How to Clean a Memory Foam Mattress
Memory foam is a common mattress type due to its exceptional contouring and motion isolation abilities. In addition, it also ensures proper spinal alignment and controls your body to relieve pressure and ensure zero back pain.
We spend almost 1/3rd of our lives on top of our mattress; you must select the perfect bed to ensure a good night’s sleep. Unfortunately, over time, your mattress’s surface starts accumulating dead skill cells, hair, sweat, body odor, and pet dander through the sheets.

While most of us pull your bed sheets and throw them in the washing machine every Sunday, most homeowners forget to clean their mattress. It’s recommended that you clean your memory foam mattress at least twice a year.
Keep in mind that memory foam boasts petroleum-based material; thus, cleaning it requires specific materials. Conducting proper care is essential to ensure your memory foam mattress retains its plush, look, and responsiveness. By keeping your bed clean and tidy, you can ensure longevity, protect your investment, and enjoy a restful night’s sleep. Here we discuss the top must-follow tips to keeping your mattress in mint condition.
Vacuum the Entire Mattress
The first step to cleaning memory foam mattresses is to remove all bed sheets and mattress covers. Next, grab a vacuum cleaner and thoroughly clean the entire surface of your bed.
A handheld vacuum cleaner is ideal for removing dirt, dust, and microorganisms from your mattress; however, a standard vacuum works well.
Typically, memory foam mattresses come with elaborately stitched covers that accumulate debris, dirt, and lint. Thus, make sure you vacuum all the corners of your bed. A small brush is attached to your vacuum, a crevice tool, or an upholstery attachment to ensure you get into those hard-to-reach areas.
Make a Mattress Cleaning Solution
Once your bed is free of dirt, hair, and debris, it’s time to make a cleaning solution. A diluted fabric cleaner, dishwashing liquid, or a mild detergent to remove stains. Pick a cleanser according to your needs, dilute it in a 2:1 ratio with warm water, and add it inside a spray bottle.
To clean stains, consider making a solution alongside ¾ cups of water and ¼ cup of white vinegar. Simultaneously, if you want to clean discoloration and urine stains, consider adding baking soda.
While hydrogen peroxide works well on most mattresses, you should avoid using them on memory foam. It is because hydrogen peroxide can discolor or affect the quality of the foam and cover of your bed.
Remove Dried Stains
Once you discover a stain on your mattress, it’s always a good idea to remove it instantly. It’s best to clean fresh stains since these lift easily. If you miss a spot at the right time, you can remove the stain with a little hard work.
If possible, unzip the mattress cover to spot clean the mattress from inside. However, you should always check the label before unzipping the mattress cover.
Avoid using any harsh chemicals like bleach since these will harm the foam inside your mattress. Instead, make your own solution, shake the bottle, and start spraying it lightly on the surface. You’ll only require enough solution to make small amounts of later.
Using copious amounts of solution can harm the materials of your mattress. It is because memory foam mattresses are like sponges; they’ll absorb moisture and start drying gradually. If your bed fails to dry within 24 hours, mildew or mold may begin accumulating atop it. Here’s how you should remove a dry stain from your mattress:
- Spray lightly on top of the area that’s stained
- After spraying on the stain, use a rag to scrub the stain in circular motions. If your rub too hard, you might end up driving the solution into the mattress and damage its foam
- Once you successfully remove the stain, use a clean, damp rag and repeat the same circular pattern. If you’re cleaning a mattress with removable covers, throw the cover into a washing machine and set the option to a gentle cycle
- To help dry the mattress faster, consider pressing a dry rag to the wet spot to help absorb excess water. Next, allow your mattress to dry under sunlight or a fan
Sprinkle Baking Soda to Keep it Fresh
For a smelling fresh mattress, clean it with baking soda. Simply sprinkle the whole bed with baking soda and leave it be for a couple of hours. Next, vacuum-clean the mattress surface to remove the remaining baking soda from your mattress.
What are the Benefits of Cleaning Your Memory Foam Mattress?
Regularly cleaning your mattress ensures a clean and stylish look and offers a plethora of benefits. Let’s find out some of the pros of keeping your bed clean and stain-free:
- Improve the indoor air quality in your room
- Ensure longevity and useful life of your memory foam mattress
- Eradiate dust mites, bacteria, and other allergens, reducing the quality of your sleep
- Exterminate mold or mildew that may start accumulating on or inside your mattress
- Offer you a cleaner, more hygienic sleeping surface free of dead skill cells and hair cells
To Sum it Up
Cleaning your mattress and upkeeping its look is the best way to enhance its lifespan. Therefore, you must take care of your mattress. To do this, you should consider offering your memory foam mattress with a robust and solid foundation.
In addition, make sure you rotate your mattress every six months, as well as keep it in sunlight. Plus, it’s always a good idea to wash the bedding alongside the mattress cover per week.
Every night your mattress collates thousands of dead skin cells, suffers hair loss and other tiny particles. In addition, there are various organisms like bacteria and dust mites that love feasting on your dead skin and hair cells.
Ensure a hygienic and clean sleeping surface by regularly washing your sheets and bedding on high heat to kill these microorganisms. It will increase the lifespan of your mattress and help you sleep safer.
Sources
https://www.columbiatribune.com/news/20190521/every-night-is-microscopic-sleepover
https://www.mattressonline.co.uk/advice/how-to-clean-memory-foam-mattress
https://eachnight.com/mattress-resources/how-to-clean-a-memory-foam-mattress/

He is an Engineer, designer and jogging enthusiast. His team of product testers and reviewers are as passionate as he is about sleep improvement and are on a collective mission to reveal to you only the best sleep solutions and products.