DIY Mattress Freshening

At least one third of our lives is spent sleeping on a mattress. Add in time spent reading, watching television, cuddling, nursing, and playing on one and the amount of time that we spend on our mattresses increases significantly.

If you think about the activities that take place in the bed, be it a bed you sleep alone in or one that you share with another adult and/or children, you will see how a mattress needs to be refreshed every now and then.

Many mattress are found to contain sweat, blood, urine, and other bodily fluids, along with dirt and dust. Some without a good, natural moisture barrier also contain mold and mildew.

Gross to think about? Absolutely. The good news is that it’s easy to freshen a mattress, even though it’s not something many of us think to do

Here’s How You Can Freshen Your Mattress

1. Start with washing all of the bedding including the mattress protector. In order to insure that any nasty germs are killed off, add about 10 drops of tea tree oil to your laundry detergent. Tea tree has been proven to kill off everything from the flu virus to MRSA!

2. Vacuum the mattress in every crease and crevice with the upholstery attachment. This will get rid of any dead skin cells, dust and other debris that have made their way there.

3. Mix some baking soda with 10 drops of tea tree oil and 10 drops of lavender oil. You can use a mason jar, shaking the mixture to combine the oils with the baking soda. Sprinkle the mixture over the bed and let it sit for a few hours. The baking soda will neutralize and odors and absorb any moisture. The oils will help to kill any germs on the surface of the mattress.

4. Vacuum up the baking soda once again using the upholstery attachment.

5. Spot clean any stains. The stains on mattresses are usually those of body fluid, and if you are finding them after freshening your mattress for the first time, then they have most likely been there for a while. You may not be able to fully remove them at this point, but here are some recipes to try. Please note that you do not want to get a lot of fluid on your mattress, so use as little as possible when cleaning it.

For blood: Make a paste of 1/4 cup hydrogen peroxide, 1 tbsp liquid dish soap and 1 tbsp of salt. Rub it in, let it sit and then scrape it off.

For urine and sweat: Mix 3 tbsp baking soda into 8 ounces of hydrogen peroxide with 2 small drops of dish soap. Mix until the baking soda is dissolved and dab this on the spot.

For vomit: Make a paste using hydrogen peroxide and baking soda. Set it on the stain, let it sit and then scrape it off.

If you needed to do any spot treatments, wait until any damp spots on the mattress are dry before putting any bedding back on.
When you are sure that your mattress is dry from any spot cleaning, put all of the bedding back on and relax knowing that you will sleep ‘fresh’ tonight!

 

 

 

Bed-time tips for your child!

Instilling healthy sleep habits in children helps to set their foundation for proper mind and body development for the rest of their lives. It also enables parents to get some down time and a better night sleep for themselves. Many parents of toddlers to pre-teens are in a situation where it takes hours to get their children to bed and/or their kids aren’t sleeping soundly through the night. Fortunately, there are ways to help children to transition better from awake time to sleep time, as well as steps parents can take to make sleep more restful.

Set a routine – Start with making sure that there is ample time between the end of dinner and bedtime, giving the body time to digest before trying to send it off to sleep. Also keep in mind that sugar is only going to stimulate a child’s body, so it’s not the best idea to end the evening with a sugary treat. Once dinner is over, set up some relaxing activities along with the essentials of getting ready for bed. This can include bath time, getting pajamas on, brushing teeth, reading books and possibly listening to some relaxing, meditative music. There are some great music and meditation programs designed specifically for children to listen to at bedtime. As addressed below, television should not be part of the bedtime routine, so if watching a show is something that you want to incorporate in the evening, make it either right before or right after dinner, before the nighttime routine actually begins.

Provide the proper sleep environment – It’s important that the place where a child sleeps is conducive to relaxation. The bedroom should promote rest and a sense of peace with subtle colors and not too much clutter. It should also be free of too many electronic devices. A room painted red, filled with toys and video games stimulates a child’s brain, while a bedroom painted in a light, peaceful color, with toys put away and no electronic devices to be seen promotes a sense of rest. In addition, the darker the room at night, the better a child can sleep. Any light coming into the room at night, be it from a hall light, a nightlight, or from the windows, can confuse the pineal gland, which results in it making a lesser amount of melatonin. Melatonin is the hormone that is essential to a good, healthy night’s sleep. So forgo any lights and invest in some darkening blinds for your children’s bedrooms; you will see a difference.

No television, iPads or computers before bed – One mistake parents often make is letting their children watch a television show right before bed. Any device that emits blue light, such as iPads, television, computers and smart phones, actually inhibits the body’s self regulating release of melatonin, which usually starts to occur a few hours before bed. This makes it hard for a person to feel sleepy. Leaving any thing that emits a blue light on in the bedroom can inhibit the pineal gland from producing the melatonin at all while the light is being emitted.

