Yes, your mattress can absolutely make you sick. And not just the mattress, but any of your bedding. Dirty and unhygienic bedding harbors bacteria, fungi, allergens and other things that can affect your skin and health. 

Your mattress can be especially icky. Because you can’t wash a mattress, it can build up years worth of dirt, body oils, dead skin cells, dust mites, mold and other stuff you don't want to think of. Add sweat and warmth from your body and you get the perfect place for bacteria and germs to thrive. 

What’s The Big Deal? Health Dangers of a Dirty Mattress

Skin Problems

Spending hours each night surrounded by a soup of germs, dust mites, and other substances is certainly not good for your skin. You can develop rashes, eczema and recurrent acne breakouts. 

If bacteria on the mattress gets inside your skin pores, you can develop painful and swollen pimples known as cystic acne.

Allergies & Asthma 

The mattress is a perfect habitat for allergens like dust mites, pollen and mold spores to build up. These can cause allergy symptoms like throat and eye irritation, stuffy nose, sneezing and others. If you have existing respiratory allergies, your symptoms could be worse. 

Allergens in your mattress can also trigger an attack or worsen symptoms for people with asthma. 

Infections

All that bacteria and fungi that makes home in your mattress can transfer onto your body and cause various infections. Fungal infections like athlete’s foot, ringworm and yeast infection can occur. 

You can also get bacterial infections like a urinary tract infection. 

Bed Bugs

Bed bugs can also hitch a ride on your dirty mattress, and quickly infest your entire bed and bedroom. 

Poor Sleep 

The funky smell of a dirty mattress, allergy symptoms, worsening asthma and bed bugs can all make it hard to get a good night’s sleep. So over time, a dirty mattress actually threatens your sleep quality, leading to sleep deprivation, which in turn causes additional health problems. 

How to Keep Your Mattress Safe and Hygienic 

If we were talking about dirty sheets, the solution would be simple — just wash them more often. But you cannot launder a mattress. 

The best you can do is air and vacuum it to get rid of moisture and small particles of dirt and other stuff. Vacuuming your mattress at least once a week and letting it air uncovered for about half an hour to an hour daily can greatly improve its cleanliness. 

To get rid of odors, particularly if you sweat a lot at night, baking soda is an excellent deodorizer. Sprinkle it on the mattress, let it sit for half an hour then vacuum it up. 

Here are some more tips on how to keep your mattress from making you sick. 

Use a Mattress Protector 

The best thing you can do for your mattress hygiene is getting a waterproof mattress protector. It keeps sweat, dirt, dead skin cells, allergens and dust mites from getting onto the mattress. This makes it less likely for bacteria, mold and fungi to thrive on the mattress and harm your health. 

Mattress protectors are washable, so it’s easy to keep yours clean. Wash it at least once a week, more frequently if you get night sweats, you eat in bed or your pet sleeps on your bed. 

Get the Right Kind of Mattress 

The type of mattress you get can determine how easy it is to keep it clean. Take memory foam mattresses for example. They don't have very good breathability, which is why they tend to sleep hot. 

If moisture like sweat gets inside the memory foam, it gets trapped there, which can lead to bacteria and mold growth. 

A spring mattress, on the other hand, has plenty of space inside to house dust mites, dust and other allergens, making these types of mattresses less than ideal for allergy sufferers. 

If you are a serious night sweater or have allergies, natural latex mattresses are great. Latex has excellent breathability, doesn't trap moisture and it is naturally resistant to mold, bacteria and dust mites. 

But whatever kind of mattress you get, use it with a waterproof mattress protector. 

Clean The Rest Of Your Bedding  

Dirty sheets will make your mattress dirty. The same goes if your pillowcase or comforter goes too long without cleaning. 

Keeping the rest of your bedding clean is crucial for keeping your mattress hygienic. Remember you can easily wash dirty bedding, but a dirty mattress is a lot harder to clean. 

Dirty bedding can also cause the same issues we’ve discussed above — acne, infections, allergies and so on. 

Getting antibacterial bedding like our very own Hercleon Jax sheets can also help keep your entire bed cleaner and safer for your health. 

Ditch Your Old Mattress

No matter what you do, your mattress will inevitably collect dirt and other stuff over time. An old mattress is likely to harbor a lot of icky things and is potentially a health hazard. 

Most mattresses are meant to be used for 10 years. If yours is older than that, consider buying a new mattress for the sake of your sleep and health.