Extending the Life of Your Bed: How to Clean your Memory Foam Mattress
With every high-quality product that has a multi-year warranty, there comes a routine with maintenance and care to help it reach its intended lifespan
For a mattress with cooling technology, there is no difference.
Although there are various styles and types of foam mattresses out there, the cleaning methods are generally the same all around.
However, if you’re still a bit sceptical about how to clean your memory foam, polyfoam or gel mattress, you’ve come to the right place.
In this article, we’re going to discuss several possible (and efficient) methods on how to clean your mattress.
Cleaning Memory- or Polyfoam Mattresses
This petroleum-based material that contours around your body may feel amazing while sleeping—but can get pretty absorbent when it comes to natural dirt and debris.
To help you get the cleanest of cleans with your foam mattress, here’s a quick, step-by-step solution:
- First, you can take a vacuum—whether handheld or with brush attachment—and have your way with the mattress. This will ensure that you get all those surface-level issues out and sucked up. Don’t just run your vacuum over the top, however! Make sure you get all edges, corners, and sides.
- Specific foam mattress cleaning solutions work best—or you can go homemade and mix together half a cup of fabric cleaner or white vinegar and one cup of water.
Don’t soak down your mattress though—getting it too wet may cause mould! Once it’s all sprayed, clean with a cloth.
- Baking soda is the next step before it dries to help give it that fresh smell and feel—like brand new.
- Once everything is dry (if it’s a sunny day, you can let in the air and sunlight), then vacuum it all up again. The bed should be one hundred percent dry before you put on new sheets!
Cleaning Latex Mattresses
If you’ve got a latex-based mattress (check with your manufacturer’s warranty to make sure you’ve got that right, then you’ll want to check out the following directions to help keep it clean:
- A lot simpler, in theory, you can just start with the solution—which should be a mild detergent that you can find in an average laundry room supply storage with some water. You can then use a sponge or wrong to blot the material until it’s all covered—don’t rub or else you could destroy the material!
- After it’s all blotted in, use your trusty baking soda again to really absorb all the stinks and debris. With a latex mattress, you might not want to directly expose it to the sun. If you’re in a hurry for it to dry, you can put a blow/hairdryer on the cool setting and let it run.
- Once it’s dry—completely dry—vacuum it all up and set with clean sheets.
Preventative Measures for Your KW Cooling Memory Foam Mattress
As we mentioned in previous articles, if you’re looking to help extend the life of your mattress, keep it clean and take preventative measures to help maintain it, you can always invest in a mattress protector , which can help at least extending its longevity, protecting it from daily dirt, debris, and water.
These covers can also be removed and washed separately when cleaning your mattress—however, you will definitely want to check with the manufacturer to see its recommendations. These instructions can generally be found on the tag, called the “care tag”, which is attached right on the mattress cover.
If you cannot find any instructions, however, we would recommend throwing it in on the gentle cycle—and NEVER use bleach when cleaning! You also want to avoid throwing it in the dryer—even if you’re in a hurry as that can cause shrinkage.
What About Stains on Your Mattress With Cooling Technology
Accidents happen—to everyone!
However, to help preserve the life of your mattress, it’s essential that you act quickly! Any stain can soak quickly into a foam mattress, making it very hard to get out.
If you’ve had an uh-oh, we would recommend using a spot homemade cleaner, which is simply measuring out a half of a cup of your everyday fabric cleaner and swirling it in a spray bottle with about double that of water. Spray directly on the stain—but don’t go too crazy because it will take forever to dry and may even cause mould in the long run.
If that didn’t do the trick, you can try a quarter cup of vinegar and three-quarter cup of water—and spray away!
When you’re done spraying, attack the stain by dabbing not scrubbing! A cold water rag can take away the cleaning solution after the stain is long gone.
Some Last-Minute Facts
Drying a foam mattress can even take as long as one or two days—so make sure that your mattress is completely dry before putting on those new bedsheets.
If the mattress is still wet, this can bring mildew and mold into your bed and can often lead to illness.
Also, baking powder truly is key here! This can help freshen up even the muskiest of smells!
Sprinkling some baking powder on the surface of your mattress, let it sit for half an hour and then vacuuming it away can help deodorize your mattress and truly give it new life!
Although foam mattresses with cooling technology may intimidate you at the beginning, getting well-informed and reading these tips can help you clean your mattress the right way—which can also help extend the life of your sleeping investment!