As a guest house owner, you want to offer your guests scrupulously clean facilities to enjoy during their stay with you.  You wouldn't dream of putting dirty sheets on your beds, but how often do you have your mattresses professionally cleaned by a commercial cleaning company?   Over time, a mattress accumulates particles of shed skin, sweat and dandruff that provide a great food source for dust mites.  A population of dust mites in the mattress can lead to allergies and exacerbate existing breathing problems. 

Cleaning a mattress regularly keeps it hygienic and in good condition, meaning better health for your guests and financial savings for your business, as you won't have to replace your mattress as often.  A good commercial cleaning company will deep clean your mattress for you, but it's a good idea to freshen it up yourself every couple of months in between commercial cleans.  Here's how.

What you'll need

• steam cleaning machine (hire one from a tool hire shop)
• vacuum cleaner
• water
• Fabric freshening spray

When choosing a steam cleaning machine to hire, look for a handheld model that has a special mattress or upholstery tool attachment supplied with it. 

How to do it

1. Your first job is to vacuum your mattress, using the vacuum cleaner hose and upholstery or rotary tool attachment.  Vacuuming the surface of the mattress agitates and frees particles of embedded debris, which you can then vacuum away.  
2. Fill the steam cleaning machine with cold water as per the supplier's instructions and fit the mattress attachment.  Switch the machine on and allow it to heat up.  
3. When the machine is ready to use, begin passing the head over the mattress, giving short bursts of steam as you do so.  Intersperse this with dry passes so that the mattress doesn't get too wet and to ensure that you're cleaning it evenly.  
4. Press the mattress tool firmly but gently into the mattress surface as you move the head around to free-up any trapped dirt.  
5. Any stains on the mattress will probably require a few extra steam passes to lift them, but don't go overboard.  
6. When you've finished cleaning the surface of the mattress, steam clean the sides too.  
7. Wait a couple of hours until the mattress is dry, then turn it over and repeat the process on the other side.  
8. The mattress should then be allowed to air-dry for a few hours.  Because you've used steam to clean it, the mattress won't be soaking wet, so it will dry quickly.
9. Finish off the clean by spritzing the mattress on both sides with a proprietary fabric freshening product.

In conclusion

It's recommended that you have your mattress professionally cleaned by a reputable firm of commercial cleaners every few months to keep it clean and hygienic.  In between these deep cleans, you can freshen it up yourself by following the guidelines above.

For more information, contact commercial cleaning services and see if they clean mattresses.