Mattress Care

Having invested in a good quality mattress there should be no reason why it should not last you many years so long as you look after it correctly. Ensuring your care for your mattress will ensure you better nights sleep for many years to come.

Turning Your Mattress

All mattresses wear over time. No matter if you have a coil/pocket sprung mattress or a memory foam one you can help extend it’s life by helping to make sure the wear it gets is evenly distributed across the top and bottom as well as both sides.

Aim to turn your mattress every 3 months. It can be easy to forget which way you turned your mattress last quarter so follow the tip below to ensure even use throughout the year.

Attach a stick on label to the mattress the head and foot of the bed on each side. Next write three consecutive months of the year on each label. Now all you have to do is at the start of each quarter flip the mattress flip the mattress so that the label with the correct months on is at the top left corner as you are looking at the bed.

Fig.1 Keep Track of Your Mattress Turning

Reduce Build Up of Dust

Most household dust is actually made up of dead human skin. As we spend so much time in the bedroom dust build up in and around the bed is probably higher than anywhere else in the house.

We have heard it mentioned that the weight of a mattress can increase by as much as 10% every two years as a result of dust build up. We think that might be a bit far fetched but dust build up can be significant. Use the following tips to reduce dust.

• Vacuum you mattress. When stripping the bed to change the sheets vacuum your mattress and under your bed to remove any dust.
• Wipe down the bed frame. If your bed frame has not been moved for a couple of years you’ll be amazed how much dust accumulates between the wall and the frame. When turning your mattress wipe down all of the frame with a damp cloth.

In addition when turning your mattress take a couple of minutes to wipe a damp cloth over the bed frame to remove the inevitable dust build up.

Mattress Ventilation

Creating good ventilation around your mattress will help to prevent musty smells building up and reduce bacteria building up. Here are some tips to help increase the ventilation to your mattress.

• Ventilate you bed frame. Choose a bed frame that allows plenty of air to get to your mattress from underneath. Ideally go for a frame with wooden slats that will proved both firm support and good ventilation. Try not to use all the space underneath your bed for storage as this will reduce airflow.

• Air your bedroom. When striping your bed to wash the sheets air the room by opening the windows and leaving the mattress uncovered while you wash and dry the bedding.

• Air Dry Your Laundry. If possible air dry your bedding laundry as opposed to machine drying. You’ll end up with a much fresher feeling bed to sleep in.
• Beat your duvet. When doing your laundry take you duvet and pillows outside and give them a beating to remove excess dust. Also air them outside while you laundry dries, the UV ray will help reduce the bacteria levels in them.

Use a Mattress Cover

You should use a thin mattress cover (not to be confused with a mattress topper) to help protect the surface of the mattress. During normal use mattress are prone to discolor and become dirty as (whether we like to admit it or not we all sweat and shed dead skin in our beds).

Using a thin mattress cover on top of your mattress will help protect it from surface spills or accidents and will help maintaining a clean bed much easier. Most mattress covers are machine washable so you can easily wash them every couple of weeks to remove stains, smells or dust.

Tagged as: care, cleaning, maintenance, mattress