How to Clean & Freshen Up a Mattress

Whether your mattress is stinking or just a little tired, it's easier than you think to freshen it up and bring it back to its former glory.

Most of us are guilty of not cleaning our mattresses for months, but we're kidding ourselves if we think we're sleeping on a hygienic surface – you alone shed half a billion skin cells every day, so it doesn’t take long for that new mattress to get dirty.

Sweat, deodorant, hair products, dead skin cells, pet dander, and dust accumulate on our mattresses over time. Even anti-allergy mattresses coated at the factory to resist dust mites can only do so much.

This guide reveals how to clean and freshen up a mattress, with tips for quick and deep cleaning and specific mattress technologies.  

How to freshen up your mattress

Freshening your mattress requires a bit of time (3-4 hours), a few household cleaning products, and a trusty vacuum cleaner.

1. Vacuum the mattress surface.
2. Generously coat the mattress surface with baking soda or carpet cleaning powder.
3. Leave the powder to soak up odours for an hour.
4. Vacuum all the powder off the mattress.
5. Let your mattress air.
6. Make your bed with fresh bedding.

These steps are suitable for all mattresses, including sprung, pure foam, and natural ones with wool layers.

However, if your mattress is stained or just dirty from years of sleeping, you'll probably want to do a deeper clean.

How to do a mattress deep clean

Giving your mattress a deep clean will take around an hour and requires a wet vacuum carpet cleaner to penetrate below the surface and lift the grime.

You can hire wet vacuums designed for carpets online or locally from some supermarkets, but they're cheaper than you think to buy – the Shark Stain Striker is around £150 and ideal for a mattress because it's portable.

The crucial steps are disinfecting the mattress surface, removing dirt, grime, and other nasties lurking on it, and airing the mattress until it's dry (mattresses hold way more moisture than you think on the inside).

The steps for a deep clean:

1. Start in the morning to allow drying time.
2. Inspect your mattress for stains or soiling. Soak the spots with a neutral fabric cleaning spray and let them sit for 10 minutes.
3. Add a suitable detergent to your wet vacuum cleaner.
4. Thoroughly go over the mattress surface with one pass using the vacuum.
5. Switch out the water in the vacuum and replace the detergent.
6. Go over the mattress again, this time with two to three passes.
7. Remove all liquids from your wet vacuum and go over the mattress using the dry setting to extract as much moisture as possible.
8. Inspect the mattress – does it look clean? If not, repeat step 3.
9. Let your mattress dry thoroughly – it'll take around five hours in a warm environment.
10. Add a mattress protector to help extend the now clean condition for longer.

Wet vacuums are a relatively harsh cleaning method, but they are the only way to penetrate and lift dirt below the surface.

First, test the vacuum at the foot of your mattress using a neutral detergent to ensure the foams and fillings in your mattress react well to it.

With these tools, you also need to get as much moisture as possible out of the mattress. Otherwise, your mattress could start smelling musty after a few days.

Getting blood out of a mattress

Blood is a stain that requires wetting and diluting with a sponge and water.

You can remove 80% of a blood stain on a mattress's surface in around 10 minutes, although rushing it can push the blood deeper into the layers.

The steps:

1. Combine two parts water and one part baking soda in a jug.
2. Apply the solution with a soaked rag to wet the stain.
3. Sprinkle on some extra dry baking powder.
4. Let it sit for five minutes.
5. Get a sponge and dip it into the solution.
6. Kneed the sponge into the mattress for five minutes, rinsing it and re-wetting it as you go.
7. Keep it up until the stain is gone (or until you're happy with it).
8. Let your mattress dry thoroughly (ideally outside) before making your bed.

These steps also work for red wine, dark fruit juices, and other heavily pigmented stains.

Cleaning tips for different mattress types

Some mattress technologies are more resistant to chemical cleaners than others – natural mattresses and synthetic fibre ones deal better with household cleaning products than foam-based ones (memory foam, latex, reflex foam, etc.).

Foam

If you're cleaning a foam mattress, stick to neutral cleaning agents such as Astonish Carpet Care spray or good old baking soda and water.

Fibre

If your mattress has a fibrous top layer, remember that it's much more porous than foam, so you should use less liquid to clean it.

Pillowtops

Pillowtops can soak up a LOT of liquid and hide dirt below the surface, so always double the time when vacuuming, sponging and drying it.

Natural fillings

Use the minimum amount of liquid you can and only dampen the surface. Wool, Mohair, and cotton also do fine with enzyme cleaners.

How to quickly refresh a mattress

You can quickly refresh a mattress without cleaning it with a mattress topper. But if you have a bit more time to play with it, take these steps to clean it up:

1. Strip the bedding and let the mattress air out for 20 minutes.
2. Sprinkle baking soda generously over the entire surface and let it sit for 20 minutes.
3. Use the hose attachment on your vacuum to thoroughly clean the top and sides of the mattress, removing the baking soda.
4. For a light scent, mist the mattress with a fabric refresher or essential oil spray – or, even better, an enzyme cleaner to kill odours.

When is a mattress beyond cleaning?

Excessive wear and tear indicate that a mattress is beyond cleaning.

If the mattress has significant damage, such as broken springs, sagging, or permanent indentations, it is time for a new one because no cleaning can restore the structural integrity of a heavily worn mattress (most mattresses last 5-10 years).

Persistent odours that aren't removable through cleaning are another sign you need to replace your mattress. If you've tried all the recommended cleaning methods, but the odour keeps returning, it means the mattress has absorbed too much over the years.

Read our guide covering how to choose a mattress if you’re not sure where to start.

Summing up

You can freshen up your mattress with a deep or quick clean.

Most mattresses do best with a monthly quick clean and a deep clean every 3-6 months, but if you use a mattress topper, you can double those times.

The easiest of the bunch is a dry clean—baking soda or carpet cleaning powder and a vacuum—or you can get it wet with a penetrating spray and scrub it with a soft sponge to lift away surface dirt without damaging the outer cover.

Deep cleans with a wet vacuum go further by penetrating the layers, and if you use the right detergent, you can sterilise the whole surface.