Mattress Cleaning

When someone has allergies, there is a long laundry list of things to clean, vacuum, or in some instances, get rid of. These include clean or vacuum the carpets, upholstery, drapes, the ductwork to name a few. Or there are the things that you are told to get rid of – remove your carpets and install hard surface flooring, remove all plants and flowers, and probably the hardest thing to do, get rid of your beloved pets. These projects will all help, but probably one of the most important things to do to alleviate your allergy symptoms to have your mattresses professionally cleaned.

Believe it or not, people spend up to one-third of your lives on their mattresses. You’ve heard about all the “things” that live or are found on your mattresses – dust mites, mold, dead skin, bedbugs to name a few. So, most of us diligently wash their sheets, pillow cases, blankets, comforters on a weekly or bi- weekly basis. But what about your pillows, the duvet covers and inserts, and the decorate pillows on your bed. All these need to be cleaned too. That helps but it does not solve the problems that are brought about by a dirty mattress for an allergy sufferer.

When was the last time you cleaned your mattress? Better question – “Have you ever cleaned your mattress?” And I would venture to say the answer for most of us would be “NO”. So ok, when should I clean my mattress and how often? Now remember, you spend up to one-third of your life on your mattress. So, let’s put that in numbers we can relate to – “You are 30 – that’s 10 years”; “You are 40 – that’s 13.3 years”; “You are 50 – that’s 16.5 years”; You are 60 – that’s 20 years”. You get the point – you spend a lot of time in bed on your mattress.

And I’ve heard the argument that I don’t sleep directly on my mattress, I have a mattress cover and the sheets, and my blankets and covers and comforters…protecting my mattress. But remember they are fabric too, which are porous, and many of the things that attack our mattresses are microscopic – dust mites, dead skin cells, insect parts, dust, to name a few. Mattresses get dirty, believe or not. And oh yeah, people sweat when they sleep, and that affects all those covers and the mattress.

So, what’s really on your mattress?

1. Skin cells – Every minute of the day we lose about 30,000 to 40,000 dead skin cells off the surface of our skin. That would add up to about 9 pounds a year or basing it on spending one- third of your life in bed – that’s about 3 pounds of dead skin cells each year.
2. Sweat – Let’s just agree that when we sleep we sometimes sweat. We do not sweat every night but on certain occasions we do sweat. I have seen reports that claim that some people sweat x- x-number of gallons to liters each night, and that is simply not true. As I had said before, lets agree that sometimes we sweat when we sleep and overtime that can contribute to a smelly mattress.
3. Bed Bugs – Just watch the news, bed bug infestations are happening all over the country. predominantly in urban, city areas. Bed bugs are most active at night, so chances are you will not see them during the day. They could be hiding anywhere on the bed that is out of your sight. And these little beasties thrive of human and animal blood. So, if you wake up to find suspect
   bites on exposed areas of skin or see blood spots on your bedding and/or mattress, it may be time to start investigating ways to get rid of bed bugs.
4. Accidents – Things happen while you are sleeping. This is particularly true with children. Urine, blood, vomit (and other body fluids) can give rise to the growth of bacteria. These types of fluids may also lead to stains that may be difficult to remove.
5. Dust mites – Dust mites are microscopic, eight- legged creatures that are 0.2 to 0.3 mm in length that are invisible to the naked eye. How small are they? About 7000 of these little creatures can fit on your finger nail.

Here’s some facts about these little pests:

• They can’t bite you.
• You can’t feel them crawling on your skin.
• They can’t chew through your sheets
• They can’t live in your vacuum cleaner.
• You can’t see them with the naked eye.
• They can’t fly.
• They don’t burrow under your skin.
• They keep their bags packed because they like to travel. I’m not sure about the bags but these little critters have been known to move into the bags of unsuspecting travelers and return home with them. Not something you want to bring home to your family.

Now it really gets disgusting. It is dust mite feces which emits enzymes that causes the development and aggravation of allergies. Symptoms include sneezing, wheezing, coughing, and watery eyes. A dust mite can produce up 200 times its own body during its short lifespan, about 1 year. And guess what holds up to 60% of the dust mites found in your home – “YOUR MATTRESS”. Now again let’s consider the time we spend on that mattress, 8 hours a day or one-thirds of our lives exposed to this highly potential allergen.

