Spring Cleaning 101: Are you sure you have cleaned your mattress?

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Article Reference: Longevity

It is the spring cleaning season!

We know you must be busy cleaning the entire house for Chinese New Year celebration, or having difficulties to choose the right professional cleaner to do so. Nevertheless, be sure to include your bedroom mattress in your spring cleaning list-of-item.

You may have clean over, around, and under your bed... but now it’s time to tackle the mattress! We spent a third of our life, or literally 318 months on average sleeping on the mattress. It collects our dead skin, sweat, dust mites, stains, dirt, and sometimes even little insects that we may not aware. These little microbial may seep past the mattress linens and pad (even with the protector) and making themselves a comfort home for weeks, months, or even years... until a good and complete mattress cleaning.

What would happen if you did not clean your mattress thoroughly?

1. May cause respiratory problems;

2. Contribute to skin allergies;

3. Suffering from insomnia;

4. Lead to depressed immune system;

5. Or even lowered libido in the bedroom!

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In order to stay healthy and give your body the chance to revitalise itself during sleep, you need to give it a clean place to rest. Now, the key question: how to clean a mattress? If you want to do it yourself in an organic way, you may try on the following:

#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 them by colour and throw them in the washer. If the colours 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.

#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 coloured or dyed mattress, do not use lemon because it will bleach and harm the colour. 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. #4: Deodorise and sanitise. Last but not least, 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 deodorising 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 favourite 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 sanitising. 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. Now that you have cleaned off the baking soda layer, immediately empty out and clean (or replace) the vacuum filter. You won't want the baking soda particles sitting inside your machine.