Parents of children with allergies or anyone with sensitivities to dust mites and other household parasites are likely to be on the lookout for any way to get a hold of this – in a safe, natural manner.
We’re happy to say that there’s one way to say goodbye to those sniffles forever, and that’s with mattress sprays.
These mattress sprays greatly help control pests, keeping your mattress and bedding from keeping you awake at night with a runny nose, itchy eyes or frequent sneezing.
As you may already know, it’s essential to keep mattresses as clean as possible on both the interior and exterior in order to reduce the impacts of mites. Interior cleaning can be done by vacuuming and spot cleaning, and exterior cleaning is often as simple as keeping a fresh protector and bedding.
A Bit About Mites
Keeping things simple, dust mites are ultra-small insects that live on animals such as humans and lie in areas of the home (even the cleanest homes) that are warm, lightly damp and often dark.
A mite itself won’t generally cause an issue; however, the droppings that mites leave have a somewhat irritative substance within them — which is the cause of everything from eczema, asthma and a tonne of other allergies and issues.
It’s also good to keep in mind that dust mites don’t come as a hygiene problem; they’re simply small animals that exist on just about everything. In fact, there are often around 10,000 dust mites in every metre of your home.
Where you’ll find dust mites:
- Sheets
- Mattresses
- Pillows
- Floor Rugs
- Carpeting
- Doonas and Quilts
- Teddies and other Plush Toys
With all of that in mind, there’s a good chance you’re ready to start ‘cleansing’ your home or at least your mattresses of these parasites — and we have some excellent advice for you.
Using a Mattress Spray
A fast look in your local supermarket will quickly bring about a tonne of mattress sprays to choose from, which do the job just fine. There’s a bit of navigating here to do though, as some contain substances that don’t play too nice with the skin, and might also cause irritation on their own.
However, an arguably safer and cheaper option is just to make your own.
There aren’t too many ingredients needed, and if you’re using the mattress spray on a bed that young children use, it’s a little more comforting knowing that you’re using a safe, at-home spray that’s not likely to cause any harm to young ones as they sleep.
Make Your Own DIY Mattress Spray
We’re happy to say that it’s incredibly easy to make your own mattress spray, and it consists of only a handful of readily available ingredients.
You can also feel free to mix and match the ingredients in this tutorial as the essential oils we’ve chosen are just some of our favourite smelling ones, so pick an oil you love the most and you’re good to go!
A generic spray bottle — ideally a bottle that’s around a litre or so, and is durable.
Vinegar — a safe, natural disinfectant you can trust to clean and purify bedding.
Peppermint Essential Oil — a natural insect repellant which will work for other bugs too.
Lavender Essential Oil — features some fantastic anti-bacterial properties to cleanse bedding.
Eucalyptus Oil — best for its smell and great affect on the skin.
Making the Mattress Spray
In a 500ml to 1L spray bottle;
Add 1 cup vinegar to 1 cup water.
Combine 8 drops of each essential oil.
Shake all ingredients to combine.
Use your mattress spray!
Keep in mind that you’ll need to give your bottle a good shake before each use as the oils, water and vinegar will separate over time.
Using Your Mattress Spray
To make sure you’re giving yourself the best chance at killing off those awful dust mites, there’s a couple of things to keep in mind that we’ve outlined below.
Strip the bed entirely of linens. It’s important that you’re spraying the mattress spray directly on to your mattress because your bedding is usually washed in the machine more effectively.
Once the mattress has been stripped of its linens, spray the mattress spray all over the top of the bed as well as the sides and on any loose fabric materials. You’ll want to be sure that you’ve covered the mattress and not left any areas for the mites to sit and wait.
After you’ve sprayed your mattress, it’s best to leave the bed to sit and absorb the spray for at least a few hours — ideally all day, so it might be best to start off your mattress spraying chores early in the morning.
Toward the end of the day, or after letting the spray to absorb for a few hours, run your vacuum over the top of the mattress to clean off any loose skin, mites and other impurities.
And there you have it. An affordable, safe and easy way to make your own natural DIY mattress spray and to keep those pesky dust mites at bay and get a good night’s rest. Remember, a better day begins with a good night’s sleep.
