Saving money is all about multipurpose gadgets. Everyone knows you need to work on your investments. The same goes for your carpet extractors. They make your carpets look brand spanking new, but can they do the same for your mattresses?
Let’s find out!
As it turns out, you can indeed use a carpet extractor to clean up your mattresses. What a bang for your buck! Nothing like a versatile little gizmo. This article will look into how exactly they can be used.
How dirty are mattresses?
If you knew how much-accumulated filth was lurking within your mattress, you probably would not get a good night’s sleep! When you sleep, your body sloughs off dead skin cells by the millions that end up on your mattress.
Add to this sweat and other bodily fluids, and you’ve got a hotbed of bacteria and fungus growing unseen right under your nose. If you share your bed with your pets then your mattress plays host to their ticks, hair, and parasites too.
If you have kids, they may have peed on the mattress, or stomped on it with unwashed feet. And if you’ve had breakfast in bed more than once, you’ve probably got some grape juice or waffle crumbs rotting in there as well.
Sufficiently disgusted? Then read on to see how you can clean up this mess and make it cozy again.
Can you clean a mattress with a carpet cleaner?
Carpet cleaners are quite a useful tool to clean mattresses. These can be used on spring mattresses but not on memory foam. Carpet cleaners do take time and manual effort. You need to strip your bedding and pillowcases first.
You can use the carpet cleaner for spot cleaning and for the entire mattress. You can run it along the mattress vertically. Make sure that you only use just enough liquid, because the mattress will take time to dry if soaked.
Carpet extractor vs Carpet Cleaner for mattress cleaning
Carpet Extractor
A carpet extractor is quite a large machine. If you already own one, then using it makes sense. It can give your mattress a thorough cleaning. There are different sizes available deepening on the area you want to clean.
The probable or mini extractors are sufficient if you are manually cleaning your own mattresses. These release a solution of either water along with a chemical-based cleaning liquid.
This is allowed to absorb deep into the mattress, suspend and collect the grime and grease. This suspension is then sucked back into the machine, which can be emptied later.
Since these home extractors can be used for all kinds of upholstery they can be used for mattresses as well. Only memory foam mattresses are exempt from this. They are quite dense and dry very slowly, so they need to be professionally steam cleaned.
For your personal use, you can try carpet extractor brands such as Karcher Spray Extractor, Mytee, or Clean Freak. These offer compact extractors you can operate with ease, and unlink the bulky complex professional machines for industrial cleaning.
Carpet Cleaner
A carpet cleaner is just as good as a carpet extractor. The latter is more heavy-duty. It is quite an investment and is not as affordable. In addition, it is heavy and complex to operate, since it has built-in tanks and pumps.
Most extractors are available on a professional scale, because of how expensive they can be. But compared to a carpet cleaner, extractors remove much more dirt. They draw out deep-seated and stubborn stains and grime, giving your mattress a deep, exhaustive cleaning.
Carpet cleaners only remove superficial, surface-level stains and dirt. The inner parts of the mattress may very well remain quite dirty. But carpet cleaners are easy to use, hand-held and light. They are also much cheaper and functional for an average family.
With carpet cleaners, you may have to manually scrub and brush a couple more times after cleaning. It will require more effort on your part to remove stains, whereas the extractor does most of the work for you as long as you assemble it.
Are carpet extractors better for mattresses?
The utility of a carpet extractor vis-a-vis a carpet cleaner depends on the nature of your needs and your financial capacity. A carpet extractor will require a much higher one-time investment, whereas a carpet cleaner is not too costly.
If you have a family with pets and children, and you need a comprehensive cleaning, the extractor may justify the cost. But if the stains on your mattress can be easily cleaned and are quite trivial, a carpet cleaner suffices.
For most families, a carpet cleaner does the job. Maybe once in a particular interval- say one or two years, the mattresses can be professionally cleaned using an extractor.
But for other purposes, say a commercial hotel, more frequent and rigorous cleaning may be required to adhere to hospitality standards. In such cases, investing in the extractor makes sense.
Then again, if you have money to spend and want to keep your sleeping spaces spic-and-span, go for it. Carpet steamers and carpet extractors are investments that will never go unused. You can always whip it out for your annual or biannual spring cleaning!
How to use an extractor to clean a mattress?
Keep in mind the following steps while operating an extractor:
- First vacuum the entire mattress to rid it of mites and larger chunks of dirt.
- The extractor will have two tanks, one for clean liquid and water (lower compartment) and the other for the dirty water residue. First, pour in the cleaning liquid with hot water(not boiling).
- Replace the upper compartment for dirty water to flow into. Connect the machine to a socket and switch the solution pump, the scrub brush, and motor on simultaneously.
- Always pull the nozzle or hose backward from the edge of the mattress in the first run. Then you can go over the same strip again by angling the machine forward on its wheels.
Keep in mind that any overflow of soap or foam needs to be corrected. You will need to add defoaming agents time and again as per your discretion.
When the upper tank fills with dirty water, you can throw it out and start fresh. Depending on the size of your mattress and how dirty it is, you will also have to refill the cleaning liquid as per the guidelines.
Whether you use a carpet cleaner or a carpet extractor, make sure you open all the windows. With sufficient ventilation, the mattresses should dry within 12-24 hours.