How to Clean a Mattress: Stains, Smells and Dust Mites

How to clean a mattress comes down to one rule: as little liquid as you can get away with. Most cleaning jobs need a vacuum, a damp cloth, a towel and a box of bicarbonate of soda, plus a dry, airy room for the rest of the day. Start in the morning, so that the mattress has time to dry before anyone needs to sleep on it.

Here is the full routine for a mattress that needs freshening, or that has a mark or two. The rest of this guide takes each step in turn, with the method for each stain and the cases where you should stop.

A mattress is not a sofa cushion with a zip. Most have a fixed cover over thick layers that liquid can enter easily and leave very slowly. Which? points out that mattresses are not waterproof, and Dreams warns that saturating memory foam can ruin it. CHOICE, the Australian consumer group, explains why: foam has poor airflow, so cleaning fluid can take a very long time to dry, and some of it may not dry at all. Emma adds the other risk, which is that excess moisture raises the chance of mould.

The risks differ by type, so identify yours before you pick up a cloth. Check the label, the receipt or the maker's website. If you still do not know, treat the mattress as memory foam, which is the least forgiving type. Pocket sprung mattresses are a little more tolerant, although the padding above the springs still holds water, and Silentnight singles out pillow tops as a part to keep from getting soaked. Many mattresses are hybrids, with a foam or latex layer over springs. Treat those by the layer on top.

Our recommendation for every type is the same: use a damp cloth, never a wet one. Leave out carpet cleaners too. Which? and Dreams both say to avoid them, because they push too much water in. Silentnight is a little softer, allowing a low-moisture upholstery tool on spring mattresses only, but it rules them out for foam and latex.

Two minutes with the label can save you from an expensive mistake. The label usually tells you whether the mattress is single sided or double sided, and whether the cover can come off. Silentnight's guarantee booklet says its covers are not removable or washable unless stated otherwise. Do not assume that a zip means a washable cover. Which? warns that washing a memory foam cover can shrink it or affect the warranty.

Where a cover is washable, follow the maker's figure exactly. Emma's cleaning guide says its cover can go in at 40°C. Its unpacking guide gives up to 60°C for the upper section and 40°C for the lower. If the label and the website differ, the label on your mattress wins, and 40°C is the safer choice.

The makers do not fully agree on cleaning products either. Silentnight's guarantee booklet says not to use detergents or chemical cleaners, because they may damage the fabric and stitching, yet its online guide suggests a mild detergent, used sparingly, for stains. We read that as a warning against strong products and heavy use. Use a small amount of a mild product, test it first on a hidden patch, and avoid anything stronger unless your maker approves it.

Guarantees are worth a look before you make any big decisions. Silentnight's lifetime guarantee covers mattresses for a defined 15 years if you register within 3 months of purchase, and otherwise 5 years applies to its branded products. Its booklet makes cover conditional on following the care instructions, and rotating or turning the mattress as directed. It also says it cannot accept soiled or unhygienic items. So a mattress with a large stain may be refused even when the fault is real. Keep your proof of purchase, photograph any fault, and clean up a stain before anyone inspects it.

Vacuuming is the most useful regular job, and it is the one that most people skip. A Dreams survey found that one in four UK adults have never cleaned their mattress. It takes a few minutes, and it clears the dust, hair and skin flakes that build up around the seams.

Sources differ on how often. Bed Advice UK, the National Bed Federation's consumer site, says monthly. Silentnight says every 3 to 6 months, and Which? says every six months. We suggest monthly, or at least when you rotate the mattress, because it costs nothing and keeps the surface clear. If you have a diagnosed dust mite allergy and an uncovered mattress, a Cambridge University Hospitals leaflet goes further and says weekly.

Knowing how to clean a mattress stain is mostly about stopping yourself from doing too much. Which? gives three rules that cover almost everything: treat the stain as soon as you can, check the label before you use a product, and test any solution on a small hidden area first. Add a fourth rule from Silentnight: blot, because rubbing spreads the mark and works it in.

