Bed mites or house dust mites microscopic bugs that live on dead skin cells. They are in your pillows, your carpet, your furniture and most other places. A mattress can host tens of thousands of these little creatures!

While these mites are typically not harmful, they can contribute to allergies and asthma and most people want to limit the population of mites in their homes - and mattresses. One way to accomplish this is to make sure to clean your bed clothes regularly, buy new pillows every 6 months and clean your mattress twice a year.

Cleaning Your Mattress

Vacuuming is a good way to clean any mattress. Vacuum the sides, the box springs and every nook and corner. It's a good idea to make this part of your cleaning routine and plan to vacuum the mattress every time you take mattress pad out to wash.

Rotating your mattress is also another way to keep it in good condition. . This prevents rough use of the mattress and keeps the pressure zones from settling to one spot on the mattress.

From time to time, you might want to clean the mattress with upholstery shampoo. Try looking for a product called Dry Suds that will help eliminate stubborn stains. Mix a small detergent with warm water, beat it up in a beater. Now remove the froth and the stuff that remains is great for cleaning these stains.

If you need to dry the mattress after washing, you can use a blow dryer but this can be very time consuming. Another method is to set the mattress out in the sun to dry. This will also help air it out and the mattress can benefit from the anti-bacterial properties of the sun.