You may never have considered the idea of creating a DIY mattress spray with essential oils. A mattress spray? Why does it need one?
Well, think about this for a minute: when was the last time you jumped into bed and said, “Wow, this bed smells SO GOOD!” and then took in a deep breath of the pleasant aroma and within a few minutes were asleep?
A DIY mattress spray with essential oils could accomplish this nightly!
Why a DIY Mattress Spray with Essential Oils is a Good Idea
There are 10 benefits of a DIY mattress spray with essential oils:
- Freshens up your sheets, blankets, and comforter when you can’t wash them on a regular basis
- Perfects the freshening up of laundered washed bed sheets, blankets, and comforter
- Allows you to have the most restful sleep possible
- Attacks and naturally deters the critters called DUST MITES! They’re everywhere!
- Keeps your bedding hygienic for children or a family member with dust mite allergies
- Extends the life of your mattress
- Eliminates stale smells and keeps your bedroom smelling great
- Enhances health and wellness and hygiene
- Substitutes for toxic chemicals found in fabric softeners and sprays for bedding
- Absorbs odor from mattresses
The Science Behind a DIY Mattress Spray with Essential Oils
Why this type of spray works is based on what’s happening scientifically in your mattress, what’s living there, essential oils, and personal hygiene/health.
When you sleep, your skin sloughs off dead skin cells. You don’t have any control over this; it happens naturally. But as this process is occurring, there are dust mites who are waiting to consume the dead skin cells.
The average home has about 10,000 dust mites / square meter. Dust mites live in mattresses, sheets, quilts, blankets, stuffed animals, sheepskin, pillows, carpet, floor rubs, curtains, and anything made of wool. And the more dead skin cells the dust mites have available to them, the more their number grows. Their excrement contains a protein that can activate allergy reactions and eczema and is also linked to asthma attacks.
The key is to decrease their number, and this is done by laundering sheets in hot water and using essential oils that repel and disarm dust mites. Allergies to dust mites include symptoms such as wheezing, sneezing, itchy skin, puffy eyelids, itchy eyes, and itchy nose.
Essential oils are concentrated extracts from plants that are naturally antibacterial, anti-‘bugs’, anti-inflammatory, open up breathing passages, and promote relaxation and healthy sleep.
Thus, a DIY mattress spray with essential oils can improve your quality of sleep while attacking all the other things that are interfering with sleep. Using essential oils is known to help alleviate allergy symptoms as well.
Dust mites and dirt that accumulates in your mattress reduces its lifespan. Your mattress is somewhat like a fine rug; the more dirt it accumulates, the worse it looks and the fibers start to degenerate.
DIY Mattress Spray with Essential Oils Recipe
Having this spray available in your home comes in handy in between laundering bedding and making up another spray bottle to enhance freshly washed sheets keeps your bedroom the most pleasant place in the house to be!
Equipment needed: Spray bottle, 16 ounces, preferably amber glass
Prep Time for the Spray: 5 minutes
Ingredients
8 ounces filtered or distilled water
8 ounces organic distilled white vinegar
4 drops tea tree essential oil
2 drops eucalyptus essential oil
10 drops lavender essential oil
8 drops sweet orange essential oil
4 drops lemon essential oil
Instructions
- Strip the bed of all linens and launder them. Air out the room by opening the windows.
Add 6 drops of tea tree essential oil and 2 drops of lavender essential oil to the wash.
- Vacuum the mattress – top and sides to remove dust mites, allergens, dead skin cells, hair, and dirt. This will only take 2 minutes.
- Add water and vinegar to the spray bottle. Then add essential oils. Shake well. Test the smell and adjust smell according to your preferences.
- Then spray away, spritzing the mattress and the pillows with the DIY mattress spray with essential oils. Let everything you spritzed sit for a few hours.
- Finish the laundering of the bedding. Spritz the freshly washed bedding after removing from the dryer. Then make up your bed with the fresh bedding.
- Store the DIY mattress spray in a dark, cool place, such as where you store your laundry detergent. Shake the bottle before each use in the future.
Note: You do not have to vacuum your mattress more than once a week! If using this mattress spray a few times a week, spritz away before vacuuming.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I substitute the essential oils with others that are my favorite?
Yes. When you make a substitution, consider the purpose. Is it better breathing, better sleep, or fewer dust mites? Choose the essential oils that match your purpose.
What types of essential oils are best for enhancing sleep?
Lavender, chamomile, bergamot, rose, sandalwood, ylang ylang, vetiver, and tea tree oil.
Many of these essential oils are known to help insomnia. They also may lower body temperature, blood pressure and heart rate, which happens naturally right before you go to sleep. Others of them on the list are known to reduce anxiety and calm down the mind.
What types of essential oils are best for dust mite repellent?
Peppermint, lemon, rosemary, clove, tea tree oil, eucalyptus, rose
What types of essential oils could be used in the DIY mattress spray for allergies and better breathing?
Eucalyptus and bergamot are two of the best choices for these purposes.
What types of essential oils should not be used?
Ones that will stimulate your nervous system, make you feel like you’ve wide awake. Peppermint and rosemary can be too stimulating; however, if you limit the number of drops in the DIY mattress spray to two, these essential oils will not be too stimulating.
Making up your DIY mattress spray with essential oils is one of the best things you can do to make your home a beautiful living space that is pleasant to be in!
