How do I clean a mattress?

Question

Brand new mattress completely filthy because it was slept on without a sheet.

How do I get it clean?

Whats the best product / service to use?

Answer 1

I would be very careful about what you do since "shampooing" may cause mildew/mold to grow because the water will seep deep down into the mattress where it can not dry (the dampness will turn to mildew and smell). If there are areas of visible dirt, then I would just lightly surface clean w/ a damp (not wet) sponge and some stain remover made for upholstery. If there's no stains that you can see, but you just want to remove "invisible" dirt, dust mites, and skin flakes (from person who slept w/o the sheet)  then just a good vacumming w/ the upholstery attachment on your vacume should take care of it. If you still think it is dirty, then maybe you would consider a professional steam cleaning. Look up cleaners in your phone book. Perhaps carpet steaming business can recommend something.  In the future you can buy a mattress pad/cover sold at all stores, such as walmart, kmart, jcpenny, ect.  It will keep the mattress clean, in the event that someone decides to sleep w/o making the bed. And you can just throw it in the washing machine every couple of weeks. I use a special one that inhibits allergens, since I have bad allergies to everything. I got mine at walmart.  Also, it will hide any previous dirt or dust mites that may have been on the mattress from the past.

Good Luck,

Angie

Experienced RN

Answer 2

try water. and it depends if it's a stain or just dirt and what kind of stain or dirt, too.

but don't try different products because it'll only make it worse(unless the product is made for cleaning dirt and/or stains off a mattress.)

Answer 3

Since it is only surface dirt, use the upholstrey cleaner attachment or grab a mean green from the store for around $55 and some solution for the machine. Scrub it good and allow to dry. I personally have also placed vinyl zip covers over all of the mattresses in my home in the event of accidents be they liquid of any kind and it also prevents people from sleeping on the mattress without a sheet and also prevents your mattress from gathering dust and mites which can cause allergies over time.