Congratulations on your Peace Lily mattress! Your Peace Lily latex mattress is an all-natural product that's made with care to give you care. From the farm to the factory and to your door - we are committed to avoiding the use of dyes, bleach, artificial fertilizers, pesticides, glues, fumigation, synthetic materials, and other strong chemicals. The result is a gentle sleep surface free from harmful chemicals and off-gassing that should be treated gently. So how do you take care of your Peace Lily products - both through everyday use and if accidents occur? This guide will tell you all about it.
We recommend that you read this guide before you start using your mattress and before an accident happens. It could help prevent accidents in the first place and could stop you from doing the wrong thing in a hurry when an accident does occur.
Why you should care about caring for your belongings
If you’ve purchased a Peace Lily mattress, chances are you care about our environment. Upkeeping our belongings is good for a number of reasons, but chiefly it’s great for the environment and it’s great for our wallets. Taking good care of your belongings means you have to replace them less frequently, which in turn positively impacts emissions, air quality, and waste. Prolonging the lifespan of your belongings also reduces energy costs, raw material usage, and cuts vehicle emissions by 30%. Educating yourself on how to take proper care of your belongings is - put simply - one of the most sustainable everyday practices you can have.
Caring for your Peace Lily mattress
Our mattress comes protected by a whopping 25-year warranty. This is because latex foam is an incredibly durable material that is much less prone to sagging and dipping than, say, memory foams and spring mattresses. With the right care, you could own your Peace Lily mattress for two and a half decades - and even longer - some latex mattresses have been known to last for over 50 years! So how do you ensure your mattress lasts the distance? First, let’s get down to basics. The following will set you up for a more streamlined mattress care routine.
Regular Mattress Cleaning and Care Tips:
1. Use the right bed base
Before even investing in a latex mattress, make sure your mattress has the right support by using the correct bed base. The magic rule of bed bases is that you need a bed base that’s:
- Strong enough to hold the weight of your mattress and those sleeping on it
- It lifts the mattress off the ground and has enough ventilation to allow the mattress to properly breathe
- The slats aren’t more than 3.5 inches apart to prevent the malleable latex mattress from dipping between the slats and providing more consistent support.
That means no flexible slats, no placing your mattress directly on the floor, and no far-between slats. Also, watch out for using custom timber finishes that can harm the organic cotton cover.
If you need a new bed base, you may want to check out our adjustable bed bases. Our minimalist adjustable bed bases are designed to perfectly complement our latex mattress while offering more comfort options to your sleep and rest.
2. Use a mattress protector
There is no time you’ll regret not having a mattress protector more than when you spill something in bed. A thick, organic mattress protector will give you a protective barrier between your mattress and spills, dust, sweat, mites, crumbs, and anything else. Not only can it prevent those unsightly cosmetic spots, but it will help prolong the lifespan of your mattress and topper too.
While it won’t stop - say - a glass of water or red wine from seeping into your mattress, it will give you a few extra seconds to minimise the damage. It will also protect your mattress from sweat, wear, skin cells, and small spills. Just make sure you also clean your mattress protector frequently. How often? Every 1-2 months depending on use.
Don't own a mattress protector? You can source one from us. Our mattress protector is made especially to complement the Peace Lily mattress and is handmade from thick, organic cotton.
3. Use bed sheets
This one’s a given, but we need to include it. Using bed sheets is key to keeping your mattress clean - and makes for a more comfortable sleep experience too.
Bedsheets are key. You may be team flat sheet or team ban the flat sheet, but let’s all agree we are team sheet.
Cleaning your sheets regularly is also key to upkeep your mattress. How often? Once per week, or more frequently when messy/sweaty.
4. Keep your mattress moisture-free
Keeping moisture out of your mattress and room humidity down is key. Moisture leads to mould, and mould is the bane of any mattress. While Latex foam is naturally resistant to mould and mildew, but the untreated organic cotton casing around it can still harbour mould and mildew in cases where moisture isn’t dealt with quickly. We recommend using an organic cotton mattress protector to protect from sweat, saliva, and minor spills.
However, for more spill and accident-prone sleepers, such as young children, babies, people with incontinence issues, people who love to eat and drink in bed, or those who sleep hot-hot-hot, it’s important to protect the mattress with a waterproof mattress protector.
To learn more about how to manage and avoid mould, please see our detailed blog post on dealing with mould here.
5. Consider rotating your mattress
Many mattress types - like memory foam and hybrids - require you to flip or rotate them frequently to avoid uneven dips, sagging, or wear. Latex is an incredibly sag-resistant mattress foam, however, to ensure even wear and to prevent an uneven accumulation of dust and debris, we recommend that you try to rotate your mattress once every month if able to do so, and every few months if you are unable to do so.
6. Avoid eating in bed
We know, eating or drinking in bed is considered a luxury. What’s more romantic than breakfast in bed? We also know that sometimes - from injury or other circumstances - it cannot be avoided. But crumbs and spills from eating in bed is a risk our gentle mattresses can’t handle. So if you can avoid it, we recommend you do, and to use a mattress protector if it cannot be avoided.
