How to Get Rid of Mattress Topper Odor

What do you do when you find the perfect mattress topper that helps you sleep better but smells awful? Don’t worry about the battle between your back pain and your nose; you can have it both ways.

The odor you get from a Mattress Topper or even a Mattress Pad is a very common complaint. Sometimes you can get lucky and buy a topper that does not smell, we will talk about that in a bit. The other times you purchase a topper and the smell of VOC’s or a chemical smell of it off-gassing is annoying and smelly.

Why Do Mattress Toppers Have Odors?

The biggest reason why a topper can smell is from the manufacturing process. Memory foam toppers are the ones that smell the most. Other ones like Latex or wool pads are less likely to smell.

Memory foam is made by a chemical process, just like many things we buy, but that is not the reason why it smells so bad. The biggest reason is what they put into the mattress topper.

Memory Foam Mattress topper makers are forced to place fire retardant into the material. This process and the chemicals is what causes it to smell like paint. It’s a good thing to have this in the topper for obvious reasons.

How to Get Rid of the Odor!

If you love the mattress topper you have now and just want to get rid of the smell then we have some helpful tips for you.

If the topper is not off the bed, then go ahead and remove it.

Breeze

The best way to eliminate the smell of the mattress topper is just to allow it to breathe. If you have the option to hang the topper outside all day, then do that. This is very effective! If it starts to rain, quickly grab the topper as the rain will not help with the odors. The topper must stay dry!

Can’t Go Outside Method

What if you can’t hang the topper outside? Not a big deal. What you want to do is lay the topper near an open window. Just lay it flat and have it somewhat near the window for ventilation purposes. If you have a ceiling fan, then turn on too. The idea is simple, to remove the smells you must suck it out. A vacuum cleaner can work – but honestly, it can be too strong and can damage the topper, so we recommend you don’t do it. What I like to do instead is place a desk fan near the topper and have it blow on the topper all day long.

I know the fan idea sounds silly, but it does work. It works even better if you have a box fan and you prop the 4 corners so that the fan is not touching the topper and have it blow all day long too. It’s important that you don’t lay the box fan flush on the topper, you must prop it up with books or something so that it can get air flow.

If you have two windows in the room, then open both so that a cross breeze can come in. If you only have one window then get another box fan or some type of fan to blow the air out of the room.

If you don’t want to deal with fans. You can just leave the topper on your mattress but don’t have any sheets over it. Grab some odor absorbing things like Environmental Air Sponge* and place it next to your bed. This works well at absorbing odors like a sponge, and you don’t have to use any power either!

Whatever you do don’t do this!

I know you’ll see all over the internet people telling you to use baking soda to remove the odor. And it’s true that baking soda will absorb the odor of your mattress topper, but what you don’t want to do is vacuum a topper with baking soda in it.

Fine dust like baking soda is terrible for your vacuum. Don’t believe me, then check it out here.

To keep from damaging your vacuum, I would avoid using it to clean up baking soda. Honestly, I would avoid using baking soda for getting rid of the mattress topper odor altogether.

Also, avoid using air fresheners like Febreze as they’re not meant to solve the problem, just mask it.

Vinegar

Everyone loves to mention vinegar when cleaning or removing smells. I’m not a fan of it, but it can work for some toppers that have a slight odor to them. Just get a bowl of white vinegar and place it next to the topper. The vinegar is good at grabbing the smells. Avoid spilling it, but if you do just take a damp rag to it and let it dry out.

What if you tried everything, but still stinks?

If you tried everything and yet the topper or pad still smells then you got to return it. If the smell is not gone by a week or so, then something is wrong.

If you want a topper that does not smell like chemicals, then you need to avoid memory foam as much as possible. You’ll also want to avoid going to your local department stores as they buy the cheap toppers that smell. The best method is to buy online since you can see what others are saying about the odors.

Your best bet to avoid memory foam smells is to purchase a wool topper/pad. I know what you’re thinking – wool is too hot!

Wool is one of the materials that regulate your bodies heat the best out of any topper or pad you’ll buy. Wool is like a miracle material, its soft, keeps cool, and warm too!

Wool toppers are well worth it if you’re very sensitive to chemical odors and about the only option.

Leave a Comment