Although we sleep on our  mattress every single night, we often forget that underneath all of those covers, your mattress needs a little TLC every now and again. It's easy to understand the need to avoid dirty sheets, but have you ever thought about how to avoid a dirty mattress or the best way to clean a mattress?

Just like anything else in your home, you need to clean your mattress. To prevent the build-up of things like oil, sweat, skin cells,  dust mites and bed bugs, mattresses should be cleaned at least every three to six months. While mattress cleaning can be a bit of a hassle, having a fresh bed is essential to your  health and well-being.

So, if your bed needs a little love, here are a tips for how to clean a mattress:

Tips to Clean a Mattress

1. Break out the vacuum

Cleaning your bed with your vacuum's upholstery attachment can be the best thing to clean a mattress. After you have taken off all sheets, mattress covers and toppers, start vacuuming at the top of the mattress and work your way down in overlapping strokes. Don't let your dust settle. If you're wondering how to clean a bed, vacuuming can help remove dust and dead skin cells on the surface of your mattress and is a quick maintenance trick in between deep cleaning.

2. Deodorize with baking soda

When stains, oil, dust and dirt begin to accumulate on your mattress, it can quickly develop an unpleasant smell, especially in a humid environment. The best way to quickly kill the stink is by using baking soda. After removing all coverings, sprinkle the baking soda directly on top of the mattress. Once you have created a generous coating over the entire top surface, lightly rub the baking soda into the fabric and allow it to sit for at least 10 minutes. After the short wait, simply vacuum up the baking soda.

3. Lift the stains away

If not cleaned immediately, fluids can seep into the fabric of your mattress, making it difficult to remove later.  Urine and blood stains, in particular, can be challenging to remove. However, using products you already have stashed in your medicine cabinet can help get rid of those pesky stains once and for all.*

First, you will need to create a paste using ¼ cup of hydrogen peroxide mixed with 1 tablespoon of liquid dish soap (preferably un-colored) and 1 tablespoon of salt. By lightly spreading this mixture over the stain and allowing it to dry, you can lift away difficult, set-in stains. Once the mixture has dried, simply scrape away the paste and dab any remaining discoloration with a rag dipped in hydrogen peroxide. With this technique, you can remove stains as easy as 1, 2, 3!

4. Invest in protection

If your bed has outlived its expiration date, and you are on the hunt for a new mattress, make sure to invest in some preemptive protection. To ensure your mattress stays fresh for years to come, purchase a  mattress protector. Ultimately, the best way to clean a mattress is to protect it from dirty build-up and to keep it clean from day one. Since it is inevitable that your mattress will gather dust, skin cells or other stains over the course of its lifetime, a mattress protector is an easy and affordable way to extend the lifespan of your mattress.

*Be sure to consult the manufacturer's warranty prior to any stain removal technique as this can void some warranties.