Saturday, February 18, 2017

Cleaning and Freshening Beds with Essential Oils

Today is a beautiful day - 53 degrees. I don't remember it ever being this warm during February.

With the warm temperature, light breeze, and sunshine, it seemed like a perfect day to get some spring cleaning done.

One of the things I've been wanting to do is clean and fresh the mattresses. In June, we got three new mattresses to replace ones that were old and ready to be upgraded.

Each of the mattresses has a mattress pad and protector. Not only does this help keep the mattresses stay in good condition, I'm hoping that it is a way to keep the dust mites at bay.

According to a pin that led to One Good Thing by Jillee, "An average mattress contains 10,000 to 10,000,000 dust mites...[so] cleaning your mattress regularly is a very good idea!"

She said, "Dust mites live in pillows, bed covers, mattresses, upholstered furniture, carpeting, [and] even clothing. One of their favorite places is a mattress. Vacuuming your mattresses every few weeks will help to control the dust mite population."

All that is needed to freshen one's mattress:
baking soda and essential oils.

There were instructions for making your own mattress-cleaning concoction. Basically, you want to put one cup of baking soda in a mason jar and add 4-5 drops of essential oil. Mix it - either by shaking or stirring it.

Each cup of baking soda had a different essential oil or blend.
For the twin beds, using one cup was sufficient. For the king bed, I used two cups of the mixture. The number of drops ranged between 5-8 depending on how quickly the essential oil came out of the container.

Lavender and Cedar Mint were used on mattresses.
I ended up using Panaway (a blend) on the family room carpet).

For the girls' beds, they wanted Cedar Mint - a blend that we purchased at the co-op that we all like.
One cup was needed per twin bed.

For my bed, I did a combination of Lavender (from the head to middle of the bed) and my own version of Young Living's Thieves blend (from the middle to foot of the bed).

Two cups were needed for a king bed.

While that was sitting on the mattress pad/mattress, all the bedding went into the washing machine. Well, actually, it was multiple loads of laundry since the colors go in different washes and the quantity was too large for one load of wash.

It's suggested that you leave the mixture on for an hour or more which will allow it time to draw out dirt, moisture, and odor. I think we left it on for about a half hour or so. With four dogs and three cats, having that much time that they aren't in the bedrooms or wanting to get in them, is a luxury. We were happy to have the mixture on as long as we did.

Hard to see, but the baking soda with essential oil is
sitting on the mattress cover.
The underside has a protective layer to prevent
any liquid from getting on the mattress.
So, I thought it would be most important to
clean the cover rather than the mattress itself.
However, next time I may do the mattress.

I used the upholstery attachment of the vacuum to thoroughly vacuum the mattresses. It takes a while because the baking soda is so fine. Also ended up vacuuming around the bed and on the built-in nightstand/headboard next to the king bed. The baking soda seemed to get all over the surfaces of these pieces.

What I liked about doing this is that the baking soda mixed with the essential oils not only draws out the dirt and moisture, but it also leaves the mattresses smelling so clean. It's uplifting and relaxing to have a favorite essential oil blend or scent permeate the bedroom and mattress.

I wish I would have done this sooner. Everything smells so nice. I'll have to mark my calendar to do this again in a few weeks.

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