I leave my sheets folded up at the foot of the bed, freshen it up with a hand-held vacuum and spritz it with a 75% alcohol/ lavender essential oil mix in a misty spray bottle.
Soak in baking soda: Fill a bathtub or basin with hot water and add 1 cup of baking soda. Soak the sheets for 30 minutes to an hour, then wash as usual. The baking soda can help to remove odors and leave your sheets smelling fresh.
Mix 1 cup water, 1/2 cup white vinegar + lavender or peppermint oil to rid musty odours from your mattress. Allow your mattress to air dry while you wash your sheets. Soften and brighten linen with 1 cup baking soda. Wash pillows and doonas yearly. Damp dust bedsides using water or linen spray.
Soak in baking soda: Fill a bathtub or basin with hot water and add 1 cup of baking soda. Soak the sheets for 30 minutes to an hour, then wash as usual. The baking soda can help to remove odors and leave your sheets smelling fresh.
Using a hand sifter, sprinkle baking soda over the surface of your mattress. If there's any moisture apparent on your mattress, let it air dry. Then, after an hour or so, simply vacuum the baking soda up, and voila! A fresh-smelling bed.
Musty smells that persist after washing often indicate that bacteria or mold spores have deeply embedded themselves in the fabric fibers. This can happen when there's detergent buildup in your washing machine, or when you're using too much detergent which doesn't rinse out completely.
This is a super simple way to quickly get rid of those extra ickies that might be lingering on the top of your bedding, like dead skin cells and other debris. Sprinkle baking soda on them. Baking soda is a natural deodorizer, so sprinkling it on your sheets will help to freshen them up.
Linen spray is a household liquid product that eliminates undesired odors and infuses laundry, apparel, and home textiles with a pleasant scent. A high-quality bed sheet spray can also double as an air freshener in your home and car.
Baking soda is a natural deodorizer and brightener, and it's probably already in your pantry. To make your laundry detergent work harder, add 1/2 cup of baking soda to the rinse cycle of your washing machine.
Ventilate the room
To remedy this, Tina Priestly, a home refresh expert, suggests opening up the door to sleep or opening your window every morning to improve ventilation. 'For bedrooms, opening windows regularly can make a big difference.
There are plenty of things you probably already have in your home that can naturally clear odors from the air. Some of the best odor eliminators are coffee grounds, tea, vinegar, oats, and baking soda.
Spritz your sheets
A room or linen spray can do wonders transforming your bedroom into an oasis. Schulz recommends scents like lavender, sage and sandalwood, which are calming and encourage you to relax. But really, pick any fragrance that will transport you! All you need is a light misting to do the trick.
While you can use any essential oils you'd like, scents like lavender, bergamot, chamomile, and cedarwood are all sleep-friendly. *Pro tip: When using essential oils, quality is important!
How can you get rid of that musty smell in old clothing and blankets without washing them first? Hang them outside in the sun and brisk breeze (hopefully not too strong). They will refresh naturally. If 1 day isn't sufficient, go for more - or toss in a cool dryer with a dryer sheet or two for a bit.
DIY Dryer Sheets
To make the sheet, wet the cloth and wring out before adding five drops of essential oils, like lavender or orange, all over the cloth. Toss the cloth in the dryer during the last 10 minutes of the drying cycle for best results.
Alcohol works as a disinfectant and works to kill bacteria and viruses on the surface of your mattress. It also can help fight against stains as rubbing alcohol will help to dissolve them, making them easier to remove. Rubbing alcohol can also help to neutralize odors.
Cleaning your bedsheets and pillowcases
What's more, cleaning our bedding with detergent doesn't always remove germs like we may think. You should make sure you use a laundry sanitizer such as Lysol® Laundry Sanitizer, which kills 99.9% of bacteria and is gentle on even the softest of fabrics.
Hotel sheets undergo a more rigorous laundering process compared to home laundry. The combination of high-quality detergents, specialized washing machines, and skilled laundry professionals ensures that the sheets come out fresh and fragrant.
Using a spray with a mixture of distilled water, essential oil, and rubbing alcohol for bed cleaning is an effective, quick, and easy way to disinfect, deodorize, refresh, and keep your bedding and mattress clean.
Sweat and Sebum
It's a fact that everyone sweats and releases natural body oils while sleeping. Although sweat stains may not be visible immediately, they gradually accumulate, leading to unsightly yellowish stains. Sweat and sebum provide an ideal environment for bacterial growth, which can cause unpleasant odours.
As we sleep, our bodies naturally shed skin cells, secrete natural oils and may lightly sweat – although some people may sweat more than normal. [5] If you're sweating a lot at night, it could also mean bacteria is building up overnight, leaving an unpleasant smell to wake up to in the morning.
To cut to the chase, Dr Browning says we should be changing our sheets once a week, or every two weeks at the most.