How Do You Deep Clean a Mattress? What Tools Do I Need?
I am naturally sweaty and only use Fan (no AC) so I sweat through the night and the smell sticks to the mattress (and the pillows).
Is there a way to clean this mattress before I invest in a mattress cover?
You want to get a good mattress pad. You can wash that in a washing machine and keep your mattress clean.
To reduce smell in your mattress, kill the bacteria. Spray with 1 part vodka 2 parts water. Let it fully dry before putting sheets back on.
Stains, those aren’t going away. That’s why you wanted a mattress pad.
Rent a wet and dry sofa/carpet vacuum, like a Kärcher Puzzi (I know). I did recently for my sofa - a good machine will cost 1500 or so, but I only paid 30 to rent it for a day.
They’re dead easy to use and you’ll be shocked at the amount of grime that comes out. There are tutorials on YouTube, here’s a good one.
Baking soda, vinegar, and and all those other house-wife hacks are bullshit and won’t help you at all.
As an aside; baking soda and vinegar does fuck all. They break down to salt water. There is no cleaning magic happening. You can use baking soda or vinegar depending on what you clean, but most certainly not on a mattress that requires deep cleaning.
Finally invest in a protector and possibly a waterproof pad in between. The protectors are washable, so chuck that in the washer every so often and you’re golden.
Use a good steam cleaner and enzymatic cleaner that is often used for biological messes like pet urine. The enzymes will break down the odor and remove it.
Don’t mix chemicals together. that can be dangerous.
Yep, this. A mattress should be replaced every 5-7years. They just break down over time.
I am on about 15 years on this current mattress. Seems to be doing just fine.
It’s about 75% dust mites by now. They’re very supportive little buggers! But at 15 years you should replace it and put an encasement or waterproof cover on the new one. And a mattress pad on top of that. Then you’ll be able to wash the absorbent mattress pad while your mattress stays pristine. An encasement has the advantage of blocking out any bedbugs you might bring home. You don’t have to go expensive, I recently got an Ortho Signature Club II for about $500 including delivery and disposal of my old one. If you can handle getting rid of the old one by yourself, Bear makes very good arrives-in-a-box mattresses. No fiberglass, meets Canadian standards.
A dumpster and $300
