How to Disinfect a Mattress

Disinfecting a Mattress

You should plan on cleaning your mattress, even if it’s a memory foam mattress, at least a couple of times a year to keep it sanitized and healthy.

Even if your mattress seems clean and has no visible stains, take the time to put it through essential disinfection every six months or so. Understanding how to properly clean a mattress ensures that it has a long, productive life.

Basic Mattress Sanitizing

This section covers basic mattress disinfection practices that you should perform every time you clean your mattress. If you have bedbugs or deep stains, you might need to go beyond this section and look at more intense cleaning options. These first steps should suffice for semiannual cleanings, though.

Remove and Clean the Bedding

You need to change your bedding at least once a week to keep you and your mattress clean and sanitary. In addition to regular changes, you should also give all of your bedding a thorough cleaning when you do your scheduled mattress sanitizing. Your bedding soaks up oil and grime, so it can always use a good cleaning.

Make sure to send all of your bedding, including a mattress protector, through the washing machine. That includes the mattress topper, mattress pad, mattress covers, bed sheets, pillow top, and duvet covers. Dust mites, bedbugs, and other pests can’t tolerate the heat of your washing machine.

So, make sure to run the bedding through a hot water wash with laundry detergent. Dry them in the dryer for more heat exposure.

Vacuum and Sanitize Your Mattress

If you’ve removed the bedding and find no infestations or stains on the mattress, you can avoid a deep cleaning. You’ll still need to vacuum and clean your mattress, but you won’t need to spend time working with liquid cleaners and odor control agents. A good vacuuming and steam cleaning should get your mattress back to new condition in a flash.

If possible, bring your mattress outside to sit in the sun while you work on it. Sunlight is a fantastic disinfectant and will help you get your mattress sanitized. When you’ve got it in the sun, give the entire mattress a thorough vacuuming to remove dust, dirt, dead skin cells, and allergens.

Don’t skip the edges, corners, and crevices; that’s where bed bugs like to hide. Then, steam clean the mattress from top to bottom and back to front. Let the mattress sit in the sun for a few hours to dry out.

How to Sanitize a Mattress – Deep Cleaning

If you vacuum and steam clean but discover a pest infestation or stains, you’ll need to try some deep cleaning to get your mattress sanitized. Deep cleaning can take some time, but your reward is a clean bed and peace of mind when you sleep, so it’s worth the effort. Don’t be afraid to move to deep cleaning with a homemade antibacterial cleaner if needed.

Take care if you have to clean a memory foam mattress. While you can use these recipes to tackle stains and odor, be careful not to soak liquids into the foam, as this can lead to mold and mildew that will be almost impossible to remove.

This section examines the in-depth cleaning process for mattresses that have stains or infestations. You’ll find out the best cleaners for blood, urine, and other organic fluids, and we also show you how to mix up a dynamite DIY mattress cleaner that’s fantastic for getting sweat stains out of your bed.

Clean Mattress Infestations with Vinegar

An infestation can ruin your mattress if left unchecked, but if you catch it early enough, you can get rid of the critters before they dig in. We’ve provided an excellent bed bug spray recipe that you can use. It will knock early infestations right off your mattress and leave it looking and smelling amazing.