5 signs your mattress is dirty after Christmas – and how to reset it

Post Christmas is the perfect time to reset your home. Aside from taking down all of your decorations, you’ll probably also want to have a declutter of your home so you can put away your new presents. But an area you should definitely give some TLC to is your mattress.

During the festive season, your mattress goes through quite a lot of stress and strain. Christmas is the time where we all tend to get a bit lazy, including sleeping in for longer, eating snacks in bed and letting your pets burrow under the covers.

To find out more, I spoke to Martin Seeley, mattress expert and CEO of MattressNextDay who pointed out five signs your mattress is dirty after Christmas and how to reset it.

1. Moisture from your heating has collected in your mattress

During Christmas and winter, your heating is often running continuously while your windows are closed to keep the warm air in and the cold air out. Seeley states that this “combination pushes bedroom humidity up to around 70–80%, which is exactly the level where mould and bacteria begin to grow.”

A clear sign that this is happening is if your bedroom window is often steamed up which proves that your home is holding too much moisture. This excess moisture and humid air condenses on windows and can seep into fabrics, carpets, mattresses and curtains which can cause mould and impact freshness. To avoid this, it’s important to get some ventilation into your home by cracking a window or running a dehumidifier.

2. Christmas lie-ins increased dead skin cells

While it’s recommended to stick to your morning routine over Christmas, we’re definitely all guilty of staying up too late and indulging in a festive lie-in – myself included! But the longer you spend in bed, the more dirty your mattress becomes.

Seeley explains that humans shed around 30,000 to 40,000 dead skin cells every minute so during your festive break, “you can shed more than 1.4 million flakes while simply lounging in bed.” These particles don’t just stick to your sheets though, as “they slip into the top layers of the mattress, mixing with oils and moisture.” Not only is this unhygienic but it can also make you ill from allergens, so ditch the lie-in and regularly change your bed sheets.

3. Residue and odours from Christmas snacks

As you’re spending more time in bed, you might also be tempted to snack more between the sheets while also forgetting to actually wash them. But doing this causes crumbs and sugary spills to soak into the fabric and leave residue behind.

“If it is not removed properly, it sinks deeper into the fibres, creating conditions where microbes can thrive," says Seeley. “That faint, musty smell that appears in the new year is usually the result of what has been building up since December.” Again, to prevent this, you should wash your sheets and keep food out of your bedroom.

4. Heavy and festive bedding traps sweat and dust

Due to the colder temperatures, you’re likely using a thicker duvet to keep yourself warm during the night. Chances are you’ve also decorated your bedroom for Christmas with festive throws and bedding, which can heighten how much your bed traps heat, moisture and dust.

As Seeley explains, “the average person loses around 500 millilitres of sweat each night, and that moisture becomes locked beneath the duvet before seeping into the mattress.” This hidden dampness changes the feel and hygiene levels of your bed over time so your mattress “can feel heavier and less breathable.” Switching your duvet and bedding is a key way to reset your mattress and keep it fresher for longer.

5. Pets leave bacteria on your bed

We all love cuddling with our pets, even in bed, and animals like dogs and cats are immediately drawn to warmer bedrooms during Christmas. But if you’re letting your pets on your bed or even under the covers, you’ll find that they leave hair, dander and other outdoor particles in your bedding from their paws and fur.

According to Seeley, research found that “86% of dogs and 32% of cats tested positive for Enterobacteriaceae on their coat or footpads. This group of bacteria includes E. coli and Salmonella, which are linked to faecal contamination. It shows how easily microbes move from pavements and gardens onto beds, especially when pets spend more time indoors during winter.”

So, you might want to consider getting your pet to sleep in their own bed to avoid any of these contaminants. To give your mattress a full reset, check out this step-by-step guide for cleaning your mattress.