Tips for Cleaning Your Mattress With Baking Soda

No mattress is intended to last forever, but most are designed to last between seven and 10 years with proper mattress care.  Seven years is a long time for a mattress to become dirty, especially since studies show that the average person sheds approximately eight pounds of dead skin in one year, and some of those cells end up in your mattress.  So, what can you do to clean and freshen up your mattress?  Surprisingly, all you need is a common ingredient that you probably already have in your kitchen.  Here are a few tips for cleaning and freshening up your mattress with baking soda.

Before applying baking soda to your mattress, it is recommended that you use a vacuum to suck up any dirt, skin cells, and other debris that may be on the surface of your mattress. Use an upholstery attachment, if you have one, for best results. 

After vacuuming, pour about a cup of baking soda into a flour sifter or mesh strainer and sprinkle the fine white powder evenly across your mattress. Baking soda is a natural deodorizer and can help rid your mattress of any stale or unpleasant odors that have accumulated over time. Leave the baking soda on your bed for about an hour so that it can sufficiently neutralize any odors, then suck it up with a vacuum cleaner. 

If you like the scent of essential oils, you can add a few drops of your favorite to the baking soda prior to applying it to your bed. The best way to do this is by putting the baking soda in a small bowl, then mixing a few drops of essential oil into it with a fork. Stir the baking soda until the oil is mixed in well, then put the mixture into a flour sifter or mesh strainer and sprinkle it onto your mattress as usual. Lavender oil is a great choice for this purpose because it has a very soothing scent and may help you fall asleep easier. 

After using this baking soda cleaning method on your mattress, your bed should smell fresh and clean for a while. Anytime it starts to smell stale or dirty, simply follow these baking soda cleaning tips to freshen it up again.