Bed Advice UK has a useful first step for a fresh spill: strip the bed, and stand the mattress on its side so that the liquid soaks in less. That works if two people can lift it safely. Silentnight warns that letting a sprung mattress fall can damage the spring system, and Dreams says not to store a mattress on its side, so treat this as a brief position while you clean.

Make your cleaning mix before you begin: a mug of cool water with a few drops of washing-up liquid. Dip a white cloth, wring it until it no longer drips, then work from the outside of the mark towards the middle so that it does not spread. Change to a clean part of the cloth often. Rinse with a second cloth dampened with clean water, then press a dry towel on the spot to pull up what is left.

Know when to stop. Silentnight notes that no mattress is completely colourfast, so scrubbing can leave a pale patch or a tide mark that looks worse than the stain. We suggest two gentle rounds, drying between them, and then accepting a faint mark. A clean, dry mark under a protector is not a problem for sleep.

One safety rule matters more than any other here. Never mix bleach with any other product, including vinegar and ammonia-based cleaners, because the fumes are dangerous, and keep it off the mattress altogether. Silentnight says never to use bleach on latex, and Dreams says to avoid bleach, ammonia and strong solvents on memory foam. Open a window whatever you use, and wear gloves for any body fluid.

If you want to know how to clean a mattress from urine, speed is what matters most. The longer it sits, the further it travels and the stronger the smell becomes. The sources all start the same way, by blotting up as much as possible, but they then divide. Which? and Dreams use mild detergent on a fresh patch. Silentnight goes straight to equal parts white vinegar and water. Bed Advice UK uses warm mild detergent or upholstery shampoo, then cold water with a few drops of an antiseptic such as Milton.

Our recommendation is detergent first and vinegar only if a smell remains, because that follows Dreams and uses the mildest product that works. We leave Milton out. It is a chlorine-based sterilising product, so it must not meet vinegar on the same patch. If you do choose it, do not use it alongside any other cleaner.

Blood needs cold water. Heat can set it. Which?, Dreams and Bed Advice UK all use cold water, although Silentnight's general stain method starts with warm water and says it covers blood too. We go with the majority: cold every time. Dab a fresh mark with a cold, damp cloth and a tiny amount of washing-up liquid, then blot.

For a dried mark, mix bicarbonate of soda with a little cold water to make a paste. Spread it thinly on the stain and leave it for 30 minutes, then lift it off and dab with a clean, damp cloth. Which? and Dreams both give this method. If a mark still shows, Bed Advice UK suggests a proprietary stain remover or an upholstery cleaner, followed by cold water. Emma mentions a biological stain remover for tough marks, which is reasonable on its covers, but check your label before you try it elsewhere.

You will see hydrogen peroxide recommended for blood. CHOICE does suggest a 3% solution for heavy stains, while warning that it can damage a mattress if misapplied. We would not use it on a coloured cover or a mattress under guarantee. For a heavy old stain, it is safer to accept the mark or ask a professional.

Sweat is different, because it builds up slowly and tends to cover a wider area, leaving a yellowish shape where people sleep. Which? keeps it simple with diluted washing-up liquid and suggests contacting the maker if you are unsure. Dreams goes further with a paste of one part washing-up liquid, one part white vinegar and two parts bicarbonate of soda, left for 30 minutes, dabbed off, and followed by bicarbonate for another hour.

Try the simple method first, and only on the worst area. Do not try to wash a full sleeping shape in one go, because that puts too much water into the mattress. Silentnight also says that foam itself yellows over time and that this is normal, so a yellow tint on exposed foam is not always dirt and will not clean off. The lasting fix for sweat is a washable protector.

Vomit is the one job where you should think about hygiene before the stain. Open a window, put on disposable gloves and keep children and pets away. Bed Advice UK says to scrape up as much solid matter as you can without spreading it, then treat the area as you would urine. CHOICE adds a useful detail: blot the liquid with a towel, without pressing hard, because pressure pushes it deeper.

