How to Clean a Mattress Quickly and Easily

Cleaning experts recommend deep cleaning your mattress every few months. Learn how to clean and disinfect a mattress, and discover what causes yellow stains.

If you haven't thought about cleaning your mattress lately, consider this: You probably spend six to eight hours on it every night. During that time, dead skin cells, sweat and oil from your body can make their way onto and into it, leading to possible yellow stains. Not to mention that this environment is a magnet for dust mites!

How often to clean your mattress

Whether you suffer from allergies or not, it's a good idea to regularly clean your mattress to keep it fresh. That's why Carolyn Forté, executive director of the Good Housekeeping Institute Home Care & Cleaning Lab, recommends following this step-by-step advice every three months to keep your bed dust-, stain- and odor-free.

Ahead, find out how to deep clean and deodorize any mattress, plus the best products to use to remove mattress stains yourself.

How to deep clean your mattress, step by step

1. Wash bedding.

Strip your bed of all bedding, including pillowcases, blankets, mattress pads and protectors. After pre-treating any stains, wash your sheets on a cleaning cycle that uses the hottest water safe for the sheets' fabric (check the care tag). "The hotter the water, the more germs you kill," says Forté. While you're at it, wash your pillows, too!

2. Vacuum with an upholstery tool.

The easiest way to remove dust is to use the upholstery tool on your vacuum cleaner. It's a good idea to do this every couple of months or more often if someone in the family suffers with allergies.

Go over the top and sides of the mattress and as much of the box spring as you can access. Press down firmly on the tool or tap it on the fabric to draw out dust beneath the surface.

Then, use the crevice tool to get into the quilting, along the edge welting and where any pillow top is attached. Some newer vacuums now come with tools that vibrate against mattress and upholstery fabrics to better draw out dust.

3. Give it some steam.

If you have a garment steamer, go over the mattress with the steamer holding the nozzle as close to the fabric as you can (without causing the steamer to drip). The penetrating steam will kill dust mites lurking near the surface. Vacuum the mattress again to remove them. No steamer? Give it bursts of steam from your clothing iron.

4. Spot clean stains.

If pets sleep with you or you like to snack in bed, chances are your mattress may have some stains on it. The easiest way to remove them is with a carpet and upholstery cleaner formulated to remove pet stains, like Bissell Pet Stain and Odor Remover. "It not only removes pet stains, like urine and vomit, but also food stains — and it contains enzymes to tackle odors,"Forté says.

To use it, lightly spray the stain — or a cloth — and dab the stain working from the outside edge towards the center to keep the stain from spreading. You want to avoid over-wetting the mattress. When the stain is gone, sponge the area with a damp cloth to rinse and remove all traces of the cleaner. Blot the area with a dry cloth and let the mattress dry thoroughly before making the bed.

5. Deep clean yellow stains

Yellow stains on your mattress are likely a result of sweat and body oil buildup. While it's difficult to wet clean an entire mattress (and you never want to fully saturate it), you can try to whiten it with an at-home solution:

• Combine one cup each of hydrogen peroxide and warm water, plus 1/4 teaspoon mild dish liquid.
• Pour the solution into a spray bottle and spritz the mattress surface.
• Work it into the fabric with a soft brush or terrycloth towel and let set about 30 minutes. Spritz the mattress again with clear water to rinse.
• Blot well to remove all traces of the cleaner, and let it air dry completely.
• For tougher stains, repeat or add a little more hydrogen peroxide to the solution.

If you are lucky enough to own a "steam" cleaner that dispenses detergent and sucks up stains from carpet and upholstery, like the Bissell Little Green Carpet and Upholstery Cleaner, by all means, use it on your mattress too. It will do a better job of cleaning and pulling out moisture so the mattress will dry faster.

6. Deodorize with sanitizing spray or baking soda

If you notice any stale smells, a quick and easy way to freshen a mattress and box spring is with a sanitizing spray, like Microban 24 Hour Sanitizing Spray or Tide Antibacterial Fabric Spray. Both are safe to use on fabrics and kill odor-causing bacteria.

Or, to zap odors between deep cleanings, sprinkle some Arm & Hammer Baking Soda onto the mattress fabric, brush it in lightly, wait 15 to 30 minutes, then vacuum.

How to protect your mattress

The best way to keep your mattress fresh and stain-free is by covering it with a removable mattress pad that you wash regularly. For those with allergies, encasing the mattress and even the box spring in mattress protectors is one of the best ways to keep dust, pollen, dust mites and other irritants from accumulating. These, too, should be washed regularly.

Finally, while there's no set expiration date on your bed, you'll likely want to replace your mattress every eight to 10 years. Regular cleaning can help extend the life of your mattress, but you'll know it's time to replace your mattress when you notice lumps or indents forming, or you find your mattress is causing difficulty sleeping or pain upon waking.