Add essential oils to the bedtime routine – There are some great essential oil combinations that can help the body to relax. Two that are safe for children are lavender and roman chamomile. You can diffuse some by the bedside or apply a drop or two to the bottoms of the feet. Both oils have calming, soothing and relaxing properties.

Our New Arrival!!

Introducing our NEW ARRIVAL at My Green Mattress

Our newest product is now available for you to purchase just in time for YOUR new arrival! We are very excited to offer the My Green Crib mattress made with organic cotton and natural wool for just $249 with free shipping. It’s important to know that not all crib mattresses are made the same, and that choosing a crib mattress warrants careful consideration.

You know that new babies need love, attention, nourishment, and up to 18 hours of sleep each day to grow up healthy. We want to keep your baby safe and as close to nature as possible when he is sleeping all those hours (fingers crossed). Many conventional mattresses are made with dangerous flame retardant chemicals and petroleum based foams that off~gas and can cause sleep disturbances, allergies, and illness. We know you want something better!

Like us, you want to offer your little one the most non-toxic and natural products you possibly can. At My Green Mattress, we now offer our customers a crib mattress of the highest quality, handcrafted with an organic cotton and natural wool quilted cover. The wool acts as a natural flame retardant meaning your baby won’t be exposed to any dangerous flame retardant chemicals. We use a heavy batting of organic cotton to provide your baby comfort and a natural night’s sleep. The mattress contains a firm 150 coil innerspring unit with a supportive edge. (Recommended by the Consumers Safety Commision – http://www.cpsc.gov//PageFiles/129289/202.pdf)  And, we’ve made the mattress two-sided for longer wear and the ability to flip it in case of an accident or spill. All of our My Green Mattresses are proudly handcrafted in the USA.

Each crib mattress is made to order and shipped to your doorstep via Fed Ex within 7 days. We’re very excited about our new arrival and we hope you are too!

Perfect for your baby, the My Green Crib Mattress:

• is handcrafted using organic cotton and premium wool
• contains no chemical flame retardants
• uses non-synthetic fabrics
• latex free
• free of polyurethane foams
• passes all open flame testing required by law
• is certified to be free of lead by UL Laboratories
• Dimensions: 27.5″ width x 52.5″ length x 6″ height
• Proudly Made in the USA

 

 

 

Organic Cotton – Better for the Earth and for the Environment

Thankfully, the importance of eating organic foods is becoming common knowledge. With links to cancer, infertility, mental illnesses and the like, ingesting the chemicals commonly used on foods is toxic.

What people are becoming increasingly aware of is that it’s just as important to make sure that what we surround ourselves with daily in other areas of our life is organic as well. Case in point: cotton. We come into contact with this material on a daily basis, be it clothing, various stuffed animals, blankets, sheets, tablecloths, furniture, mattresses, and towels, to name more than a few. Because its cotton we assume it’s safe, as it’s easy to take the fabric for granted, knowing it’s soft, natural and breathable. The truth is though, that if not organic, cotton is one of the most heavily treated fabrics out there.

“Conventionally grown cotton uses more insecticides than any other crop in the world. It is estimated that each year cotton producers use as much as 25 percent of the world’s insecticides and more than 10 percent of the world’s pesticides; an incredible amount for one just one crop”(Dietz, Huff Post Green).

These chemicals pollute our air and water supply, and have a grave effect on those working with or living around the areas where cotton is being grown and treated. Across all agricultural sectors, an estimated 1 to 5 million cases of pesticide poisoning occur every year, resulting in 20,000 reported deaths among agricultural workers and at least 1 million requiring hospitalization (The True Costs of Pesticides). Among the many documented cases, in one year in one spot alone (Alabama 1995), “240,000 fish died Shortly after farmers had applied pesticides containing endosulfan and methyl parathion to cotton fields and heavy rains washed them into the water”(Pesticide Action Network).

Unlike standard cotton, “Organic cotton is grown using methods and materials that have a low impact on the environment. Organic production systems replenish and maintain soil fertility, reduce the use of toxic and persistent pesticides and fertilizers, and build biologically diverse agriculture”(Organic Trade Association).

By choosing organic cotton, you are choosing a material that is safer for the earth and for you. These days, untreated cotton is becoming more readily available in the realms of many industries, including clothing and bedding, but in others, like mattresses, it’s still hard to find.

Because cotton is so much a part of our lives, going organic may seem daunting at first, but it’s really quite simple. Start one item at a time. As something needs replacing, search and buy organic. The more the demand, the more organic cotton will be used, limiting the conventionally processed cotton and thus, the hazards that come with it. By demanding organic cotton, we are demanding health and safety for ourselves, for our communities, and for our earth.

We care about both the people working with our beds and the people sleeping on them; we use only organic cotton on our mattresses and we sell beautiful, soft organic cotton sheets to go with them. It’s a great place to start!