I need to clean a mattress...

[YourCallIsImportant]

We've bought a new bed and I'd like to give the old bed to a charity.

The mattress has a quite a few little marks on it which I'd like to clean off before it goes away, but also the whole mattress has become discoloured. I understand this can be caused by the fabric that sits under the outer cover of the mattress, but it looks dirty.

How can I clean this mattress?

I did see Kim and Aggie doing it once but can't remember what they used.

Watching with interest

I do mine with a carpet cleaner (Vax) that has an upholstery attatchment. You need to stand the matress upright to dry or it will go foisty and take weeks to dry properly.

Self interest bump.

Have you checked first that the charity will accept a used mattress? If they will, then maybe a steam cleaner would do the job?

Yes I checked that they do take used mattresses. I just would like to make it look a bit less used.

Is a steam cleaner something I could hire or would I need to buy one?

The steam cleaning option sounds like the best solution.

Just been on another thread on mattress protectors (washing them) and can only advise that you definitely consider getting a protector for your new mattress. I have one of these cotton mattress protectors over the top of our mattress and it really has totally protected our mattress so it still looks like new, even though it's now 10 years old and saggy where we lie on it!!