Landlord looking for mattress cleaning advice.

Gautama · 16-08-2012 01:00PM #1

I'm about to rent out my house. The mattress of the master bedroom is a 5 year old Sealy, so it's got a good few years left in it.
However, the surface has stains.
(If this sounds disgusting to you, I advise that you never go on holidays, and if you do, don't look under the bedsheets. Compare two people in five years with five people in two weeks...).

Have any posters/readers successfully removed such stains? If so, what product did you use?
I've googled it, but there is more opinion than advice, and no actual products mentioned, just 'detergent', etc. I'm thinking mild Domestos?

Thanks.

ABajaninCork · 16-08-2012 01:02PM

I'd get a new mattress TBH. Tenant will probably insist on one anyway.

Pkiernan · 16-08-2012 02:56PM

If you know that a mattress you are supplying to a tenant is covered in piss, then you really should replace it.

As to cleaning, you should look at renting a carpet cleaner and using the upholstery attachment.

But you should replace it.

Gautama · 16-08-2012 03:56PM

Are you suggesting that every landlord replaces every mattress for every new tenant?
Or that every landlord replaces every mattress for every new guest?

Chance would be a fine thing, but I'm willing to go with the norm.

Gautama · 16-08-2012 03:59PM

ABajaninCork wrote: »

Tenant will probably insist on one anyway.

Good point, then I could use the expense to leverage up the rent, maybe an extra €50 per month?

username123 · 16-08-2012 04:02PM

I would think its a good idea to replace a 5 year old mattress thats covered in stains for a new tenant.

More importantly, if you want to continue using mattresses for a long time over different tenants then you need to have the tenants use mattress protectors.

I do check the mattress in hotels - and Ive never come across a stained one.

Solair · 16-08-2012 04:05PM

OP,

It's actually pretty much impossible to clean a mattress once it's been urninated on. They're a deep pad and can never be cleaned fully through.

If they're yellowish stains, they're actually more likely to be sweat and probably things like moisturisers and other body cosmetics.

You really should fit mattress protectors and provide spare ones to avoid this in future. They're very cheap relative to new mattresses.

Even on my own bed at home, I always use them as you can just throw them into the wash once in a while and you've a nice fresh mattress.

Everyone sweats at night and all that sweat has to go somewhere!

I know if I were the tenant, I certainly wouldn't accept a stained mattress. It's absolutely disgusting, I wouldn't be able to sleep on it.

Jesus Shaves · 16-08-2012 04:13PM

Gautama wrote: »

Good point, then I could use the expense to leverage up the rent, maybe an extra €50 per month?

Please tell me the address of the property so I know never to rent it

BostonB · 16-08-2012 04:18PM

Gautama wrote: »

I'm about to rent out my house. The mattress of the master bedroom is a 5 year old Sealy, so it's got a good few years left in it.....

You'd be lucky to get 2yrs out a mattress in a rented place.

That and bedside lockers. Almost every tenant I ever had broke the bedside lockers. So I stopped putting them in.

Consider unfurnished. its much less hassle.

latenia · 16-08-2012 04:21PM

Go to www.bigmickey.ie you stingey ****

Gandhi · 16-08-2012 05:40PM

From a landlord's POV, I would replace the mattress immediately. If you had a tenant leaving and you found he had covered the mattress in urine stains, would you withhold the amount for a new mattress from the deposit? Of course you would.

If I was a prospective tenant and saw a urine-stained mattress, I'd immediately start wondering what other bodily fluids are laying around the house, and keep walking regardless of whether you offered to change the mattress.

As for asking for an extra E50 for a urine-free mattress, I would think I was on Candid Camera if a landlord asked me that. Would you also charge extra for doors to have handles on, or to not have raw sewage flowing across the back garden?

Tails142 · 16-08-2012 06:03PM

OP is hilarious, I guess he thinks people are going to be queueing down the road to sleep in his piss stained mattress....

OP before you go out to buy a cheap mattress wait to see what your tenant wants to do - I know I've always preferred to use my own expensive mattress rather than some cheapo piece of crap the landlord has got from bargaintown so maybe just show the house with the divan or whatever and no mattress, say you can get one for them if they dont want to get their own.

anthonyos · 16-08-2012 06:08PM

typical tight arse landlord makes me sick

Qualitymark · 16-08-2012 06:11PM

Heh, blatant trolling! Love it!

Zamboni · 16-08-2012 06:32PM

Gandhi wrote: »

From a landlord's POV, I would replace the mattress immediately. If you had a tenant leaving and you found he had covered the mattress in urine stains, would you withhold the amount for a new mattress from the deposit? Of course you would.

Normal wear and tear no?

