How to Remove Mattress Stains

One of the main benefits of having a clean mattress is it instantly increases the air quality inside your home, alongside getting rid of bacteria and unpleasant smells that can affect your sleep at night. On average, your bed contains 10,000 dust mites that can aggravate allergies, and dead skin also ends up nestled in your covers.

Cleaning stains on your mattress needn’t be a chore if you follow these simple guidelines. So, read on to learn how to clean stains off your mattress.

Basic mattress care and maintenance

When you discover a stained mattress, you’ll need to clean the spot as soon as possible. The best way to clean a mattress is to strip the bed, taking off all the linen before you start. Making this part of your regular cleaning routine will help keep mattresses fresh and hygienic all year round.

Then, you can deodorise before you clean the mattress stains. Baking soda doesn’t contain fragrances that irritate allergies, so it’s an ideal natural deodoriser. Sprinkle liberally onto the mattress and gently rub it in before leaving it for at least 15 minutes. This helps it bond with surface moisture and eliminate any smells.

The next step is to vacuum off any residue using the upholstery and crevice attachments to make sure you get into all the edges and seams. Afterwards, you’re ready to clean the stains off your mattress (read on to learn how).

When the stains have been removed and your mattress is clean and dry, you can flip it over and clean underneath. This side probably won’t need stain treatment, but a thorough vacuum will eliminate any dust and pet dander. Airing your mattress for a few hours before you re-make the bed will let the fabric breathe.

After you remove the stains from your mattress, you can protect it by investing in a waterproof mattress cover. You can wash this every month to keep it fresh and ensure that you never have to get stains out of your mattress again!

How to remove stains from a mattress

Getting stains out of your mattress successfully relies on identifying the type of stain so that you can choose the right cleaning solutions.

Blood

The most important thing to remember about getting blood stains out of a mattress is that you need to use cold water. Hot water can set the stain into the fabric of the mattress and make it virtually impossible to remove.

You may find that all you need is cold water on a clean cloth. Carefully dab the stain without rubbing, as this only spreads it further. Adding a little baking powder to the water and applying it to the stain will help with more stubborn spots. After leaving it for around 30 minutes, blot again with clean water and allow to dry.

Alternatively, you can make a solution of 50/50 cold water and distilled vinegar and transfer it into a spray bottle. Blot up any fresh blood with a clean cloth before spraying the stain with the mix. Leave for around 30 minutes, then blot dry with a clean cloth.

To get older bloodstains off a mattress that have sat for a while, you can use a meat tenderiser powder! Simply make a paste with a tablespoon of meat tenderiser mixed with two teaspoons of cold water and brush it onto the stain. When it’s dry, vacuum away any residue.

Urine

Removing a fresh urine stain from your mattress will involve using 50/50 cold water and white vinegar applied from a spray bottle after blotting up excess liquid with a clean cloth. Remember to blot, not rub, as rubbing simply causes the urine to penetrate deeper into the mattress fibres.

Getting a dried urine stain out of a mattress can be achieved by making a simple solution of 8oz of hydrogen peroxide mixed with three tablespoons of baking soda and a couple drops of washing up liquid. You can add essential oil if the urine smell is strong. Spray over the stain and wait for it to dry before vacuuming off any residue.

Vomit

Cleaning a vomit-stained mattress requires the same 50/50 solution of water and white vinegar sprayed directly onto the stain. Remember to get rid of any excess sick by carefully scraping it off with a plastic knife before you apply the mix. When the stain has disappeared, finish with a sprinkling of baking soda to neutralise any smell, vacuuming up any residue after about an hour.

Wine 

To clean a mattress of wine stains, you can dab sparkling water onto the spot or pour on salt to soak up the liquid. Carefully rinse with clean water afterwards and leave to dry.

Other mysterious stains

If you don’t know what stain you’re dealing with, a sure-fire method is to dab or spray on diluted washing up liquid and let it sit for up to 10 minutes. Blot with a clean cloth and repeat until the stain is gone.

Adding white vinegar to the mix, leaving for five minutes, and sprinkling on baking soda will result in fizzing. After that has stopped, you can blot with a clean cloth and vacuum off any residue.

Book a professional mattress cleaning with Fantastic Services!

If you’d rather let somebody else deal with this chore, we provide a mattress cleaning service that eliminates all bacteria and allergens, giving you a quality night’s sleep. You can schedule your booking any day of the week for a professional clean of any mattress type.

Proven mattress cleaning methods include hot water extraction – spraying hot water into the mattress under high pressure and extracting 95% of the moisture alongside the grime and bacteria. The dry cleaning method uses a chemical-free solvent applied to the mattress that attracts and absorbs the dirt and is then vacuumed off.

Dry UV light cleaning is another option where intensive ultraviolet light is used to kill mites and bacteria.

Your experienced technician will use chemical-free cleaning products that are kind to the environment and safe for children and pets. These specially chosen detergents also contain deodorising agents that get rid of any unpleasant smells.

The fresh look of your mattress will quickly be restored following high-filtration vacuuming and pre-treating of any stains. And at the end of the cleaning service, a special solution for fabric protection will be applied that serves as a barrier against further spillages and staining.

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Have you got any tried and tested home remedies for getting rid of mattress stains? Please share them with us!

Image source: Shutterstock / Oleksii Bilyk