GROSS... We should all do this for fun

[godfreys_guy]

Below is what I vacuumed out of a 5 month old mattress... Its really gross thinking you're sleeping on it too.

Extra points for who can name the type of machine the dust cup is from

 

[vacfanatic]

Bissell

We use a waterproof cotton faced mattress protector that gets washed about every couple of months since the dog sleeps in the bed with us. I think it pretty much keeps most of all of that stuff out of the mattress.

Looks like a Bissell dust cup to me ;-)

Andrew

 

[godfreys_guy]

well done

Good work andrew.

 

[twocvbloke]

A good tip to make your mattress smell clean, before vacuuming sprinkle baking soda (Sodium Bicarbonate, not baking "powder" which is a different thing), leave for a few hours, then vacuum, and your mattress will then smell nicer...

Last time I vacuumed a bed, I pulled up a LOT more, but then I was using a VibraGroomer2 based PN (my Eureka RotoMatic Powerteam PN), so it beat the dirt and skin and other yukkyness out... :S

 

[mark40511]

I've always vacuumed my mattress every time I change the sheets..My grandma always did this so I got it from that I guess.

 

[trebor]

Vacuuming mattresses

A rotating brush can scar a shiny polyester/rayon fabric cover. I sewed a coarse fabric pocket with a spring in the top that slides over the Kirby nozzle. It allows the agitation, and pulls the junk through the weave of the cloth, but does not scar the shiny cloth.

Trebor

 

[whirlpolf]

sheesh.... so what?

Ok, dust mites and their "residues" may have a certain impact on allergic persons but what the heck?
They've been around since stone age. I am an outdoor person camping in the hills, hello frogs and other critters, welcome!
As some moms in my school friends neighborhoods used to say: "Don't wash them boys too frequently, dirt makes them strong".
After 3 decades I have found out this can be true (personal dispositions notwithstanding, for sure): Many of the "everclean mommy's best boy" guys now have severe difficulties during pollen time in spring while the rotten dirt-pig gang (me included) suffer from just nothing at all. I think the vac industry wants us to feel gross while I personally shrug this off with a blatant "so what?"
As you may have guessed: There may be other things lingering around deep down in the matress that I even DO care for (or fondly remember) ;-)))
I love vacuums for their technology and their ability to help me, but certainly not for getting hysterical about a most natural thing. They are just a tool to do a job, not a shield against new artificially fired-up fears.
(OK: I am allergic to nothing, I might even digest cobblestones and batteries with no harm done - things might be different with someone severely suffering, please take me out of that).
I just thought there is some point to saying bye to the "yieeeeks" hysteria phobia.
Cleaning a matress is fine with me, but I'd never call this "disgusting".
Those vacuum indoor demos always ask you: "10 bucks if you drink this" (no problem, I've done it for free, burped, and that was it. So what?)

 

[joshdonnell]

gross

i think i its a good idea to clean your bed!. i wanna be healthey and clean not sleep on flith and vacuums can either sheld you from things or make your home dirtier . just saying .

 

[lovecanisters]

ewwww, lol

seriously though, part of my weekly heavy cleaning...I have mattress protectors, due to allegies, so those get washed and the mattress always gets vacuumed...my pillows have protectors too...lol

 

[twocvbloke]

You know, I forgot I had this video in my Youtube list, it's a capture I did of the BBC's "One show" from years ago, I captured it for the modified Kirby G6 they used in it, but it is handy to have now this thread's appeared:

 

[trebor]

I have one of those...

modified G6 Kirby's known as a Hygienitech. I got a great deal on it, and intended to use it as a money making business. Unfortunately, I my rotator cuffs prohibit my lugging it and out of enough houses a day to do so.

The machine does do a phenomenal job.

