Is your mattress getting a little dusty, dirty, and stained with age? Learn how to clean a mattress in our brief guide today.

Your mattress is the dirtiest item in your bedroom.

Sure, you wash the sheets regularly, but what about the mattress itself? While many of us think that bacteria only gets on the sheets, it actually seeps through into your mattress as well. On average, we spend around 6-8 hours per night sleeping in our bed, yikes!

This is plenty of time to fill our beds with skin cells, sweat, and other bacteria. Breathing this in for hours each day can contribute to allergies and illness.

This is why it’s essential for you to clean your mattress as well as your sheets regularly. To learn about how to clean a mattress, keep reading!

How to Clean a Mattress

Cleaning a mattress is easier than you may think.

Follow these steps for a clean, fresh-smelling mattress!

Start Off by Vacuuming the Mattress

To start, you’ll want to vacuum the top of your mattress.

This is going to remove any loose debris that’s sitting on the top of your bed. If you have a pet, you’ll want to vacuum the top to remove any hair. There may also be crumbs or dead skin cells on your mattress that need to be removed.

This will give you a clean slate to begin spot-treating and deodorizing.

Spot Clean Any Stains on the Mattress

Once you’ve removed loose debris, you’ll want to look out for any stains.

Most of the stains that will be in your bed are protein-based stains. Common stains for a mattress are sweat, blood, or urine. Since these stains have probably been sitting for some time, you’ll treat them differently than you may other stains.

Here’s what you should use to treat these stains…

  • Hydrogen peroxide
  • Liquid dish soap
  • Baking soda

You’ll want to mix equal amounts of each ingredient in a spray bottle. Spray each spot and dab until you begin to notice the stain reducing.

Deodorize the Entire Mattress

Deodorizing the mattress is an essential step when cleaning the mattress.

With all the sweat and other bodily fluids that end up on your mattress, you’ll want to treat more than just the stain! Here’s how you can deodorize your mattress.

1. Sprinkle a light layer of baking soda all over the top of your mattress. Let this sit for a couple of hours.

2. Once the baking soda has had a chance to sit, clean it off with a vacuum cleaner. Make sure you get into the crevices of your mattress to remove all the powder.

Using baking soda on the bed not only deodorizes the surface, but it helps absorb the liquid used while spot-treating.

Air Your Mattress Out

If you’ve vacuumed, spot-treated, and deodorized your mattress, you’ll want to let it dry out.

Allowing your mattress to dry will help you avoid mold or mildew buildup. If you can, bring the mattress outside and let it dry. If this isn’t an option, try to open some windows and wait for a while before replacing the mattress cover and sheets.

Cleaning Your Mattress

Having a clean mattress is not only important for sanitary reasons but for health reasons as well.

If you find that you wake up feeling congested, your allergies may be the result of a bacteria-filled mattress. If you’ve always wondered how to clean a mattress, don’t worry! Now you know that it’s super simple!