Mattress cover cleaning

Are the mattress covers machine washable or dry clean only?

If they are machine washable I would hang them to dry, the vinyl bottom might not like the dryer heat.

Ours have a musty smell from age (2001 2619 new to us).

[hillbillyhotel]

we took ours off and washed in the washer and let them air dry,
did not seem to bother them.

[pauloh]

We took our mattress covers off and washed them in our front-loading washer (1 cover at a time) about a year ago after buying a used TM. We hung the covers to dry outside in the sun and wind.
Meanwhile went over the foam rubber with a vacuum cleaner a few times and let those lay in the sun/air also.
The difficult part is getting the foam back inside the covers...at least in our case, with a king size mattress in the back, it was a 2 person job. They are a tight fit but you can gradually wiggle them back in.

Originally Posted by pauloh

We took our mattress covers off and washed them in our front-loading washer (1 cover at a time) about a year ago after buying a used TM. We hung the covers to dry outside in the sun and wind.
Meanwhile went over the foam rubber with a vacuum cleaner a few times and let those lay in the sun/air also.
The difficult part is getting the foam back inside the covers...at least in our case, with a king size mattress in the back, it was a 2 person job. They are a tight fit but you can gradually wiggle them back in.

Cool! Thanks to all of the responses. A local dry cleaner wants $48 per cover!
And they don't always get smells out. I will wash each by itself and then the second wash I will also use those "smell good" pellets being advertised.

I want to buy new foam, but the mattress company near us closed down so, I will have to try the sunshine and vacuum method.

Just a thought - I've bought replacement foam through local upholstery shops. They may be a little easier to find than mattress companies. - camp2canoe

If you wash them on a nice dry sunny day, try putting them back on before totally dry. They shrink the first time they are washed and will stretch a little better to install if not totally dry. Once on let the mattress and cover dry in the sun.

[MariaG]

I think we used the carpet/upholstery cleaner on them, and maybe some Febreeze.

[bobhardy3]

We pulled the cover off. Ours had the fabric like a sofa would use on the top with a microfabric? on the bottom. Same issues, smelled musty. Wouldn't you know it the bottom had mildew on it.

I figured we had nothing to lose, so we washed on heavy soiled selection and used tide + oxy clean. That didn't kill the spots, so I hit it with bath and tub mildew spray (what did I have to lose). Rewashed it a second time and it came out fine with no stains or light colors. Let it air dry completely over some chairs and reinstalled over the cleaned foam.

I found some online sources for foam at around $175 for the size of the queen in medium to hard for premium foam.

To reinstall, just find the bottom corners with a helper and then sit the foam in it. Then slowly start inching the sides up after seating the bottom corners in place. If it is not exactly where you want it after pulling up the fabric, fold the foam in a Z fashion and wiggle the fabric to the spot you want it and unfold the foam again. Imagine wrestling an alligator, and you have the picture!

Good luck!

Bob