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It’s disappointing how little information you can find regarding the care of mattresses pre- and post-fumigation. Start off with the single item in your house that’s cradling you for over eight hours every night – your bed. What should you do with your mattress after fumigation? More importantly, what to do before?
What to Do With Your Mattress After Fumigation
It really depends on what you did with the mattress before the fumigation process. Did you leave it uncovered or wrapped in plastic bags?
Uncovered mattresses need to air out much longer than your entire home does because a mattress isn’t as easy to air out as simply opening the door and windows. This is because it doesn’t it doesn’t have a single large chamber, but thousands of teeny-tiny air chambers within the foam, wool, or whatever it’s made of.
People with thick curly hair will understand this from personal experience. As a curly-haired person, if you solely walk through a kitchen that someone’s cooking in, or through cigarette smoke, the smell is going to get in your hair and it just won’t leave. This is because curly hair creates pockets of air in between the curls and it’s hard to get rid of smells that creep in.
Your mattress is much worse than hair in that you can’t wash it on the inside and you’re destined to let it slowly release the gas over a long period of time. It practically off-gases toxic chemicals.
I’d say get rid of the mattress that was directly exposed to fumigation. I recommendations from the California Department of Public Health regarding protection during tenting and fumigation, which I highly suggest reading.
Mattresses that were covered in plastic should be opened as soon as possible and allowed to air out for at least 24 hours before being used. Even if you did a fantastic job at sealing your mattress, some gas might have permeated the plastic layers. That’s why your mattress needs a good clean and airing out.
How to clean your mattress after fumigation
- Open up the mattress from the plastic cover and vacuum it up. Vacuum slowly. Take your time because you want to allow the vacuum cleaner to extract as much of the gas as possible. Vacuum on all sides, including the bottom side.
- Use a damp cloth or clean towels to remove any remaining residue on the very surface of the mattress.
- Leave it outside or in a well-ventilated room.
- You must wash or replace any sheets and bedding before putting them on the mattress.
How to keep your mattress free of pests post-fumigation
- Vacuum and inspect the mattress every time you change sheets.
- Keep the mattress clean and occasionally spray it with alcohol or white vinegar for disinfection.
- Change sheets weekly.
- Learn to recognize early signs of bed bugs and other pests such as ants and chiggers.
- Finally, keep your entire house clean and tidy. Some pests end up in your bed only after they’ve infested your floor, bedroom, or other parts of the house.
How to Prepare Your Mattress Before Fumigation
I’ve looked at some of the biggest pest control services in the US and I was puzzled at first. Some of them recommended wrapping the mattress in plastic and sealing it, while others recommended removing any plastic protectors from any furniture, including baby mattresses!
Then I realized that both actions made sense – you don’t want poison to seep into your mattress and then off-gas chemicals for who knows how long while you’re sleeping on it. But you also don’t want to protect bed bugs under a nice plastic seal, only to release them after the fumigation process is over and they are safe to keep reproducing and infesting your home again, which would mean you just squandered thousands of dollars.
So, here’s how you should view it.
If they are going to fumigate against rats, termites, or other pests that don’t live in your bed, you should clean the bed and seal it in plastic. If you called fumigation services to rid your home of bed bugs, carpet beetles, or similar pests that do get in the bed and lay eggs there, you should let the mattress get fumigated.
I’d personally rather chuck the bed bug-ridden mattress than get it fumigated and then sleep on it right after the fumigation process. Let alone getting a crib fumigated and putting a child to sleep in it.
Nope.
If I’m paying thousands to get the job done, I’ll add a thousand or so more and lower the risk of getting seriously sick (eye or respiratory irritation, nausea), hospitalized, or even dead. And I’m not even overreacting, there are numerous people who had their homes cleared for entrance, only to become severely affected by the remaining gasses.
So, if you don’t want your mattress exposed to fumigation, do this:
- Remove bedding
- Vacuum your mattress
- Clean mattress and bedding
- Dry the mattress
- Seal the mattress in plastic
Step 1: Remove bedding
Get your sheets off the bed and if your bed does contain any pests, or you suspect it does, you can bag all the bedding for the time being.
This will prevent them from getting scattered across the bedroom or other rooms.
Step 2: Vacuum your mattress
Get a vacuum cleaner and vacuum the mattress thoroughly. Pay special attention to seams and crevices and make sure to vacuum the bottom side as well. Take your time because the entire surface of the mattress cover should be vacuumed well. Use the brush attachment for the surface and a crevice attachment for tight places.
To make your work more effective, start at one corner and work in square sections of a couple of feet. When you’re done with one section, move on to the next one.
Step 3: Clean mattress and bedding
- Step 1. Wash your sheets in hot water. Check whether your pillows and comforters can also be washed in the machine on high heat or, if not, they are better to be replaced. Some pests, especially bed bugs, lay eggs in any part of the bedding. They do prefer areas around seams, though. Dry on the hottest setting.
- Step 2. Use a steam cleaner (unless you have a memory foam mattress, which can get damaged from this kind of heat). Steam cleaning can do a good job of disinfecting deep into the mattress fibers. Use the same technique as you did with vacuuming – square by square.
- Step 3. Mix one-half of a cup of Borax or a whole cup of baking soda into a gallon of water. Mix well and then add part by part into a spray bottle and spray the entire mattress with it. It should be damp, but not soaking wet.
And – voila! That’s how you clean a mattress to prepare for fumigation.
Step 4: Dry the mattress
Next either take the mattress outside and leave it long enough to dry completely, or leave it in a room with lots of ventilation (open windows, electric fans…); anything that will help it air dry.
