Getting your mattress cleaned by professionals costs you $50. But now you don't have to pay a cent by DIY. Find the tips here. In a bit of a rush? Click here to jump down to a guidance. Stain removal Get rid of mattress smell Removing mites Bedbug extermination Preventive maintenance When it comes to helping us get a good night's rest, there's nothing like a fresh, clean mattress! Not so with a dirty mattress. At the very least, a dirty mattress makes your skin crawl as you lie on it, thinking of all the nastiness that shares your bed. In extreme cases a dirty mattress presents a health risk. Sadly, our mattresses can't remain as clean and beautiful as they were when we bought them. Mattresses instead accumulate dust and dust mites as time goes by. What's more, stains form and smells develop. Who wants to sleep on that? Then there's bedbugs, the stuff of horror movies. Those unlucky enough to have suffered an infestation will always have the terrible memories of their experiences to haunt them. When we think about it, mattresses can get pretty disgusting. Disgusting enough to make us want to replace them. But there's a cheaper alternative to replacing our mattresses whenever they get dirty:         Clean our mattress by DIY. In general, a mattress should be cleaned every six months. The problem is it is nowhere near as easy as doing the laundry.

Luckily, the hacks listed in this article will help you clean a dirty mattress.

1. Simple or unidentified stains

Remove them with citrus cleaner or diluted dish-washing detergent. All you need to do is spray the cleaner directly on the stain, let it sit for 5 to 10 minutes then dry the wet area by dabbing it with a dry cloth.

2. Blood or urine stains

Apply a little hydrogen peroxide onto the stain. Brush the peroxide into the spot with a small brush and dry the wet area by blotting it with a clean cloth. If the stain remains, using a wet cloth to rub some washing powder onto the already damp patch. The washing powder acts on the protein in the blood or urine to remove the stain. Always remember to use cold water to remove stains because hot water only makes stains permanent.

3. Fresh bloodstains

Remove it by using a solution of salt and water. Pour the salt water into a spray bottle and spray it onto the stain. In a short while, the stain will be gone.

4. Particularly stubborn stains

Try applying baking soda over the stain that you just tried to remove. Leave the baking soda on the mattress overnight Vacuum it from the mattress in the morning.

Get rid of mattress smell

  Locate the source of the odor on the mattress. Spray the area with orange-scented detergent and wait for five minutes. Next, wipe the mattress clean by dabbing the wet area with a white, absorbent cloth. Drying the area by dabbing instead of rubbing prevents the stain from spreading. Try to remove as much moisture from the mattress as possible. If you don't have scented detergent around the house, you can use mild dish-washing fluid or mild soap as alternatives. both are good for getting rid of odor in your mattress.

Removing mites

To deep clean your mattress, you should also take the mites into account. We shed dead skin constantly, more so when we are tossing and turning in our sleep. And it turns out dust mites love to eat dead skin. That's why the mattress is the mites' preferred residence. Having mites in our mattresses can be harmful to our health, but thankfully, getting rid of them is easy. First remove(and clean) the mattress cover then vacuum the surface of the mattress. Next, sprinkle baking soda on the mattress and let it sit for at least 30 minutes. The baking soda removes the humidity that the mites need to survive. It also leaves the mattress smelling nice and fresh. Lastly, vacuum the baking soda off the mattress. Lavender is a drying agent that can be used instead of baking soda. Also, it has a pleasant, relaxing smell. To avoid dust mites, we should change and clean our bedding every week. We should also make sure to protect our mattresses from humidity. That being said, a latex mattress can be your best option to avoid all hassles of cleaning mites, because latex is naturally resistant to mites.

Bedbug extermination

  Bedbugs are the ultimate bloodsucking nightmare for any homeowner. Worse still, they are notoriously hard to get rid of. To rid the home of bedbugs, we start by removing them from the beds. First, we spray an organic bedbug killer in all the crevices of the bed as well as all the mattress seams. Then you could spray the entire surface of the mattress if you're using organic bedbug killer. After that, get some bedbug traps and set them under the legs of the bed to keep the bedbugs from re-infesting the bed. This cuts off all points of entry for the bedbugs. Now to eradicate the bedbug menace from the rest of the house. If you're wondering how to go about it, read the post ‘Get Rid Of Bedbugs Now! A Call To Slaughter - Cruel But Effectivet '. Good luck!

Preventive maintenance

Cleaning our mattresses is one of the ways that we can keep ourselves healthy. It is also an important way to lengthen the life of the mattress. Regular maintenance is another way we can keep our mattresses in good condition for many, many years.

1. Rotating or flipping

The easiest maintenance task is torotate the mattressevery three months during its first year of use. After the first year, the mattress only requires rotation once every six months. If the mattress is double sided, rotation can mean flipping the mattress. But if the mattress is single-sided, then rotation means placing the head of the mattress at the foot of the bed. Because our upper bodies exert the most pressure on the mattress, rotating the mattress ensures that its surface remains even.

2. Air out

After a humid or rainy season, we need to air our mattresses in dry, well ventilated spaces. The mattress can be left to air for a time period ranging from a couple of hours to a couple of days. It is important to remember that airing the mattress directly under the scorching sun reduces its longevity. This means that when aired outside, mattresses should be placed in the shade or mild sunshine.

When you take care of your mattress you take care of yourself

Is all that cleaning worth the effort? Absolutely! After all, the mattress is where we spend our happiest and most relaxed moments.