Use a plastic scraper or stiff card, and work inwards from the edges. Put the waste in a bag, or flush it. Then follow the fresh urine method, using diluted washing-up liquid and then clean water. Allow plenty of time for the mattress to dry, then treat any smell with bicarbonate of soda overnight.

Deal with the bedding separately. If the sickness could be norovirus, the NHS says to wash clothes and bedding soiled with vomit or poo separately from other laundry on a 60°C wash, and to wash your hands with soap and water, because alcohol hand gels do not kill norovirus. Check the care labels first, and clean the bathroom surfaces that the person has touched.

Be realistic about what a home clean can do. You can clean the surface of a mattress, but you cannot disinfect what has soaked deep inside it. Silentnight suggests a 50/50 vinegar and water mix, or an upholstery-safe disinfectant, for disinfecting. Do not use bleach. If a large amount went through the cover, especially during an illness, a replacement is usually the better answer. For a child's mattress, the NHS advises waterproof covers for bedwetting, and it stresses that wetting the bed is not the child's fault.

Baking soda and bicarbonate of soda are the same product, and how to clean a mattress with baking soda is simple. Make sure the surface is dry, shake a generous layer through a sieve, leave it, then vacuum it all off with a clean tool. Silentnight says it neutralises odours and absorbs moisture. It is a deodoriser, so do not expect it to remove a set stain, kill mites or disinfect anything. None of the sources we read claims that it does.

The right time depends on the job, and the sources give different answers, as the table shows. For a smell, leave it overnight. Choose a day when you can sleep elsewhere, or start early and leave it for as many hours as you can. Check your label first, and go lightly on latex. Remove every trace, because a heavy residue can get into your vacuum filter as well as the mattress.

Now work out what the smell is. A sour, sweaty smell usually means the bed needs airing and a protector. Sharp urine smells need the urine method, not more bicarbonate. A new mattress smell is normal: Dreams says it should fade within 14 days with regular airing, and Silentnight agrees that airing clears it. If a smell remains after treatment on an older mattress, Which? suggests that it may be time to replace it.

A musty smell needs a closer look. Check the underside and the base for black or grey speckles. Mould on a mattress usually points to trapped moisture: a damp room, condensation, or a mattress placed straight on the floor, which Bed Advice UK warns against. UK government guidance on damp and mould says soft furnishings may need to be thrown away if mould cannot be fully removed. Emma says a professional dry cleaner can remove mould, but we would replace the mattress, particularly where someone has asthma, allergies or a weakened immune system. If you rent, report damp to your landlord early, in writing, and keep a gap between the bed and any cold outside wall.

Dust mites live in every home. Allergy UK describes them as about a quarter of a millimetre long, living near people and feeding on shed skin cells. A mattress is a natural place for them, along with bedding, carpets and upholstery. A Cambridge University Hospitals leaflet explains that the allergy is to their droppings, which can remain after the mites have died. So having mites does not mean your home is dirty, and killing them does not remove the allergen.

The NHS lists house dust mites as a common cause of allergic rhinitis, and suggests that people who are affected dust with a damp cloth, use a vacuum with a HEPA filter, keep the home dry and well ventilated, and "use synthetic bedding and covers, and wash bedding regularly at 60C and above". Allergy UK lists sneezing and a runny, stuffy or itchy nose among the symptoms, and says mites can also worsen asthma and eczema. If you think mites are affecting you or your child, speak to a GP or pharmacist before you spend money on covers. We cannot diagnose an allergy, and nor can a cleaner.

Now the honest part. Allergy UK says it is not possible to remove house dust mites from your home completely, and that doing only one or two things may make no difference. The Cambridge leaflet calls covers the most effective single measure but says they are not enough alone. The research is less encouraging. A Cochrane review on allergic rhinitis says that using mite-proof bedding on its own is unlikely to work, and it found the trials too small and weak for firm recommendations. A Cochrane review on asthma, covering 55 trials, found no benefit from chemical or physical control methods. An older British Lung Foundation leaflet says health professionals generally do not recommend these methods, and that regular preventer medicine and an asthma plan do most to limit the effect on asthma.

