Can I use a Rug Doctor on a mattress?

[waterjungle]

I'm hiring a Rug Doctor / carpet cleaner type thing for a day. Can I use it to give our mattress a once over? I've just stripped the bed and it looks grubby from my hormone induced pregnancy sweats (yuk).

Yes, but it will be hard work (RD not very maneuverable) and will take several days to dry out thoroughly. Sunny days where it can go outside propped up (not flat on the ground) and be regularly rotated/flipped over. If you put it back on your bed even slightly damp right in the middle, it will turn into a mould-fest.

Even then, it will probably not look as pristine as you may like. We now have rubber cover for DH's mattress, with washable mattress topper, which keeps things cleaner. Unless it is a really decent and expensive mattress, I would personally live with it or move on.

You could try it with the hand held attachment but I wouldn't. The rug doctor spurts out jets of hot soapy water then sucks them back up again. A mattress is layers of foam/fabric then a big gaps held apart by springs, essentially. I would worry about the hot soapy water being sprayed into the middle where the vacuum won't suck it out again, and the middle then not drying properly.

If you want to surface clean keep it as superficial as you can, don't use a machine to force water into it. There might be a rubber backing inside and it might be fine, even with the rugdoctor, but I wouldn't risk it.

I'd use Stardrops in warm water, wring a cloth out in the water and clean it by hand, using a circular motion. This method really works and the mattress will only be slightly damp on the surface.