The hard part is over! You’ve done the research and have purchased the right mattress fit for you and your sleep partner’s body. But now keeping it in good condition so that it continues to provide you with the proper support is the next important step. From cleaning it well to rotating it often, there are some simple ways to keep your mattress looking and feeling good for the next several years. Show your bed a little compassion with these tips on how to protect your mattress and you’ll be sleeping well for a long time.
1. Change Your Sheets
This is an easy, no-brainer step, but it’s a crucial one! The act of simply removing your bed’s sheets and putting a fresh covering on top is one of the smallest yet most significant things you can do when figuring out how to take care of your mattress. The task should be done every week, although if you don’t happen to sweat in your sleep and like to shower or bathe before bed, you can probably stretch out your cleanings to every 2 weeks or so. When you change your bed’s sheets often, you’ll notice that your mattress never smells, it will stay clean for much longer, and less oils from your body are likely to soak through to the mattress and stain it.
2. Wash and Scrub
When you change your sheets regularly, you shouldn’t have to wash your bed but about every 6 months. You can even push this project to 9 months or even a year — it's up to you! And while the idea of scrubbing a mattress seems intimidating, it’s actually one of the easier things to clean in your home. If you’re looking for washing instructions to protect a bed, we’ve got just the steps to help you achieve your goal:
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Vacuum everything up – this is to ensure that all that pet hair, lint, and even dead skin are removed.Step 3. Spray hydrogen peroxide – this will freshen up any lingering odors and also help to loosen up those pesky stains. Scrub after letting it soak for at least 15 minutes.
- Sprinkle baking soda all over it – this is great at absorbing body oils and other liquids that have soiled your mattress. Let it sit for a couple hours to really allow everything time to absorb.
- Spray hydrogen peroxide – this will freshen up any lingering odors and also help to loosen up those pesky stains. Scrub after letting it soak for at least 15 minutes.
- Vacuum everything up ... again – this will remove all the gritty baking soda from step 2 and leave your mattress feeling, looking, and smelling as clean as new!
Voila! Now you know how to refresh a mattress, and it shouldn’t take you long at all!
3. Rotate It Around
If you’re wondering how often to rotate a mattress, it’s a good idea to do it about every 3 months. Of course, if you start to feel it sag on your side sooner than 3 months, use your best judgement for how often you should turn your mattress. Some people like to do it around the same time as when they wash their mattress just to create a schedule that’s easy to remember.
By switching your bed around, the sagging areas of your mattress should expand again and even out after a couple of months, making them once again suitable for sleeping. This will ultimately help prolong the life of your mattress and keep it in such good condition that it continues to support your spine properly.
Also, it’s important that you don’t confuse “rotate” with “flip” when it comes to your mattress. Most beds these days are made with layers of various materials only on the top portion of the mattress and should stay facing upwards.
4. Don’t Let Pets Up
Animal lovers may not want to hear this one, but we have to be honest with you. You may love them like family, but you’re going to have stop letting your pets up on the bed. It’s a hard habit to break, especially when they’re so cute, but fur babies shed more than just hair which can trigger an allergic reaction. From dirt to pollen to even bugs, these fur-iends can carry a whole mess of surprises on with them onto your sleeping space. We know you love them, but maybe it’s time to find a new place for them to sleep. We know you crave those snuggle sessions with your fur buddy so why not just cuddle with them on the couch? But if you’re feeling bad that they have to sleep on the ground, getting them their own bed will have to suffice so your sleep doesn’t suffer.
5. Get a Mattress Protector
If you change your sheets every week, clean your bed often, rotate it, don’t let the pets up ever, and still don’t put a mattress protector on your bed, your mattress probably isn’t going to last the full 10 years. It’s crucial that you do everything you can to keep your bed in good shape, and adding a mattress protector is the perfect shield to prevent stains, dead skin, body oils, allergens, and so much more. These mattress covers are very low maintenance and don’t even need to be washed as often as your regular sheets. Just be sure to take them off every other month or so to wash and your bed will continue to stay clean for longer.
At Big Sandy Superstore , we know that purchasing a mattress is a big investment and want to make sure you to get the most out of yours. We hope this guide is a helpful start for keeping your bed in pristine shape, but don’t forget to use a mattress protector while you’re at it! It’s just the shield you need to really protect your bed and keep your mattress lifespan as long as it can be.
If you haven’t bought a new mattress yet and are in the market for new one, we’d love to help you find the bed of your dreams! Give one of our locations a call today, and we’ll be sure to respond to any mattress questions you need answered.