“You can’t unsee it”: Pro cleaner reveals the FILTH inside our mattresses
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">A professional cleaner has taken to social media to share what kind of dirt can lurk in your mattress – and why you should always vacuum it.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Kacie Stephens, who runs a cleaning business called The Big Clean Co, shared a clip on TikTok of what came out of a mattress she deep-cleaned using a vacuum cleaner and a black cloth.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Warning. Once you see this, you can’t unsee it,” she captioned the video, which has racked up over 420,000 views.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“I’m going to show you how to test how clean your mattress is. Get a black piece of material and wrap it at the end of your vacuum – that is going to act as your filter for the dust and skin cells.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">After vacuuming the two-year-old mattress, Ms Stephens unravelled the cloth to show the dirt, dust, and dead skin cells it had collected.</span></p>
<p><img style="width: 500px; height:281.25px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7845778/vacuum1.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/887cc7c1c5d94920affbb8e11663f62d" /></p>
<p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Image: @thebigcleanco (Instagram)</span></em></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“A mattress that isn’t cleaned regularly contains a build-up of allergens including dust and skin cells, as well as spots and stains from body fluid and sweat,” Ms Stephens told </span><em><a rel="noopener" href="https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/home/diy/cleaner-shares-why-you-should-always-vacuum-your-mattress/news-story/4731db10551f1e5d70acea3a4b6701c6" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: 400;">news.com.au</span></a></em><span style="font-weight: 400;">.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“If you’re game enough to get your face right up to it, the mattress will have a musty smell.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Ms Stephens also revealed how often she believes people should vacuum their bedding – and the frequency might surprise you.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Mattresses should be vacuumed every single time sheets are changed – and sheets should be changed once per week,” she said.</span></p>
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<p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/reel/CWNXgLogw5Z/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank">A post shared by The Big Clean Co - Est 2017 (@thebigcleanco)</a></p>
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<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">As for the “best technique” for cleaning, she said it involves just vacuuming your mattress.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Don’t attempt the technique of covering the mattress in bicarb and vacuuming it up, as particles are bound to be left on the mattress where they can then cause issues with the mattress fibres over the long term – not to mention it can also damage your vacuum [if you use bicarb],” she said.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">But, she did have some advice for tackling marks on your mattress, recommending you “spot clean” with “plain water on a cloth – and if that doesn’t work, use a little 3 percent hydrogen peroxide, which is available in the pharmacy”.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Ms Stephens also recommended </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">against</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"> steam cleaning – a task she says should be left to the experts.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Most people don’t even think about having their mattress steam cleaned – but this is easily done by professional carpet and upholstery cleaners and is a great way to keep dust mites and bacteria at bay,” she explained.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Often people look for a DIY steam cleaner but as commercial steam cleaners we see that these machines leave fibres wet for extended periods, creating the perfect environment for fungal and mould spores to thrive inside your mattress.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Steam cleaning is a job for the professionals.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Many viewers of her mattress-cleaning video shared their shock after trying the technique themselves.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“I tested this. I vacuum my mattress every week and oh my god. It was so bad,” one woman shared.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“I sell vacuums for a living and people don’t understand how much stuff gets put into those mattresses when you sleep,” another commented.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“This is gross but we need to do this. Thank you for sharing,” a third said.</span></p>
<p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Image: @thebigcleanco (Instagram)</span></em></p>
