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How To Clean a Mattress

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Is it possible to clean a mattress? It depends on what you mean by clean and how dirty your mattress actually is. I have come across a lot of articles that advocated sprinkling baking soda on your mattress and letting that soak up odor then vacuuming it off. This may help a bit, but not much. If you think that’s going to rid your mattress of dust mites, think again. If your mattress is stinky, or has been left unprotected for too long, your best bet is to start fresh with a new mattress.

Nasty Mattress

If you live in a cooler, dry climate your changes of having a major dust mite problem decrease dramatically. For instance, someone living in New Mexico will have far less problems with dust mites than someone in Florida with constant humidity. That’s because dust mites can’t thrive in a dry environment.

Back to the cleaning. Baking soda, Febreeze, even the Allergen Reducing Febreeze aren’t much more than a band aid that masks a larger problem. It will probably help a bit but not get to the root of the problem.

I have also come across a company called Clean Sweep which will come out to your house and clean your mattress for $109.95 with additional mattresses for $89.95. Below is a video showing their process.

 

The ways they claim to clean a mattress are as follows:

  • Ultra Violet Light
  • Dry Steam
  • Vacuuming
  • Ozone Generation
  • Infrared Heat

clean a mattress

You can actually buy a UV light vacuum on Amazon that is designed to kill dust mites in bedding. But my questions is how do you know you killed them all and how far into the mattress will this penetrate?

Their second method of dry steam leaves the same question about penetration but it is nice to know that they are using another method to kill those dust mites and whatever else may be lurking in your mattress. To sanitize, the steam I have read that the steam needs to be at least 200 degreed Farenheit and the surface must be treated with steam for 5 minutes.

Their Ozone treatment is also novel. Ozone generators are used in Ambulances to kill germs and bacteria and deodorize them in about 30-60 minutes. And yes, even Amazon sells an ozone generator.

Ozone Generator

The last method is infrared heat. This company will heat the mattress to 150 degrees while the other cleaning processes are ocurring. This rids the mattress of excess moisture which plays a large part in causing the build up of dust mites in the first place. I don’t think Amazon can help you here.

Sleep Sherpa’s Top Pick for Cleaning A Mattress

Raycop RS2 Mattress Vaccuum

So far the best device I found to clean a mattress is the Raycop RS2. This uses UV light to kill bacteria and viruses but also vibrates to loosen dirt and dust mite debris then vaccuums it into a HEPA filter. I was amazed at how much gunk I got out of some of my mattresses. We now use this in the Sleep Sherpa mattress store in Minneapolis to keep our mattresses clean. Here’s the full Raycop RS2 Review

If its close to time for a new mattress anyway, I recommend a fresh start with a brand new mattress. Once you find your perfect mattress, take care of it from the start with at least a mattress protector or better yet, a mattress encasement. In fact, the publication, Clinical and Experimental Allergy,, a journal of the British Society for Allergy and Clinical Immunology published a study on the effectiveness of mattress encasements in preventing dust mites.

 

mattress protector

If you don’t have dust mite allergies or haven’t noticed excessive sneezing, coughing or stuffiness in the morning after waking up, you probably don’t have a dust mite problem and could avoid the mattress cleaning process. My advice though is that when you do get your next mattress, make sure it is protected to extend its life and to keep your bedroom clean and healthy.

Finally, it’s not just your mattress that is prone to dust mites, make sure your pillows are fresh too! You can buy pillow encasements as well but I recommend just purchasing a fresh pillow. If your pillow is causing you dust mite issues, it’s time for a new one anyway.

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