If you have any doubts about leaving your mattress outside or getting it completely dry, you can check out our guide on how to dry a mattress.
Step 5: Seal the mattress in plastic
Finally, get a nice thick plastic bag. Perfect case scenario? You saved the original plastic wrap that you had cut neatly when opening the mattress.
Don’t have the original wrap? You can buy a couple of them online. You can also combine several plastic bags or stretch wrap. Make sure that you have at least two layers of thick plastic or several layers of stretch wrap.
Then seal with duct tape. To check whether you’ve sealed it properly, press the mattress. If the bag releases air somewhere, try to find the spot and tape it.
What You Need to Know First – Before Fumigation
Fumigation can involve deadly chemicals and it’s important to know at least the bare minimum about it before you do anything.
What you can and should do with your mattress before and after fumigation depends on the type of chemicals and the purpose of the fumigation.
Step one is to ask your fumigation expert for the name of the exact chemical(s) they intend to use and read up on it. See how toxic they are and what experience other people had with them.
Some of the commonly used chemicals and methods in the US are:
- sulfuryl fluoride (brands: Vikane, Zythor, Master Fume…) – highly toxic – against bed bugs, drywood termites, cockroaches, rodents
- methyl bromide (brands: Brom-o-Gas, Bromomethane, Celfume, Zytox…) – highly toxic – fungi, weeds, insects and bugs, roundworms, rodents
- ThermaPureHeat – no chemicals, non-toxic, just heat – against mold, bed bugs, termites, bacteria, and more
- Some people claim that their fumigation companies used banned chemicals, so make sure you know what exactly you’re dealing with.
After the fumigation professional completes the fumigation process, your home usually has to remain tented for a few hours. Then the Structural Pest Control Operator (SPCO) opens up the doors and windows to allow for airflow.
After this process, called aeration, the SPCO measures the air quality with something commonly called a “sniffing machine”, and after he determines whether it’s safe for you to return, you can technically come back. This is usually after 24 hours. People who are sensitive to chemicals should wait longer. Actually, most of the people who got sick from fumigation and its toxic chemicals (and sometimes it’s quite severe) entered their homes after they were cleared to do so by the SPCO!
You should know that the chemicals might seep into cabinets and drawers and they can remain there even after the home is aired out. When you open them up, you could be exposed to toxic chemicals which might cause irritation or even nausea, seizures, and in the worst case, death.
Mattresses are like any soft furniture – permeable. They can trap the hazardous chemicals and it’s going to take a lot of time for the gas to completely get out of your mattress. That is, unless you protect it.
Can Fumigation Damage Your Mattress?
The chemicals won’t harm or damage the materials inside your mattress or the cover itself. Even the heat treatment won’t damage it.
But if you left your mattress unprotected for a chemical fumigation treatment, the chemicals will have seeped into the mattress. Vacuuming won’t take them all out and you could say that the mattress will have become a hazard. Bagged mattresses should be aired out for 24 hours, so unbagged ones might be safe-ish after a week.
Sometimes you just need to replace a mattress, especially in severe cases when fumigation was heavy.
FAQs
It’s not safe to sleep on a mattress the very night you got cleared to enter your home after fumigation. Even if you had bagged the mattress to protect it from the fumigant, you need to open it up, vacuum it, and allow 24 hours for it to air out before it’s safe to sleep on it. But in case you left the mattress exposed directly to the gasses, you should vacuum it well, and leave it outside for several days. Then check to see if you notice any toxic smell. If you do, better get a new mattress because it is not recommended to be in the proximity of these dangerous chemicals.
Some of them do. Although fumigation is overall a very effective way to eradicate pests, the process often needs to be repeated because some bugs do survive. People normally get 3-4 fumigation treatments. Pest control companies usually schedule those treatments once a week or every other week. After the company determines your home is free of infestation and says that your home doesn’t need any further treatments, you can rest assured that no living bed bugs remained in the house.
All food, medicines, and cosmetics have to be removed from the home or tightly sealed. You need to wash any silverware and dishes thoroughly after fumigation. Clothes and sheets should be either bagged or, if fumigated, washed after the treatment. In a nutshell, anything that goes onto your skin and into your mouth must be dealt with carefully. And, finally, you must get any plants and pets away as they will not be able to survive the fumigation process.
Conclusion
Pesticides and other toxic chemicals aren’t supposed to end up inside your mattress. This is because if they do, the mattress will inevitably be releasing them over time, especially as a result of movement – when you’re sleeping in it and changing positions.
Although your pest control company might request that you leave the mattress directly exposed to fumigation in order to kill bed bugs or carpet beetles, it is your responsibility to make sure it’s safe to sleep on it after the process is complete.
Consider replacing the mattress if it was directly exposed to fumigation and the toxic smell lingers even after days of airing out.
Sometimes, bagging your mattress won’t mess up the fumigation process; for example, when you’re fumigating against rodents. They don’t live in mattresses, so you should seal your mattress to keep toxic fumes away.
After fumigation, open the mattress and vacuum it thoroughly. Don’t forget to let it air out for at least 24 hours.
Next step: Read our Emma mattress review. If you damaged your mattress during the fumigation process then it’s time to get a new one. We like Emma because it’s affordable, durable, and one of the most comfortable mattresses we’ve ever tried. We list the pros and cons so you can decide for yourself if it’s worth the money.
With over 5 years experience writing about sleep and mattresses, she's considered one of the go-to experts on the topic.
She likes cycling, nature, art, and languages. She pays special attention to providing you with accurate and useful information when it comes to your sleep quality.
After solving her personal sleep and tiredness problems, she is on to help others by sharing this invaluable information.
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