Make sure you never get to find out what a bed bug’s bite is really like!
Even if you brace yourself for a full bedsheet and covers changeover every Saturday morning, there are plenty of places where mess can gather under piles of discarded clothes and under cupboards. Then there’s the bed itself. Overnight, your body will shed skin, perspire and help feed all those tiny household nasties that live in your mattress – not a very charming thought for sweet dreams! If you or any of your family tend to cough a lot during the night, think about replacing carpets with wooden floors that can be swept regularly – and make sure you give each bedroom a deep clean once in a while.
Getting started
Bedrooms are possibly the most difficult places to keep clean, yet they should be our haven for peace and relaxation rather than a source of housekeeping guilt.
• When you decide to do a major clean through of each bedroom, don’t skimp. Rather than spending two hours doing quite a good but not thorough job, spend four hours and leave the room feeling you’ve done a really great job. The bedroom probably won’t be properly cleaned out again any time soon, so make the most of this chance.
• Don’t just venture a little way under the bed with the vacuum cleaner, move it out of the way while you take out all the lost shoes, half-read newspapers, spare bedding and other things gathering a thick layer of dust.
• The same goes for wardrobes and drawers. Bedrooms often get left out because moving the furniture is such a hassle, but even if you can just move these a little to get a vacuum’s nozzle into those very dusty corners round the foot of cupboards etc you’ll instantly see a difference in how fresh your bedroom floor looks.
• Once you’ve cleaned the floor and the bed you’ll need to do the same with all the items in your wardrobes and drawers. It’s a good chance to have a sort through clothes you no longer want/need/fit, leaving more room for your favourite items to hang without being creased up.
Cleaning bedrooms – 10 tips
• When you strip off all the bedding, turn the mattress (turn it over but also if you can, turn it round so the foot and the head are switched, to help even out the filling and reduce wear in just one place). It’s a good idea to get your partner to help you as this can be a heavy job, especially with double beds.
• Whilst the mattress is uncovered, use a vacuum cleaner to clean off dead skin, mites and other surface dirt, then do this to the other side once turned.
• If your mattress is quite new, check with the manufacturer’s advice on maintenance, in case it has the kind of filling that does not suit vacuum cleaning or turning.
• If your mattress is stained, use a damp sponge with a mild detergent (washing up liquid should be fine) to clean the area. Don’t make the mattress too wet as this won’t dry through properly before you need to remake the bed.
• Leave the mattress to air for a couple of hours, if you can, before making the bed again.
• Once the bed and the carpets are cleaned, take all the clothes out of the wardrobe and sort through, for better rehanging. See our article, Savvy tips for better clothes care, for more ideas. While the clothes are out on the bed, use the vacuum cleaner to do a sweep around inside the wardrobe, as dust gathers here too. Repeat with drawers.
• Pillows should be machine washable, but follow the label instructions. If you have washing balls (the little hard balls you can get in department stores or supermarkets, to encourage a more effective wash at a lower temperature), use these in the wash to reduce the risk of the stuffing going too lumpy.
• It’s a good idea to wash your duvet every six months at least, too, though you will probably need to get double duvets done via a service wash at your nearby launderette as they won’t wash through effectively in a regular size washing machine.
• Moths and their hole-making larvae love undisturbed corners where they can get on with their destruction in peace. See also our Save your clothes from moths article.
• Remember, when you’re doing children’s rooms, that mounds of forgotten cuddly toys can suffer from moths too!
Keeping your bedroom clean for longer
• Use canvas storage bags for things which sit under your bed or on top of wardrobes so they don’t gather dust. Especially spare pillows and duvets that you want to get out for visitors. See our article Savvy storage tips: clothes and bedding, for more ideas.
• Use a mattress protector on your bed. Buy two for each bed so that the used one can go in the wash along with your duvet and sheets. Although some children’s undersheets are designed to protect against bed wetting, ones that fit double beds are designed just to keep your mattress fresher from prolonged use.
• Use two pillowcases each time. Pillowcase protectors can sound a bit crinkly when you sleep on them, but a second cotton layer will help protect pillows from daily use.
• Necklaces, bracelets, hair ties etc can add to dust-gathering clutter on table tops. Buy an ornamental necklace hanger to keep these little items off surfaces.