Mix a 50/50 solution of water and white vinegar in a spray bottle. Spray the stain and blot with a clean cloth, repeat until the stain has disappeared. Sprinkle baking soda over the patch and hoover it up an hour later, before letting your mattress air dry.
Baking soda needs time to interact and absorb smells. It works best if you let it sit on the mattress, undisturbed, for 12-24 hours. After it has sat, vacuum again with an upholstery attachment to remove all of the baking soda from the surface of the mattress.
Sprinkle baking soda all over the entire mattress
Baking soda will break down acid and absorb any remaining moisture or odor. The longer you can leave baking soda on the mattress, the better it will work! As the mattress sits with the baking soda, open any windows in the room to let the light and sunshine in.
Baking soda is a natural deodorizer which makes it perfect for cleaning a mattress. It's also relatively mild, which means you can use it on fabrics safely without fear of damage. Combining baking soda with vinegar is a well-known cleaning tip for shifting difficult stains.
Most people should wash their sheets once per week. If you don't sleep on your mattress every day, you may be able to stretch this to once every two weeks or so.
Ideally, you should deep clean your mattress every 6 months if your mattress is dirty. This is also a good opportunity to flip or rotate your mattress, too. If your mattress isn't dirty, it isn't essential to deep clean it every 6 months. However, you should still keep up with your regular mattress cleaning.
Dead skin cells, sweat, saliva, and more can turn your comfy bed into a petri dish for germs to grow. For instance, lab tests found that swabs from pillowcases unwashed for a week harbored 17,000 times more colonies of bacteria than samples taken from a toilet seat.
Why does fresh bedding feel so good? It's all about the sensory experience. The scent of fresh bedding employs our sense of smell and can encourage calm and relaxation.
A Clean Bed is a Comfortable Bed
A study by the National Sleep Foundation (NSF) found that people who wash their bedding and sheets regularly reported a 19% better rest at night than those who neglected the hygiene of their bedding.
In other words, our human beds get this dirty because we spend so much of our time indoors, and all of our bacteria (like feces and skin flakes) collects in our homes and in our beds. It doesn't have anywhere else to go, unlike a chimp's bacteria.
That's because bedrooms tend to generate dust from skin cells, dust mites, and upholstery fibers from cozy fabrics in your bed, carpet, rugs, and furniture. Plus, if your furry friends tend to curl up in your bed or other parts of the room, increased pet dander can create more dusty corners.
Good Housekeeping recommends you vacuum your mattress every three-to-six months, while other sources recommend mattress vacuuming on a monthly basis. If someone has allergies in your home, you may need to vacuum more frequently to remove dust and other allergens.
A Bedding Brush-Off
According to our findings, the average person changes sheets roughly every 24 days, or a bit less often than once every three weeks. Interestingly, pillowcases had a slightly longer average unwashed period, clocking in at 24.6 days before being cleaned or swapped for fresh ones.
How long does it take a mattress to dry? It may take your mattress anywhere between 24-48 hours to completely dry after it has been soaked with water, depending on the material it is made from and how saturated it is.
How long should it take to clean a bedroom? It depends on how large and messy your bedroom is, and whether you're giving it a regular or a deep cleaning. A standard cleaning that includes mopping, vacuuming, dusting, tidying up, and straightening the sheets shouldn't take more than 15-20 minutes.
Is it okay to change your bed sheets once a month? While your specific sheet changing habits might vary a little bit depending on your lifestyle, your body, and your preferences, most experts agree you should change your sheets every week or every two weeks.
How often you need to wash your bras isn't an exact science. But dermatologist Alok Vij, MD, says that as a general rule, you should wash them after every two to three wears.
Dead skin cells, bacteria, and even sweat can accumulate quickly on your towels, so using a fresh one about every three days is a simple rule of thumb—for all kinds of towels. You can of course change them more often.
Similarly, Susan Miller, an expert from Sleep Mattress HQ, reinforces Karen's warning. 'Using shampoo for deep mattress cleaning is not recommended,' she says. This is because 'any harsh chemical in the cleaning agent can damage the mattress' and may leave you needing to invest in a new one.
For those without access to a vacuum, setting the mattress outside in the sun is an excellent way to dry out any moisture and freshen things up. If you can stand it upright and lightly beat it, you will be amazed at how much stuff comes off in a cloud.
If you don't have baking soda or vinegar on hand, there are other methods to clean urine from a mattress. Start by blotting the urine stain with a clean cloth or paper towel to remove as much moisture as possible. Then, create a solution by mixing a few drops of liquid dish soap with warm water.