6. Odors – Again, lets accept the fact that your mattress has an odor. Mattresses are like oversize sponges that absorb sweat, oils, and dead skin cells. And remember those accidents that we had previously discussed (body fluids). And do your sleep with your pets? Think where they have been walking, dander, and all that loose hair. You may not notice an odor because you clean the coverings on your bed regularly, so they smell fresh and clean. But remember, those fabrics are porous and all those microscopic particles seep thru to the mattress.

7. Dust – Again, another thing we can agree on – dust is everywhere in your home. On all surfaces, whether horizontal or vertical, dust will accumulate. The key to relieving allergy symptoms is to reduce the amount of dust in your home. Cleaning your mattress on a regular basis, every 6 months will help improve the overall cleanliness of your home.

8. Allergies – Are you waking up with allergy symptoms? Are you sneezing, wheezing, coughing, or have watery eyes? If so, then it might be time to have your mattress professionally cleaned and treated to help relieve those allergy symptoms.

What are the steps that a professional Cleaner follows to effectively clean your mattress?

1. Pre-Inspection – This is one of the most important steps in the cleaning process. What are they looking for? Spots, stains, excessive worn areas, tears or rips in the fabric, heavily stained or soiled areas, evidence of bodily fluids, heavy dust build-up, evidence of insect infestation, and any noticeable odor or smell. The results of this inspection will be discussed with the homeowners especially if there is a particularly excessive of difficult problem. (Rips or tears, stains, heavy odors, or bug infestation)
2. Vacuum – Dry vacuuming is the next step and probably one of the most important. The technician will use a HEPA type vacuum to maximize the removal of the excess dust, dry skin cells, and dust mites from the surface of the mattress. A HEPA vacuum is designed to remove these particles and not allow these particles to be recirculated back into the air by using a
   regular household vacuum.
3. Deodorization – An anti-allergen oxidizing deodorant will be applied to the mattress prior to cleaning. You must allow dwell time to the deodorizing process, so it has time to achieve the desired results – complete odor removal. The deodorizer must also be completely rinsed out during the cleaning of the mattress.

There are other methods of deodorization that includes the use of a plastic mattress bag. The mattress is sprayed with an anti-allergen deodorizer or stabilized chlorine dioxide and placed in the mattress bag. The air is removed from the bag and when the air is reintroduced into the mattress bag the deodorizer will be drawn deeper into the mattresses fabric cover. Using this method, you do not have to over saturate the as you may do if you just spray on the deodorizer solution.

4. Pre-treatment – The use of a quality anti-allergen pre-spray solution is important in the cleaning process of your mattress. It helps loosen and break down the embedded soils from the surface of the mattress. These pre-spray solutions are in most cases enzyme solutions that are designed
o safely attack the stains, oils, sweat and odors that may be affecting your mattress.
5. Dwell Time – After the pre-sprays are applied to the fabric it will be allowed to dwell on the fabric in the affected areas. This may be for between 10 to 15 minutes so that the solutions have sufficient time to penetrate the fabric and break down and suspend the soils which allows for easier removal when the fabric is rinsed.
6. Agitation. – After the pre-spray solution is applied to the problem areas the technician will gently brush the affected areas to help suspend the soils for easier rinse.
7. Extraction Cleaning – The entire mattress must now be rinsed using an anti-allergen fabric rinse using the hot water extraction method.
8. Application of Fabric Protectors – To protect mattress from future spots and stains.
9.  Application of Allergy Relief Treatment – An allergy relief treatment will effectively denature the protein allergens from dust mite droppings, cockroach droppings, dog dander, and cat saliva. By denaturing the structure of the allergen, it substantially reduces the Ige antibody-binding capacity of the allergen. Most anti-allergen treatment provides a residual effect that lasts for up to 6 months.
10. Enhanced Drying – Humidity is often an asthma trigger, so the newly cleaned and treated mattress must be dried as quickly as possible. Speed drying is accomplished by blowing air across the fabric using high speed axial speed air movers.

A clean, healthy mattress promotes a more pleasant and productive night’s sleep. There are many reasons to clean your mattress, but the primary reason is to give you the peace of mind that you and your family members are sleeping on a clean, healthy, safe mattress.