How To Properly Take Care of Your Mattress
Buying furniture can get expensive, especially when you want good quality furniture. A quality mattress is one of the most important pieces of furniture in your home. Once you buy it, you want it to last as long as possible, so the expense is worth it. There are many ways to properly take care of your mattress so it lasts a long time. Keep reading to learn how to care for it as soon as you bring it home and in the following weeks and seasons.
Post-Purchase Care
You might think that mattress care and maintenance don’t start until you start using your mattress. However, you need to properly care for your new mattress from the beginning to keep it in the best shape.
Careful Transportation
If you’re bringing your mattress home yourself, then you need to transport it carefully. The seller or manufacturer should wrap the mattress in plastic or a similar protective covering. Do not fold or bend the mattress in transport. When you unload the mattress, carry it from the bottom. Some mattresses have handles on the sides for easy manipulation, but this is only for shifting a positioned mattress, not for carrying it. You could tear the sides if you try to lift the mattress with these handles.
Proper Bedframe
Once your new mattress is safe in your home, you need to position it on a proper bedframe. The bedframe should be the same size as the mattress and include the right support. For example, an innerspring mattress often requires a box spring to support all the springs. Other types of mattresses, such as foam, only require a slotted or solid bedframe. Large bedframes for large mattresses, such as king-sized ones, may have large legs or extra legs in the middle, so there’s enough support. If you notice the mattress sagging before you even use it, you may need to find a bed frame or box spring with better support.
Helpful Tag
Before you cover your new mattress, read the tag. The tag provides care instructions and additional information about your mattress that you may need. While it’s not illegal for you to remove this tag, it’s best to leave it on so you can always easily access this information.
Weekly Care
Now that you’re breaking your mattress in, you need to take care of it. There are several small things you can do each week to keep your mattress in good shape.
Mattress Protector
You should add a mattress protector if you haven’t put one on your mattress yet. Mattress protectors prevent dirt, sweat, pet hair, liquids, and other contaminants from getting onto your mattress. Check your mattress protector weekly to ensure it’s still secure and that nothing has leaked through.
Clean Bedding
When you take off your sheets and bedding to check your mattress protector, take the time to wash them. Washing your bedding each week is hygienic and can help protect your mattress from dust mites or seepage from body oils. If you suffer from allergies or your pets share your bed, you may want to wash your sheets more often to prevent allergens from building up.
Weekly Checks
After removing your bedding and mattress protector, inspect your mattress. Some bed bugs can get under mattress protectors and into your mattress, so you want to keep an eye out for them. If your mattress protector isn’t waterproof, you may also want to check that no stains have affected the mattress.
Occasional Air Out
After fully stripping your mattress, let it air out every month or so. When the weather is warm and dry, you can even open your window and leave your mattress in the sunlight. Airing it out like this can help eliminate odors and give it a nice fresh smell.
Seasonal Care
The weeks quickly add up; before you know it, you’re in a new season. While seasons can stretch or only stay for short periods in different parts of the country, we typically consider one season as three months. That means you should implement these seasonal care suggestions every three months to keep your mattress in good shape.
Vacuum Clean
First, you should vacuum your mattress. Even though you change your sheets regularly and occasionally air out your mattress, dust mites can still build up in your mattress. Vacuuming it every three months ensures all that dust is gone and you’re sleeping on a clean, fresh surface. Most vacuums have an upholstery attachment, so you can easily care for your mattress.
Rotating and Flipping
You should also rotate or flip and rotate your mattress every three months. Mattresses that have specific layers, such as an innerspring center and foam top, only benefit from rotation. Otherwise, you’ll end up sleeping on an uncomfortable mattress base! Rotate the mattress so your feet are now where your head was, and your head is now where your feet were.
Some mattresses have even layers on both sides, which means you can flip and rotate them. Flip your mattress, so the top is now the bottom, and the bottom is now the top. Then, turn the mattress, so the end that once cradled your feet now cradles your head and vice versa. Doing so allows for more even wear on your mattress and helps it last longer.
Properly taking care of your mattress starts as soon as you purchase it and requires consistent care when you bring it home. However, some forms of care don’t fit into the regular timeframes we give above. For example, if you spill a liquid on your mattress while drinking in bed, you should not wait until the end of the week to wash your sheets and check your mattress. You should immediately strip the bed, apply a mattress-safe stain remover if the stain gets into the mattress, and clean the stain up. Most of the time, a mild soap and water solution works best. Allow the mattress to fully air dry before re-making the bed.
Other than these immediate care requirements, you can build a schedule to keep your mattress in good shape. If you want to bring home a good mattress but worry about affording one, Grand Furniture can help. We offer mattress payment plans so you can bring home the furniture you want at a price you can afford.