So the sources disagree on how far to go. Our view: if you have a diagnosed allergy and want to try, do several things properly together for a few months and see whether it helps, as Allergy UK suggests. Do not stop any medicine or replace medical advice with cleaning.

Silentnight gives 4 to 8 hours for light spot cleaning and 12 to 24 hours for a deep clean. Dreams says a spill on memory foam may take at least 8 to 12 hours. Treat those as minimums. A London bedroom in January with the heating off can take much longer than the same room in June. Plan to sleep elsewhere if you have used much water, and start early in the day.

Dreams is clear that sheets should never go back on a damp mattress. Trapped damp is how a small stain turns into a musty smell, and this matters most in flats with condensation. Press a dry paper towel into the patch before you remake the bed. If it comes up damp, or the patch feels cool, leave it longer.

A protector prevents most of the problems in this guide, for very little money. Dreams says to use one from day one, and Silentnight recommends a breathable one from new. A washable protector takes the sweat and spills, and you can put it in the machine instead of working on the mattress itself.

Pick the type for the job. A standard washable protector suits most adults. A waterproof one suits children, pets, or anyone with a health reason to expect leaks, and the NHS advises waterproof covers for bedwetting. Look for one described as breathable, and follow its label: Emma says its waterproof protector can go in at up to 40°C, about once a month unless it is dirty, and that hotter water can damage it. For a diagnosed dust mite allergy, Allergy UK advises a tested barrier cover that fully encloses the mattress. For bed bugs, you need a zipped encasement fitted as part of treatment, which is a different product. See our bed bug mattress protection page.

Daily airing helps as well. Dreams suggests pulling the bedding back for 20 to 30 minutes each morning, Silentnight about 20 minutes, and Which? about the same. Body moisture leaves the mattress before you trap it in again. Sheets and pillowcases should be washed every one to two weeks by Dreams' count, and weekly according to Bed Advice UK. We suggest weekly.

Turning means flipping the mattress over; rotating means swinging it around, so that the head end moves to the foot. Both spread the wear. Silentnight's booklet makes rotating or turning a condition of its guarantee, so this is more than good housekeeping. Look at the label before you do either, because many modern mattresses must not be flipped. Dreams says that turning a memory foam mattress over puts the firm base layer on top, which gives poor comfort and support.

Get help to do this. Silentnight warns against letting a mattress fall on its side, and Dreams says not to bend or fold one, including when moving it. Check the base while you have the mattress up. Silentnight says slats on a slatted frame should be about 10cm wide with gaps of no more than 7.5cm, and Bed Advice UK warns that an old or incompatible base can shorten a mattress's life and may void warranties.

No cleaning method can restore support. There is no single answer on age, and the figures depend on who is speaking. Bed Advice UK, run by the National Bed Federation, says every seven years. Dreams and Silentnight say about every eight, and Which? says 8 to 10. Silentnight's estimates by type are 8 to 12 years for pocket sprung, 8 to 10 for memory foam, and 3 to 5 for open coil. Bear in mind that makers, retailers and the trade body all benefit from selling mattresses. Dreams' own survey puts the average UK mattress at 6.4 years old.

We would go by condition, with eight years as the point to start checking properly. A good mattress that was protected from new can last longer, and a cheap one in heavy use can be finished sooner. The clear signs are sagging, lumps, tears or holes, waking with aches, and sleeping better away from home. If you have back pain that does not improve, speak to a GP or pharmacist and do not assume a new mattress will fix it.

If it has to go, do not leave it in the street. Which? says many retailers will collect an old mattress at delivery for roughly £20 to £55, and warns that fly-tipping can bring a large fine. Councils differ. Redbridge Council gives residents one free bulky collection of up to three items in a rolling 12 months, charges £15.20 for each extra item, and requires a mattress to be dry, so cover it if rain is forecast. Charities may accept a clean mattress with its fire label attached, but check first. Our removals team can help if you are moving a mattress as part of a house move. Never fold one to get it around the stairs.

