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Wednesday, August 14, 2013

Cleaning Pillows, Mattresses and Bedding

The other day, one of my blog friends wrote in her blog that she washes her pillows in the washing machine each time she changes the pillowcases. I love the idea of washing my pillows to keep the pillows clean and free from dust mites, head lice and other bugs which are invisible to our naked eyes, which could be nesting and multiplying comfortably deep inside our pillows. I would do the same too if I live in a house with a garden or patio so that I can expose the pillows to the sun.

Living in a condo, we do not have the benefit of exposing our laundry directly to the sun, uncovered. We only get to hang our laundry at the balcony with limited exposure to the sun. Half of our laundry are hung indoors, under the fan.  Living in a condo with such limited space in the kitchen, we cannot even squeeze in a clothes dryer or a dishwasher as our extra space has been taken up by another refrigerator. Yes, we have 2 refrigerators  and built-in cabinets in the kitchen, occupying most of the space..

What I do is that I will sun our pillows and bolsters at least once a week. For bedsheets, pillowcases, bolster cases and blankets, I wash them every week. I also spray our mattresses with Sol-U-Guard disinfectant from Melaleuca to kill any germs and Sol-U-Mel (also from Melaleuca) to kill any dust mites and bed bugs.

That is the best I can do to avoid triggering the allergy button in my kids and I.  We have very sensitive noses and that is the reason why I am such a clean freak.


This is Sol-U-Guard disinfectant from Melaleuca. It kills mozzies, insects and cockroaches very effectively and safely as well.  It's definitely a life-safer for Katsaridaphobians like yours truly :P





Besides killing dust mites, Sol-U-Mel can also remove odors, stains and cleans the air.    Melaleuca products are safe and contain no harsh chemicals and toxic fumes. The main ingredients in their products is tea tree oil aka Melaleuca oil.  Just buzz me if you want to get these products from Melaleuca and I can help you get them at member's price.



How do you clean your pillows?

And how often do you change your bedding sheets?

Do you disinfectant and clean your mattress as well?

4 comments:

cre8tone said...

I normally leave the cleaning part to my maid, while I spending more times with my kids..

Chris said...

Since I am the maid, this is what I do. Some pillows can be laundered in the washing machine and dried in the sun or dryer. Sometimes I would air the pillows on a hot sunny day. Something else I use is a clothes steamer; not sure if they are available in Msia but it has replaced drycleaning! I use it on the mattress(steam will kill dust mites), pillows. silk duvet, down jackets, leather, sequinned/ embellished clothing, silk, and anything that is labelled 'dryclean' only. It is also excellent for getting rid of odours and of course for removing wrinkles. I took it to my cousin's wedding to get the wrinkles (and smell) out of the bridal gown and cheongsam and the bridesmaids' gowns. Btw, my cousin donated her gown to charity after the wedding. What a nice thing to do!

Health Freak Mommy said...

Chris, can steam from steam iron kill dust mites? I actually wanted to buy a steam iron (not for purpose of killing bugs) but for a fast dewrinkling job to our clothes. Maybe I shd get one! Good on your cousin to donate her wedding gown! Good deeds begets good karma :)

Chris said...

That is what the ad says. Make sure u get one that u can position it to steam the mattress. There are many brands out there and I ended up with 3, each doing a different job. The Shark one actually comes with a pointy spout and can be aimed at sinks/taps and other areas for getting rid of mildew etc (still have to wipe up with paper towels). The pointy spout increases the pressure and aim. Other solution to dust mites is to encase the mattress with a plastic bag or even a polyester mattress pad which can be easily washed and quite cheap to replace.