7. Keep pets out of bed or bathe them often
These days we treat our pets like they are our children, so keeping them out of our beds can be difficult. However, co-sleeping with pets can pose a real risk to the cleanliness of your mattress. If making your bed a no-pet-zone is off the table, making sure your pets are clean, groomed, and flea-treated is the next best thing. We also recommend using a mattress protector for an extra protective barrier.
8. Use hypoallergenic bedding
A hypoallergenic mattress is best paired with hypoallergenic bedding for a night of healthy, restful sleep. We recommend organic cotton, flax, linen, or wool. Certain materials - especially synthetic fibres offer less breathability, which can lead to overheating and discomfort. Breathability is key to keeping your latex mattress healthy and avoiding moisture build-up, so the breathier the material, the better. Our organic cotton bed sheets are the perfect match for your Peace Lily mattress, but other hypoallergenic, natural sheets will do fine too.
9. Shower before bed
If you go to bed dirty, your mattress will soak that up. Sheets and a mattress protector will protect your mattress to a degree, but for the health of your mattress and yourself, we recommend showering before bedtime, especially if you’re dirty or sweaty.
How to clean your mattress if accidents occur
We spend on average eight hours in bed per night, and in that time, all kinds of bodily fluids can make their way onto our mattresses. These fluids include blood, urine, blood, saliva, sweat, and others - not to mention spills from foods, drinks, and pets. Without a mattress protector, these fluids will impact the quality and durability of your mattress - and will likely leave lasting stains and potential smells. This is a gentle mattress, so making sure you clean it gently is key. Don’t expose it to sunshine or heat to dry it, and don’t use strong abrasives and soaps to clean it.
1. Vacuum your mattress
Make sure you vacuum your mattress regularly and before cleaning it to keep dust, debris, crumbs, and mites to a minimum. Your Peace Lily mattress is pierced by thousands of holes that allow your mattress to breathe and stay cool. Too much dust or debris on top of or under the mattress can be bad news for the long-term state of your mattress.
2. Clean mattress spills and spots
If spills happen, you can spot clean your Peace Lily mattress with a mild detergent and water mix, or create a white vinegar cleaning solution in a spray bottle using equal parts vinegar and water. Spray the solution sparingly onto the mattress stain, and let it sit for several minutes only. Gently dab at the stained area with a damp cloth that is dampened with cold water or warm water. Avoid harsh abrasives and bleach.
While spot cleaning, we urge you to use any moisture sparingly because all moisture that goes into your mattress needs to be extracted. If you are adding too much extra moisture to your mattress while cleaning, it will be hard or impossible to remove, which will encourage mould.
3. Dry your mattress
Once you’ve cleaned the spots as well as you can, it’s time to dry the mattress completely. Open windows to encourage airflow and crank a dehumidifier if you have one. Then dry your mattress by patting it dry with towels before you use a hairdryer on a cool setting. Dry your mattress without the use of heat or sunlight until completely dry.
4. Cover and monitor
When the mattress is completely dry you can reapply the mattress protector and sheets. We still recommend leaving a dehumidifier on if you have it and to monitor for moisture over the next week to be safe.
5. Keep your latex mattress out of direct sunshine
While we understand it can be tempting to put your mattress in the sun to make sure it’s dry, it can actually damage it. Sure, some mattresses can handle the effects of UV but latex foam mattresses cannot. Direct sunlight will affect the integrity of your mattress and can leave your once firm, malleable, and supple mattress brittle. Instead, if you need to dry your mattress (which is key to do as fast as possible if it’s become wet), open your windows, use a dehumidifier, pat dry with towels, and use a hairdryer on cool.
How to treat a smelly mattress
If you’ve noticed a certain smell coming from your mattress, baking soda may help you eradicate it. Baking soda is a natural deodoriser that can lift both smells and stains from your mattress without harming it. Simply sprinkle baking soda onto the top of the cotton cover and let it sit - the longer the better. Then simply vacuum it up and check if the smell is gone.
However, if the smell you’re concerned about is the faint latex smell some new latex mattresses sometimes have when you first unbox them, don’t be worried. This is not harmful or a sign of off-gassing and it will go away soon on its own.
Know when it’s time to replace your mattress
No matter how well a mattress is made or how well we care for it, there will come a day when it no longer supports us the way that we need it to. Because the wearing-down process of a mattress is so slow, it can be difficult to know exactly when it’s really time to swap it out. We’re big advocates of not swapping our belongings out before it’s time - whether that’s a pair of jeans, an armchair, or a mattress. If you’re unsure if it’s time to invest in a new mattress or not, check out our blog Ten Signs You Need A New Mattress. If you know your mattress doesn’t support you like it used to, but you’re not in a position to buy a new mattress, consider a mattress topper instead.
We’re here to help!
We hope this guide has answered your questions and concerns, and that you feel armed with all the information you need to ensure that your mattress lasts the distance. However, if any of your mattress care questions haven’t been answered in this guide, feel free to browse our Frequently Asked Questions, check out the care instructions that came with your products, or get in touch with us!
