, your mattress, and your wallet.

Home Revolution believes in a good night’s sleep. Let us know in the comments below how you keep your bed clean and healthy!