How To Disinfect A Mattress

Brief: How To Disinfect A Mattress

• Introduction: Mattresses can harbor bacteria, viruses, fungi, and even bed bugs or mice. Disinfecting your mattress is crucial for preventing illnesses and maintaining hygiene.
• Importance of Disinfection: Regular disinfection of mattresses helps prevent asthma, allergies, respiratory problems, and other illnesses. It also reduces unpleasant odors.
• DIY Disinfection Solutions: Homemade solutions include:
  • Antibacterial Spray: Efficient against bacteria, germs, and viruses.
  • Baking Soda and Vinegar: Neutralizes odors and restores pH balance.
  • Enzyme Cleaner: Effective against bacteria.
  • Foaming Shaving Cream: Contains alcohol for stain removal and disinfection.
  • Cornstarch: Cheap, easily available disinfectant.
• Special Cases:
  • Bed Bugs: Use insecticidal creams or sprays. Wet vacuuming is not recommended.
  • Mice: Remove infected furniture, use insecticides or mouse poison powders.
  • Vomit: Clean with a mixture of household bleach and water.
• FAQs:
  • Disinfecting Frequency: Every three months or as needed.
  • Recommended Products: Use specialized mattress cleaners.
  • Cleaning Process: Remove the mattress cover, use a vacuum cleaner, apply a disinfectant (preferably spray), and follow the manufacturer’s instructions.
  • Post-Disinfection: Allow the mattress to dry fully, which can take several hours to a day. Avoid using bleach or hot water, which can damage the mattress.
• Conclusion: Keeping your mattress disinfected is key to good health and hygiene. Regular cleaning, appropriate disinfectants, and protective measures like mattress covers can maintain mattress cleanliness.

Mattresses are a perfect place to catch various types of bacteria, viruses, or fungi that can then be easily transmitted onto your sheets and clothing. The bacteria infect the surface of your mattress, spreading onto your bedding, and the next time you sleep on the infected side of the mattress, you risk contracting a serious illness.

To disinfect your mattress, there’re numerous solutions. In this article, we’ll discuss the most useful of them.

Why Should You Disinfect Your Mattress?

Bacteria is tough to avoid with everyday activities such as showering and brushing your teeth, but mattresses are pretty much impossible to avoid due to how often they’re slept in. Besides preventing sicknesses like a cold or pneumonia typically caused by germs, it’s also hard to get rid of odors from a sick mattress. So it’s safe for us all to say that disinfecting is good for our health too!

There are a few reasons one can have for disinfecting their mattress:

• People who usually have asthma get exacerbated when in contact with dust or microbes; this can be avoided by keeping the mattress clean. 
• People who suffer from allergies should also try to keep the mattress clean to avoid reactions upon contact and inhalation of allergens on an unclean bedding surface.
• People who have difficulty breathing because of their obesity or overweight condition should also disinfect their mattress since bacteria and dust are often found on mattresses.
• Bacteria and all sorts of microbes can cause sickness if you sleep on a dirty mattress, such as pneumonia, influenza, colds, muscle ache, vomiting…etc.
• Dust and most germs spread easily through contact; therefore, you should disinfect your mattress every week to avoid contact with these culprits.

How To Disinfect A Mattress: 5 Diy Solutions

There are five easy homemade solutions we’ll offer for those among us who dislike the smell of chemicals:

Antibacterial Spray

The antibacterial spray has become very common in households as it is very efficient in destroying bacteria, germs, and even viruses that are known to contaminate beds and mattresses. It’s sprayed directly onto the surface you want to disinfect and dries quickly, most likely before sleep time.

Baking Soda And Vinegar

When you combine baking soda with vinegar, you get a powerful yet gentle mix that can be used to disinfect a mattress. The baking soda helps to fight against the smell of vinegar while it neutralizes ammonia or other bad odor coming from your mattress while the vinegar helps restore the pH levels back to normal, eliminating bacteria and other harmful agents on the mattress.

Enzyme Cleaner

Enzyme cleaners are relatively new, but they have been proven to be very efficient and effective in eliminating bacteria from mattresses. They’re often sold at a high price in regular stores, so the average person might not be able to afford the chemical cleaner used by professional cleaners. Therefore, they can make their enzyme cleaner by combining different ingredients such as water, hydrogen peroxide, vinegar, and oxygen bleach. 

Foaming Shaving Cream

Foaming shaving cream contains denatured alcohol which is a stain remover and has a mild smell that you can find easily in your grocery store or pharmacy. This seems to be the most common choice of disinfectants among people who don’t like chemically scented products such as antibacterial sprays or other perfume-type cleansers. Fluids that contain enzymes are the most effective way to eliminate bacteria from mattresses since they attack the cell walls of bacteria and destroy them in an instant. 

Cornstarch

It’s the cheapest disinfectant people can find, so this might be a good choice as well, especially for those who already have some of it at home or are willing to buy some more. Combining cornstarch with water makes a paste that can be applied to mattresses for disinfection.

How To Disinfect A Mattress From Bed Bugs

How To Disinfect A Mattress From Bed Bugs They are the most common type of bed bugs found lately, and they can easily be transferred to mattresses via bed linens. People who come into contact with them raise the risk of the bugs spreading to their mattresses and beds and will then have to do the treatment.

There are two ways you can get rid of bed bugs:

1. The first way is through wet vacuuming, but this is not recommended since it would be more difficult and time-consuming.
2. The second, much easier way is by applying insecticidal creams or sprays on your mattress, pillows, sheets, or any other piece of furniture that has been covered with bedding.

How To Disinfect A Mattress From Mice

Mice are small animals that can be easily infected by viruses, bacteria, and other harmful agents. That’s why it’s straightforward for them to pass on the germs they have collected on your mattress over to you and your family. Although mice might not carry as many germs as bed bugs, disinfecting a mattress from them is still important. 

The same method applies; you have to remove the infected pieces of furniture (in this case, mattresses) from your house and spray it with insecticides or sprinkle it with mouse poison powders like boric acid.

How To Disinfect A Mattress From Vomit

Vomit is the most common secretion found in mattresses. Although it might not be as dangerous as other germs or bacteria, it can still make you and your family members sick and eventually give you a headache. It is usually the result of a stomach upset caused by food poisoning or food allergies. 

Here’s how to quickly get rid of vomit on your mattress: Mix one cup of household bleach with two cups of water and mix well. Use this mixture to soak the infected piece of furniture, in this case, your mattress.

FAQ