How to Clean Your Bedding

hands arrange bed sheets on a bed

Everyone wants a clean bed, but that’s easier said than done. It’s a lot more than just throwing your sheets in the washer, but it’s important to clean it regularly to avoid allergens. It’s difficult to decide where to start when cleaning your entire bed, so here are tips on how to do it.

Mattress

Strip your bed of all bedding and mattress covers so you can clean your mattress. The first thing you want to do is vacuum your mattress so that you remove any dirt or debris. Then you want to use an upholstery safe cleaner on any spots or discolorations on the mattress. Make sure you let the bed dry thoroughly before putting anything on it. You then want to make sure your mattress pad or topper has been washed and dried and put back on the bed. If you don’t have a mattress cover then go purchase one because it will really help your mattress stay clean in the future.

Some mattresses should also be flipped when the seasons change. While pillow-top mattresses should not be flipped, other mattresses wear more evenly when the bottom surface nearest the box spring is flipped over to the top of the bed on a seasonal rotation. Check with your manufacturer for specific recommendations for your model. If you have an adjustable bed, make sure to clean it exactly as the manufacturer recommends.

Bedding

How you clean your bedding should be based on the manufacturer’s instructions. Most bedding can be washed safely in a regular washer, but some comforters have dry clean only instructions. Most regular pillows can be washed regularly and the pillow case should be washed frequently. Decorative pillows should be spot cleaned as needed. Although blankets are made of many different fibers and blends, most of them are washable by hand or machine. Even some wool blankets can be machine-washed. Clean patchwork quilts with the method that is appropriate for the most delicate fabric in the quilt. Never attempt to wash silk- or velvet-covered quilts and comforters. Unless a wool batting or covering is marked washable, do not wash it.

Bed Bugs

If you are cleaning your bedding because you have an infestation of bed bugs it’s incredibly important to be thorough. Declutter the area as you prepare to clean. This will give the bed bugs fewer places to hide. Vacuum areas of bed bug infestation with a vacuum attachment. Vacuum along baseboards, furniture, bed stands, rails, headboards, foot boards, bed seams, tufts, buttons, edges of the bedding, as well as the edges of the carpets. Wash all linens on hot, and if they are not able to be laundered then it’s best to just trash it and start over.

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