Apr 11, 2019

Assist! My Mattress has Mold Growth

Updated on November 06, 2019.

Finding mold on a mattress is not just disconcerting, information technology can also be a potential hazard to your health.

Mold is a pest, it is insidious and spreads quickly; past the time y'all tin can run across visible evidence of mold growth on your mattress, it might already be an entrenched problem.

Unfortunately, mold doesn't need much to grow; even the cleanest of households could become plagued with these unwanted guests.

Are you wondering: What's the Difference Between Mold and Mould?

Why is in that location Mold Growing on My Mattress?

Every bit discussed in our last blog mail, mold simply needs darkness, warmth, and moisture to thrive. Unfortunately, this describes most sleeping environments in the average household.

Everyone sweats while they sleep, some much more than others, and this moisture can accumulate in or under your mattress, providing the perfect breeding ground for mold to thrive and reproduce in.

Most mattresses are produced using some sort of foam, from latex to retentivity foam; the open cells and air pockets (there tin be millions in a unmarried mattress) provide tiny places for mold to colonize.

To complicate these bug more, you rarely really see the surface of your mattress, and far less often the underside.

Equally most people just see the mattress surface a few times each calendar month when changing their sheets, a mold problem could go unnoticed for weeks. A lot of people use mattress covers equally well, making them that much more unlikely to view the surface of their mattress regularly.

All these factors make the mattress a perfect host for mold growth.

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mold on a mattress

Stains on a mattress fabric caused by mold growth

What Does Mold on a Mattress Wait Like?

Mattress mold will not ever be immediately visible to you, especially if you don't tend to give your mattress a thorough lookover on a regular footing.

Hither are some indicators that might assistance you spot the problem sooner:

  • Odour: Mold and its' spores have a persistent, musty smell. Some people compare the odour of mold to moisture socks or rotting forest.
  • Health Indicators: As you should spend nearly eight hours (at least) per night in your bed, this large chunk of time could upshot in overexposure to mold on a mattress (if y'all have mold, that is!). You may notice a mold problem because of the fashion the exposure affects your health. Unremarkably, mold exposure will start to show symptoms such as an allergy would: headaches, congestion, exhaustion, or itchy eyes/skin. However, these symptoms will lessen if the individual leaves the infected expanse – to become to work or some other room in the business firm.
  • Appearance: When the mold is visible to the human centre, you will know. Mattress mold volition look different than any other stain or marking on your bed. Pinkish or black fluffy-looking spots will announced in growths.

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Mattress mold

A worrisome case of mattress mold (photograph credit: our benefactor, Protective Technology in Australia).

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mold on mattress pad

Mold on underside of crib mattress pad

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Mold in mattress foam

Mattress foam afterward testing using ASTM G21 antifungal test method

How to Remove Mold from Mattress

Once yous've noticed mold on your mattress, the time to deed is correct away! The longer you lot leave mold growth, the more than opportunities it has to reproduce and couch farther into your mattress.

If a mold problem is left alone for also long, it tin become incommunicable to remove the mold and your only selection will be to buy a new one.

Follow these v like shooting fish in a barrel steps to remove visible mattress mold:

  1. Vacuum both sides of your mattress thoroughly. Immediately after you lot consummate this pace, clean out your vacuum'south dust catcher to avoid spreading the trapped mold spores into other areas of your house.
  2. Mix equal parts rubbing alcohol and warm water in a disposable container. Dip a clean cloth into information technology, wring the cloth out well, and use this damp cloth to scrub the moldy area of the mattress. Use a circular motion when scrubbing and a considerable amount of force. It is in your all-time interest to go well beyond the area of visible mold.
  3. Rinse the damp expanse using a new well-wrung-out material and warm water. You need to wring out these cloths well to avoid adding extra moisture to the mattress, as this encourages mold growth.
  4. Evenly spray the entire mattress with a disinfectant solution that is suitable for the material of your mattress.
  5. Take your mattress to a well-ventilated, high-sunlight surface area (you lot tin accept it outside if your backyard allows.) Leaving the mattress here will allow it to dry out fully while inhibiting more mold from growing during the process (sunlight is harmful to mold.)

A Few Tips for Future Prevention

To foreclose unwanted mold growth from coming dorsum in the futurity, hither are a few more helpful tips:

  • Use a dehumidifier in your sleeping accommodation. Mold thrives in damp environments, so using a dehumidifier to go along the humidity levels in the bedroom down will assist to prevent future mold growth.
  • Use an air purifier in your bedchamber. An air purifier will help to circulate and filter the air in the bedchamber. Using the advisable type, an air purifier tin can actively remove mold spores that are in the air, preventing them from spreading further.
  • Let the air continue to circulate when you go away. People regularly shut off air conditioning, fans, dehumidifiers, or air purifiers when they are away from their homes. Leaving air circulating devices on with time-controlled settings to ensure rubber is a great way to aid in preventing future mold growth.
  • Ensure the underside of the mattress has access to airflow. Investing in a slatted bed base volition assistance air circulate properly on both sides of the mattress, rather than but the top. Dissimilar standard box springs and flat top bases, slatted bed bases will aid in preventing mold growth from forming on the underside of your mattress.

How Ultra-Fresh Tin Assistance Preclude Mattress Mold

Ultra-Fresh is a range of safe and effective antimicrobial treatments used to forbid odors, staining, and degradation caused by the growth of bacteria, mold, and mildew.

Ultra-Fresh is incorporated into products during the manufacturing process. Materials such every bit mattress foam, cloth, adhesives, feathers, and down used to brand bedding products such every bit duvets, mattresses, protectors, sheets, pillows, etc.; go much less appetizing food source for mold and mildew.

This inhibits microbial growth and so unpleasant odors and cruddy stains don't have an opportunity to develop.

Example of Antimicrobial Protection

The photos below demonstrate the benefit of calculation antimicrobial additives to mattress cream. Under the correct atmospheric condition, mold and mildew tin flourish in cream, especially when moisture becomes trapped inside a mattress.

Both cream samples were tested using the AATCC Method 30, Part III. The exam organism used was Aspergillus niger.

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Ultra-Fresh treated mattress foam

Mattress cream treated with Ultra-Fresh

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moldy mattress foam

Untreated mattress foam

The untreated mattress cream supports heavy amounts of fungal growth after the seven-day incubation period.

Alternatively, the Ultra-Fresh treated foam sample remains free from mold growth later the same corporeality of time.

Antimicrobial treatments keep the areas you don't see cleaner and fresher.

In addition, Ultra-Fresh has been proven to be constructive in controlling dust mite populations (meet regulatory information).

Note: Ultra-Fresh is not intended to create a healthier environment or to mask an existing wet issue in your home. Antimicrobial product protection prevents odors, staining, and deterioration of the production itself, leading to increased longevity of the material goods.