Cleaning Mold on Mattresses

Can you clean mold, mildew and save your bedding?

Mold Growth in Mattresses

Question: Can mold grow in mattresses? If so, how can I get rid of the mold? Anon.

Answer: Indeed mold can grow in mattresses and box springs as well. How do I know? Well, it happened in my own home, in the bed, bedroom of my oldest daughter. That was about 20 years ago.

It occurred shortly after we moved into what was then our new house. About the time we noticed our daughter having respiratory problems at night, we also noticed that her comforter smelled musty. We responded by washing the comforter and bedding including the pillow (on which one could see tiny black mold colonies). The washing took away the mold odor and her symptoms improved. With time both the mold odor and symptoms returned. We responded in a similar manner multiple times (this was at a time that my research on mold in buildings had not yet begun) and each time the odor and symptoms returned. Finally, I examined the bed and to my (then) surprise both the mattress and box springs smelled musty. This was quite surprising since the bed had been purchased but 2 years before and was not in a particularly moist location.

I was a much younger faculty member at that time and purchasing a new bed seemed like a costly, drastic move. As a consequence, I started to look for information on how to remove mold from beds and box springs. It may not have been an uncommon problem at one time as the USDA extension service actually had a pamphlet that advised putting mattresses out in the bright sunshine. I did that a couple of days and it did in fact work to some degree, but the mold odor always came back. The ultraviolet light in sunshine can kill mold, but it could not penetrate through the depth of the mattress and box springs.

We got rid of the “moldy mattresses and box springs” replacing them with new ones. My daughter’s respiratory symptoms disappeared over night and did not reoccur until she went on to college where unfortunately a carpet fragment once stored in an unheated space re-exposed her to a mold source.

In recollecting events it is likely that mold made its way into the mattress and box springs was through her pillow. At that time she wore her hair long, and I suspect that on showering and going to bed her hair was not completely dry. A somewhat wet head, became a somewhat wet pillow, that then began to grow mold which subsequently infested the mattress and box springs.

If one has a moldy mattress or box springs, what do you do with it? Get rid of it (put it out as trash) and replace it with a new one (even if you think you cannot afford to).

Indoor Environmental Quality (2004), Thad Godish Ph.D., C.I.H Reprinted with permission.

For more information on mold prevention, see our Mold Center and our Mold Solution Buyer’s Guide.

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