If colored stains appear on the mattress, do not rush to run for soap, citric acid, or all-purpose cleaner. In this situation, you need to act quickly - but wisely. Before you start cleaning your mattress at home, pause and answer 3 important questions. What is this stain? How will stain remover affect materials? How to clean the mattress yourself according to the rules?

How not to do it: 3 popular mistakes when cleaning your mattress, yourself

The first impulse of an economical host is to search Google “how to clean a mattress from stains at home on your own”. For this request, the search engine will give out hundreds of similar articles, the authors of which recommend improvised budget funds - baking soda, hydrogen peroxide, soap solution or vinegar. In the tips, there is also a second way to get rid of the problem - professional cleaning. At this stage, it is important to say "stop" in time and make the right decision.

Mistake # 1 - Believing universal advice

Sometimes advice from the Internet really helps, but you shouldn't follow them thoughtlessly. If the cleaning life hack does not work, there is a 70% probability that the stain will firmly adhere to the mattress. In our blog, we talked about how to clean the urine from the mattress yourself.

What to do: Find expert information on cleaning a specific type of stain from a mattress (blood, urine, coffee with milk, juice, etc.) and find out which products will help and which will only harm. If you are not sure of the correct choice, do not take risks and call professionals.

If colored stains appear on the mattress, do not rush to run for soap, citric acid, or all-purpose cleaner. In this situation, you need to act quickly - but wisely. Before you start cleaning your mattress at home, pause and answer 3 important questions. What is this stain? How will stain remover affect materials? How to clean the mattress yourself according to the rules?

Mistake # 2 - it takes a lot of water to be successful

Not all stains are water-soluble. For example, varnish or ink can only be remove with solvents. Many artificial colors also need dissolved with special agents strictly prior to surface treatment with aqueous solutions or hot water vapor.

When scrubbing urine from a mattress, water can be problematic, as copious amounts of it will increase the macular area. Do not forget about the properties of materials to absorb water. If you cannot remove all moisture from the filler by natural drying, then there is a high probability of mold.

What to do: the hard way is to study in detail the methods and stages of treatment, types of stains, types of stain removers, and then find and buy a specialized mattress cleaner.  An easy way is to contact a cleaning company.

Mistake # 3 - ignoring the composition of the fabric and filler

Some mattresses dominated by synthetics, others use natural materials, and still others have both. For example, many manufacturers offer to buy orthopedic mattresses filled with compressed fibers of coconut, felt, jute fiber, horsehair and even oil palm fruits.

Substances in natural materials react to acids, alkalis, and water in different ways. Thus, the tannin contained in coconut fibers, upon contact with moisture, stains the fabric with brown stains, which fixed when interacting with alkali.

What to do: investigate the product passport and find out what materials the orthopedic mattress is make of. Find the section with the manufacturer's recommendations for care and cleaning. Sometimes you can see a categorical requirement - only dry cleaning. In this case, there is only one way out - to order a professional service.

If colored stains appear on the mattress, do not rush to run for soap, citric acid, or all-purpose cleaner. In this situation, you need to act quickly - but wisely. Before you start cleaning your mattress at home, pause and answer 3 important questions. What is this stain? How will stain remover affect materials? How to clean the mattress yourself according to the rules?

Mattress stains can have different origins

More than just a stain remover: the stages of dry cleaning a mattress

Rubbing an alkaline or acidic stain remover into the stain is not enough. The agent will absorb into the fabric and into the upper layer of the filler, and the aggressive substances included in the composition will damage the material in the treated area. This is only half the trouble. After cleaning, a trace of the product may remain on the surface, which is harmful to the skin and to health in general. You shouldn't count on sheets either. These will not protect the body from contact with harmful chemicals due to the small thickness and transmissive properties of natural fabric.

To obtain a high-quality result, it is important to complete all stages of dry cleaning:

1. Use a vacuum cleaner to remove any dry loose dirt from the mattress, which may mix with the stain during cleaning and complicate the task.
2. Determine the type of stain. Blood can remove with acidic or enzymatic agents, coffee, and tea with acid stain removers. Some stains need to split first.
3. Apply spot-on stain with a suitable stain remover. If there are several spots and they have a different origin, use different means, avoiding their interaction.
4. After spot cleaning, it is worth treating the entire surface of the mattress with a detergent to remove dust and grease. A brush and a sponge will only clean the surface, while professional equipment in tandem with special products will destroy dirt even under the upholstery.
5. Detergent will not remain inside if neutralized with special rinse aid. This is the only way to make the mattress safe for health.
6. To remove moisture from the upper layers of the filler, you can put the mattress to dry or speed up the process using a professional turbo dryer.

If the stain is wet and fresh, blot it with an absorbent cloth or towel

When cleaning the mattress, yourself, follow 2 important rules:

• If the moisture from the spilled liquid has not yet had time to absorb into the upholstery, apply a sponge or absorbent cotton (paper) towel to the place;
• If mechanical action can replace by chemical, then refrain from using hard brushes. Consider, intense friction leads to accelerated material wear.

Removing a stain from a mattress without special equipment, professional detergents, and experience in cleaning different types of dirt is a difficult task. An error at one of the stages can reduce the effectiveness of further actions. If you do not want to risk and experiment on an expensive product, entrust the cleaning of mattresses to experienced cleaners.

Tip: To make it easier to care for your mattress, you can buy a waterproof removable mattress cover that is easy to clean and protects the mattress fabric from dirt.