Trebor

 

[tolivac]

some years back while demoing and selling Tristars-Mg1,2.One customer wanted us to to do the matteress demo-we don't normally like to do it-since it takes time for the customer to tear down his bed-well,the customer took apart his bed-and the matteress exposed.Put a black test pad in the TriStar dirt meter.Vacuumed the bed with the power nozzle-and took out the test pad-the dust mite infestation on the bed was so bad the particles were moving!and trying to crawl off the pad.dust mites are actually bigger then what is said in the demo above-you can see them.That was the worst one I had seen-most of the time its just the white skin "ash" and hair.The customer bought the TriStar.We ordered the small hand tool power nozzle for him.

 

[trebor]

The mattress test...

was the point where I closed 50% or more of my demos. Walking in mite poo with shoes on, or sitting in it with clothes on is one thing, rolling in it naked is something else. YUCK!

Trebor

 

[tolivac]

Dust Mites-what did people do in the days BEFORE vacuum cleaners-did they even know about dust mites and other things-probably not and took it for granted.Yes,both pillows and matteresses may be infested with several POUNDS of mites and their "debris"Yet in those older days people didn't know about them or pay any attention to them-how long have people and other animals for that matter have lived with the mites-probably for thousands of years!Now its Bedbugs-since they acutally bite-they are more dangeropus than the dust mites-the mites just want to eat your skin ash-their mouthparts are too small to bite you with.

 

[twocvbloke]

Before vacuum cleaners, people used to sleep with all kinds of nasties, bed bugs, mites, headlice, fleas (Human fleas and animal fleas), bacteria, sweat, dead skin and all that. Up until the last century people still believed that washing yourself and your clothing was bad for you, so they just went around smelling bad and suffering as a consequence, and even in the 20th century, regular bathing was a relatively rare event, up until it was made popular by movie stars of old...

With cleanliness and hygiene, we are living longer, but being "too clean" is bad for you, cases of allergies and asthma have rocketed over the past few decades simply because people are being too aggressive with their cleaning...

 

[tolivac]

Maybe matteresses and pillows,and other stuffed furniture-should be vacuumed with a Rainbow cleaner-the dust mites get DROWNED in the water bin!

 

[trebor]

Dust Mites...

are an issue in temperature/humidity controlled environments. People slept in their own dead skin, but little mite poo, because the mites could not live in rooms where the water in the washing pitcher froze overnight. Mites are a problem today because we sleep in comfortable beds and tightly sealed environments. Stop insulating, give up A/C and go back to sleeping on rope mattresses and the mites will die off, any takers?

 

[vacbear58]

Like everything else in life .......

its all a matter of balance. Yes cleanliness and hygiene are important, and yes it is possible to get too carried away with it, to the possible ultimate detriment of the immune system.

Can I just add for our german colleague that I come from a "normal" background in terms of cleanliness as my mother (and me for that matter) was not OCD about cleaning yet I go through hell each spring, and it is now just coming to an end for this year, with my pollen allergy (hay-fever) as I have done for the last 45 years or so. My older brother (60 this year) still has to be careful about house dust mites as that is his particular allergy (and even more extreme than mine whcih is unpleasant rather than life threatening) so no feather pillows or cushions in his house and indeed they do not even have carpet in any room, although that may be down to a life style choice rather than anything else - he does not have the pollen allergy though. So genetics may have something to do with it as well.

Al

 

[filterqueenman]

Sorry But....

Absolutely no scientific data supports this claim:


<span style="background-color: #ffcc00;">With cleanliness and hygiene, we are living longer, but being "too clean" is bad for you, cases of allergies and asthma have rocketed over the past few decades simply because people are being too aggressive with their cleaning...</span>


 


As more and more viruses are addressed with anti-viral drugs we are now seeing "super virus" that are very difficult to address with conventional antibiotics.  The emergence of resistant bacteria is always going to be an issue because of treatments to the food we ingest from animals whom received antibiotic supplements in their feed.   Of course this is only scratching the surface of a much larger picture - but preventing the transfer of bacteria is still relatively easy with soap and water!


 


As for allergies and asthma - cleanliness has nothing do to with it - the increase is from environmental pollutants and other agents seen with the advancement in technology over the last century.