How would you feel about sleeping in a bedroom that was never dusted and where the floors were never cleaned? Pretty disgusted, right? So how about the spot you lay your head down to sleep every night – your mattress and pillows?

We spend about a third of our lives in bed, so it's well worth putting some thought into the proper cleaning and care of our pillows and mattresses. While clean sheets and pillowcases may give the illusion of a clean bed, it's the mattress underneath that can be home to stains, odors and dust mites – the microscopic bugs that feed on the flakes of skin that both humans and pets shed daily, and that are responsible for symptoms ranging from respiratory conditions to skin rashes.

Refresh your mattress with these easy mattress-cleaning tips:

1. Use the upholstery tool on your vacuum cleaner to tackle the dust and dust mites that are harbored in your mattress. Vacuum the top and sides of your mattress, along the edge welting, into the quilting and over as much of the box spring as you can access.

2. From sweat stains and other bodily secretions to pet stains to mystery stains, tackle any mattress spots with warm water, a mild detergent and a soft brush, or for more deep-set stains, upholstery cleaner. Make sure the cleaned areas dry thoroughly before putting sheets back on the bed.

3. Freshen the scent of your mattress by sprinkling baking soda onto the fabric, letting it sit for an hour, then vacuuming it up. Sweeten the smell by adding a couple of drops of essential oil to the baking soda; add the oil into the box of baking soda, shake it vigorously, then sprinkle evenly all over the mattress. Try lavender oil – the scent has been shown to encourage relaxation and sweet dreams!

4. Freshly cleaned mattresses and especially new mattresses should be treated to a quality mattress protector, one that can be easily removed and thrown in the wash. Note that this is a worthwhile step not only to protect your mattress and add to your sleeping comfort, but also because some mattress manufacturers won't honor their warranty if the mattress is returned with a stain on it.

Your pillows need cleaning too!

Pillows, whether they're down or synthetic, should be washed at least twice a year.

Before you wash your pillow, see if it's worth keeping or if it needs to be replaced. Fold your pillow in half; if it doesn't spring back into shape, the material inside is shot and it's time to buy a new one.

If you're planning to keep your pillows and they still have the care labels attached, read and follow the washing instructions. Foam pillows can't usually be machine washed, but you can freshen them up by vacuuming them or tossing them in the dryer on the air-only cycle for 20 minutes. Most other types of pillows can be washed in a warm wash/cold rinse cycle with a mild liquid detergent and then tumbled in the dryer's low heat cycle with a couple of dryer balls, or tennis balls tucked into white socks, to speed up dry time and help plump the filling.

From The Shamez Virani/Virani Team July 2016 Newsletter - Courtesy of Market Connections Inc.