How To Disinfect Your Mattress: Protect Your Health!
To disinfect your mattress, you need all the help you can get. Did you know how many dust mites might be living in your mattress right now? Between 100,000 and 10,000,000, depending on how old your mattress is.
So, this is a direct risk to your health. In fact, if you are suffering from allergies right now, or even from sleeping problems such as insomnia, the true root of your problem might be “sleeping” in your mattress, day in and day out.
What can you do about this problem? Experts recommend changing your mattress every 10 years, but that all depends on the quality of the product and what kind of use you give it.
One thing is for sure: during the entire lifespan of your mattress, it is crucial that you periodically clean it in order to get rid of those nasty dust mites.
Today, we’ll show you how you can disinfect your mattress. It’s really easy!
Read also: 9 Things You Shouldn’t Have in Your Bedroom
Why you should clean and disinfect your mattress
You may have heard, at some point or another, about a study that says you “shouldn’t make your bed,” or that you should at least let a few hours go by before making it. Well, that theory is only partially true.
You definitely need to make sure to open your windows so that the air from outside can ventilate your bed.
According to immunologists, two things occur when you follow this plan of action:
- The dust mites die.
- You should know that dust mites are arthropods, meaning that they have an exoskeleton. Therefore, when they die, their skin and that external skeleton stick to your sheets, pillows, and mattress, which poses a huge risk for anyone who happens to be allergic.
Normally, when you change your sheets each week, you renew your sheets and get rid of the dust mite risk, but what happens with your mattress?
This is the part of your bed where dust mites are most likely to be, both live ones and dead ones, with their exoskeletons and all. So, it is crucial that you disinfect your mattress at least once a month.
Health effects of dust mites
Dust mites aremicroscopic arachnids that can quite easily move through your sheets down into your mattress. In other words, even if you change your sheets on a regular basis, you are still most likely at risk of having dust mites in your mattress.
You should know that there are two root causes of the allergic reactions provoked by dust mites:
- Dust mite feces
- Dead dust mites
That’s why, even if you air out your bed and decide not to make it, those dead skeletons will stay stuck to your mattress, which could cause health problems.
One of the most common health effects of dust mites is allergies, which includes symptoms such as watery eyes, red eyes, sneezing, asthma, coughing, congestion, sore throat…
Another possible effect of dust mites is that you wake up in the morning with lots of eye boogers. Other symptoms also are:
- Skin problems
- Insomnia
- Headaches
How to clean and disinfect your mattress
What do I need to clean and disinfect my mattress?
- One cup of baking soda (25 grams)
- 5 drops of essential tea tree oil
- One plastic container with a lid
- One strainer or sieve
How do I do it?
First, you should take the sheets off of your bed and drag your mattress to a place with plenty of sunlight and where you’ll have enough space to move around and clean it. Ideally, you should take it to a balcony or rooftop.
Why should I use baking soda? This element is a crucial cleaning product that is both economical and efficient. It gets rid of mold, dirt and other types of bacteria, including dust mites.
In terms of essential tea tree oil, as you know, this is one of the best natural disinfectants in the world. It’s very easy to find in natural product stores.
It’s not expensive at all and is great for lots of things: you can make your own hand sanitizer, use it to clean your bathroom, or use them in the kitchen. It smells great, and will have your mattress smelling “as good as new.”
Next…
- Just grab your plastic container and fill it with 250 grams of baking soda.
- Then, add 5 drops of essential tea tree oil and mix it well. Okay, you’re all set!
- Now, use your strainer or sieve to spread the baking soda and essential oil mixture on your mattress.
- First spread it on one side of the mattress and let it sit for an hour. Then, spread it on the other side and let it sit for another hour. This way, you will be able to disinfect your entire mattress.
- Lastly, you just have to vacuum your mattress to get rid of any filth that has stuck to the baking soda.
As you can see, this is a really simple trick, and it will be a great addition to your monthly cleaning routine. That way, you’ll be able to sleep better and lead a healthier lifestyle, which will definitely have a great impact on your morning. Are you ready to put this plan into practice?
All cited sources were thoroughly reviewed by our team to ensure their quality, reliability, currency, and validity. The bibliography of this article was considered reliable and of academic or scientific accuracy.
Colloff, M. J. (2009). Dust mites. Dust Mites. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-2224-0