Avatar photo

By Vhahangwele Nemakonde

Deputy News Editor


How to clean your mattress

Keeping your mattress smelling clean and fresh is not as difficult as you may think.


Your favourite place in the house really isn’t as safe as you may think it is, because in reality, it’s a fertile breeding ground for germs and bacteria.

Most people will wash their sheets and very occasionally, flip the mattress … but this simply isn’t enough.

Sweat, body fluids, dust, and dirt in general settle into mattresses every single day, no matter how clean we are or how tidy we keep our house.

So from time to time, we’ve got to step up our cleaning game.

  1. Vacuum your mattress thoroughly to get rid of any dust and loose particles
  2. Sprinkle bicarbonate of soda all over your mattress – to eliminate bacteria
  3. Spray down your mattress with a concoction of water and a few drops of an essential oil, such as eucalyptus, peppermint, or lavender. This will disinfect it and protect it from further bacteria build-up
  4. Use fans if necessary to dry your cleaned mattress completely before you use it again. Never sleep on a damp mattress

And although flipping the mattress is not enough, it is still recommended that you do this from time to time, even if it’s only every three or four months.

Cheezburger GIF - Find & Share on GIPHY

Lastly, avoid having liquids on or near your mattress. If you end up spilling by accident, liquids will soak into your mattress and encourage the multiplication of germs and bacteria.

If a spill does happen or if your mattress is still wet from the cleaning spray, use fans to dry it completely before you use it again. Never sleep on a damp mattress.

Originally appeared on South Coast Sun

For more news your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.

Read more on these topics

Your Home

For more news your way

Download our app and read this and other great stories on the move. Available for Android and iOS.