How to Remove Mattress Stains - Guide for All Stains

Let’s imagine. It’s a beautiful Sunday morning, and there’s nothing you would love to do more than stay warmed and snuggled in bed, perhaps with a cup of coffee and a favorite book. Then you get distracted and forget about the cup until you accidentally knock it over. Now the bed is the exact definition of a disaster ;(( What should you do? How to remove mattress stains? How to clean your mattress completely?

That was only a simple example of the risks your mattress might be exposed to. Bodily fluids, dust mites, hair, allergens are the enemies it’s facing every day. Yet, when people carry out total sanitation, the bed is easily overlooked, since dust and dirt on solid surfaces are much more visible. Have you noticed how we spend about 1/3 of our time in bed after using the remaining 2/3 for daily activities? Therefore, taking care of the mattress is essential for your physical and mental health.

We have come to your aid with a detailed guideline on removing stains. Read on to find out!

Basic Steps to Properly Clean Your Mattress

#1 Wash the bedding: Everything: protector, topper, pillowcase, duvet cover. Remove them all if possible. Most of them should be washable by machine. Don’t forget to use a mild detergent and dry them up with the highest heat setting to kill off any stubborn dust mites and bacteria.

#2 Remove stains: Liquid only helps the stains to get deeper into your mattress and it’s harmful to memory foam, so try to apply as little of it as you can!

#3 Vacuum: A vacuum that fits your hand will be more efficient than a bulky one since you can reach into the crevices and get rid of the debris more thoroughly. This should be done carefully in order to make the subsequent steps easier.

#4 Spot-clean stains: Read on for our guide to specific stains.

#5 Deodorize: Fluids from our body and allergens also cause unpleasant smells and fortunately, we have baking soda and white vinegar as great solutions to go for.

Baking soda: Scatter the powder over your mattress and wait for at least 30 minutes. The longer the better, therefore, if you are in no hurry, you can even leave it until your bedding is all dried up and ready for use.
White vinegar: Mix vinegar with water in equal proportions and use a spray bottle to dampen the mattress without soaking it. Air-dry before moving on to the other side.

How about essential oils? We don’t recommend it for two reasons.

One, it’s pointless. When you are done cleaning your mattress and treating stains, you won’t smell the oils anymore. Why bother wasting it?
Two, it’s oils. We are trying to break the tight bond between stains and fabrics here! Substances like oils can attract the dirt and it’s the opposite of what we are aiming for.

#6 Vacuum once more: After sprinkling baking soda all over the mattress, you have to get it out. Remember to move the vacuum in slow strokes and not press it against the surface.

Read more: How to Clean Memory Foam Mattress

How to Clean Mattress Stains? Guide for Specific Stains

It’s not always food stains, isn’t it? Sometimes, you have to deal with more horrific problems and here are great tips for each type of stains.

Should you use bleach? Only when you have been left with no other choice. Bleach is very strong and harmful for the materials of your mattress, especially memory foam.

#Blood

Blood isn’t merely the trickiest type of stains to deal with, but also terrible to look at. How do you handle it?

Use hydrogen peroxide: Prepare a solution with 3% of it mixed with water and either spray or dab the blot until it disappears.
Use white vinegar and lemon juice for alternatives.
Combine hydrogen peroxide with dish soap and salt to form a paste. Apply it on the stain and allow it to dry before you scrape the remnants off.
Apply several drops of tender detergent on the smudge to break the connection between the blood and the fabrics then dab it away.

Tips:

Get a clean, preferably white, cloth since we don’t want the dye to be transferred to the mattress.
Warm water will react to proteins in the blood and make it easier for the blot to cling to the shreds permanently.

#Urine

Urine is a nut to chew, though not impossible to be removed. If you have kids, it’s almost a given that you must overcome this nightmare once or twice.

Pre-treatment: Dissolve a tablespoon of baking soda in a solution of 3% hydrogen peroxide and a few drops of dish wash liquid. Spray it evenly over the spot. Waiting time is one hour at the minimum. Dab at the stain and see if it needs more treatment, but we’re quite certain most of its unpleasant smell and color should be gone by then.
Deep-removal: For more stubborn stains, whisk 1 tablespoon of water, 3 of laundry detergent, and hydrogen peroxide into a dry foam, spread it on the stain, then wait for half an hour. Scrape the paste off, wipe clean with a piece of cloth then vacuum the debris.

#Vomit

You must get rid of the puke immediately before thinking of removing its stain. Wash the linens at the hottest setting first, then follow this instruction.

Mix a 50/50 solution of vinegar and water to spray the stain as blot it as much as you can.
Also, use baking soda to neutralize the smell.

#Oily food and lotions

You probably already know of the oils from food but if you use lotions during sleep, it might cause colored stains on your mattress. Fortunately, a generous layer of baking soda will easily solve your problem. If the stains are persistent, utilize your dish soap and remember to mix it with warm instead of cold water because low temperature allows the oils to condense and settle, hence much more difficult to remove.

#Coffee

The dish soap and white vinegar solution work for coffee stains, yet we’re going to put it in a bowl rather than a spray bottle.

If the spill has dried up, dampen it with warm water, starting from the edge to the center so the smudge won’t spread even more until the cloth can no longer absorb any brown.
Dip another clean cloth into the solution and repeat the process.
Finally, wipe the spot clean and blot dry.

#Wine

Salt and cold water mixture work on red stains from fruits, sauce or syrup.

First, use cloth or paper towels to absorb as much wine as possible.
Apply cold water over the tainted area and dab the remaining liquid away, then sprinkle salt onto it and let it sit for three minutes.
Rub with cold water again and let it dry.
Repeat the steps until you’re satisfied with the result.

Preventative methods

It’s way better if you take care of your bed regularly rather than only tending to it once the accident has already occurred. Just think about the things you could have done with the time you had to spend on cleaning ugly and smelly stains. Moreover, the steps are not troublesome at all:

Use a mattress cover, protector or mattress topper. They are usually designed to be waterproof as well as resistant against allergens.
Wash your sheets every week so the dead skin flecks and dust mites have no place to hide and ruin your mattress from the inside.
Flip and rotate the mattress, if possible. This decreases the possibility of dirt and debris accumulating in the same areas.

Remove Mattress Stains – Last Saying

We think you are gonna agree with us that keeping the bed clean is much easier and economically reasonable than purchasing a brand new mattress. Not to mention, a clean and hygienic bed is the ultimate key to your health.

How to Remove Mattress Stains? Guide for Any Stain