Renting is a separate question. Shelter says you should return a property in a similar state to how you found it, and that fair wear and tear cannot be deducted. Mydeposits treats stains as damage, but says any charge must consider the item's age, quality and condition, and must not leave the landlord better off. So photograph a landlord's mattress on the day you move in, note any marks on the inventory, and report them quickly. A Tenancy Deposit Scheme article suggests raising cleaning issues within 48 hours of check-in. Our guide to deposit cleaning deductions explains how those claims work.

Look at the seams before you treat any stain. The NHS lists spots of blood on bedding and small brown spots on bedding or furniture as signs of bed bugs, along with itchy bites, often on skin left out of the covers. Adults are about 5mm long. Small dark spots in a mattress seam are not a stain to scrub away, so do not start cleaning until you know what they are. If you are not sure what is biting you, our guide to bed bugs vs fleas will help you check.

The biggest mistake is moving the mattress. Carrying it through the home, down a shared staircase or out to the pavement can spread bed bugs to other rooms and other flats. So leave it where it is. Do not take it to another room to clean it, do not put it outside, and do not book a collection yet. Take photos, with a ruler in shot if you can, and contact your council or a pest control service. The NHS says that DIY methods are unlikely to remove bed bugs completely.

While you wait, the NHS advice is to wash affected bedding and clothing at 60°C, then tumble dry on hot for at least 30 minutes. Bag items before you carry them to the machine. Do not spray shop-bought products on the mattress, and do not steam it yourself. Mattress cleaning is not bed bug treatment, and we will not book it as a substitute. Our guide on how to get rid of bed bugs covers what happens next, including whether the mattress can be kept. Bed bug treatment starts from £149 for one room, and a pest inspection is the place to start if you are unsure.

For routine freshening, you do not need anyone. A vacuum, bicarbonate of soda and an open window will do most of the job. Mattress cleaning is worth paying for when the mattress is sound, the job is bigger than a spot clean, and a new mattress would cost a good deal more. Which? advises against soaking and against carpet cleaners, so be wary of hiring a machine for this.

A paid clean makes most sense for a good mattress with a few years left, an old stain you have already tried to shift, or a mattress that has picked up a smell. It also suits landlords between tenants, and anyone moving into a furnished home. It is usually not worth paying for a mattress that sags, has mould, has had a heavy soak, or is near the end of its life, because the money is better put towards a replacement.

Ask any cleaner the same questions before you book, including us.

Our mattress cleaning service is listed as Mattress Steam Sanitising, and it starts from £45 per visit. The listing covers a steam sanitising treatment, stain and odour removal, and allergen reduction. It will not remove all allergens or dust mites, and we cannot promise that every mark will lift. Mattress size, material, condition and access to the room all affect the quote. We confirm the price, method and inclusions in writing before anything is booked.

Because the service is steam based, tell us the material before you book, and send a photo of the care label if you can. This matters for memory foam, latex and any mattress under guarantee, given what the makers say about steam. If your mattress is not suitable for the method, we will tell you so before you pay, even if that means you do not book.

Our prices page also lists a mattress clean as an add-on, at £35 for a single and £50 for a double or king. If you are moving out, the mattress can be discussed along with an end of tenancy clean. Those are flat-rate cleans by property size: standard prices start from £130 for a studio, £200 for one bedroom and £230 for two. End of tenancy cleans carry a 48-hour re-clean guarantee, which means we return to re-clean if your agent raises an issue within that time. It applies to end of tenancy work only, and it does not secure a deposit. Our end of tenancy cleaning checklist shows what else to plan for.

We are based on Clements Road in Ilford, cover London and carry public liability insurance. Our phone lines are open Monday to Saturday, 8am to 8pm. Browse all our cleaning services, or contact us with the mattress size, the material and a photo of the mark.