Why You Should Think Twice Before Cleaning Your Mattress With Baking Soda

If you search how to clean your mattress, you've probably seen baking soda pop up once or twice as something to use. Nevertheless, you should think twice before sprinkling where you sleep, and that's because it may not be necessary at all. Speaking to The Spruce, mattress expert Gabriel Dungan stated, "Although this [hack] can work for some mattresses, you need to make sure you read the label, as many mattresses are already equipped with something called Purotex." 

Dungan went on to add, "Purotex is a textile treatment that naturally eliminates allergens and freshens your mattress. If this is the case for your mattress, keep the baking soda away." Basically, your mattress could already have a built-in protectant that will stop you from needing to try out any cleaning hacks. Moreover, as Dungan pointed out, trying out a hack is essentially useless if you don't need to do it in the first place and could actually cause you to need to clean up more mess.

One of the main reasons to avoid using baking soda on your mattress is that the fine particles could damage your vacuum by clogging the bag and the filter, not to mention that it's pretty difficult to know you've successfully hoovered up all of the tiny grains. As mentioned, if you have a modern mattress, it's unlikely you need to start sprinkling baking soda. However, cleaning it is still important, and you should be aiming to carry out this task every six months. 

Remember, if your mattress has a self-cleaning feature like Purotex, you only need to do an occasional vacuum to get rid of dust unless there's an obvious mark. Simply use the suction function of your vacuum to get into the creases, making sure you don't apply too much pressure. If you have an older mattress, it's more likely to not contain a cleaning agent and therefore could benefit from the baking soda hack (though the above issues still apply). The best thing to do is to always check the mattress label to save yourself any unnecessary hassle and extra cleaning time.