:pac:

Solair · 16-08-2012 06:40PM

Also, if you clean the mattress with something nasty such as Domestos as you mentioned you risk having a tenant getting a really nasty bleach burn / allergic reaction / asthma attack which could potentially leave you open to major issues.

I don't think anyone would expect there to have been bleach used on bedding!

Qualitymark · 16-08-2012 06:58PM

Zamboni wrote: »

Normal wear and tear no?

:pac:

Deffo. I'll just ring Health 'n' Safety to check

fasttalkerchat · 16-08-2012 07:40PM

I think enough people have expressed disgust for you to get the message but incase that isn't enough here's something a LL once told me.

The quality of the house dictates the quality of tenant. All the good tenants will walk away when they see a used mattress so you will be left with the ones who think its acceptable to smoke inside, have cats pissing all over the place and leave rubbish in the attic when they leave.

Merch · 16-08-2012 08:16PM

Not sure why tenants dont insist on using their own mattress??
and furniture for that matter
It would seem to be a win win situation for everyone to me?

Qualitymark · 16-08-2012 08:31PM

I think tenants have more rights in an unfurnished flat. In Ireland, where renting is sometimes seen as a way to grind and exploit other people, rather than a friendly bargain with justice and decency on both sides, this is considered a bad thing.

MistyCheese · 16-08-2012 08:31PM

Gandhi wrote: »

As for asking for an extra E50 for a urine-free mattress

Actually, the OP is suggesting an extra €50 a month.

Gautama wrote: »

Good point, then I could use the expense to leverage up the rent, maybe an extra €50 per month?

Over a 12 month tenancy that's a €600 mattress. If I was paying for a €600 mattress you can bet the bedspread that I'd be taking it with me when I go!

fasttalkerchat · 16-08-2012 08:42PM

Merch wrote: »

Not sure why tenants dont insist on using their own mattress??
and furniture for that matter
It would seem to be a win win situation for everyone to me?

I don't see the point in buying furniture that I'll have to pay to move every time I move house. Also when you move into a place you can't be bothered finding everything right away, better to get a house with the basics already there.

When I buy my own house then I will buy the furniture to suit it.

Merch · 16-08-2012 08:42PM

Qualitymark wrote: »

I think tenants have more rights in an unfurnished flat. In Ireland, where renting is sometimes seen as a way to grind and exploit other people, rather than a friendly bargain with justice and decency on both sides, this is considered a bad thing.

I've never heard this? how would this be so?

I agree with the rest though

fasttalkerchat · 16-08-2012 08:43PM

Merch wrote: »

I've never heard this? how would this be so?

I agree with the rest though

I think he means because LLs can claim that furniture was damaged etc. The less that is in the house; the less open you are to being unfairly charged.

Qualitymark · 16-08-2012 08:46PM

Merch wrote: »

I've never heard this? how would this be so?

I agree with the rest though

Different rules on furnished and unfurnished flats. Why? Who knows.

mikemac1 · 16-08-2012 08:46PM

Do the decent thing and get a new mattress

Everything can be haggled for in shops.
Go get a new mattress and haggle down the price. You see the shop price but knock it down, not as expensive as you think

I could use the expense to leverage up the rent, maybe an extra €50 per month?

FFS

If I was your tenant and found out I was paying that I'm taking the mattress with me when I move on

All landlords dream of the "young professional" who pays good money for the place.
Well if you want good standard of tenants you need a good standard of a place.
It's not 1992 anymore and nobody grabs the Evening Herald and queues for flats! Those days are gone

FGR · 16-08-2012 08:48PM

Carpet cleaner on max settings will kill any germs/bugs and will clean the mattress to a very hygienic standard.

Best thing to do after that is to place a freshly washed (not just out of the pack!) mattress cover and away you go.

fasttalkerchat · 16-08-2012 08:50PM

mikemac1 wrote: »

All landlords dream of the "young professional" who pays good money for the place.
Well if you want good standard of tenants you need a good standard of a place.
It's not 1992 anymore and nobody grabs the Evening Herald and queues for flats! Those days are gone

People used to queue for flats? Where?

Qualitymark · 16-08-2012 08:52PM

I reckon the OP is trolling, but assuming for a moment that this is a serious discussion, I personally would immediately report any landlord providing a unrine-damaged mattress to the Department of the Environment for putting tenants at hazard.

Merch · 16-08-2012 08:52PM

fasttalkerchat wrote: »

I don't see the point in buying furniture that I'll have to pay to move every time I move house. Also when you move into a place you can't be bothered finding everything right away, better to get a house with the basics already there.

When I buy my own house then I will buy the furniture to suit it.

Not sure why you wouldn't possibly want a better quality maybe cleaner mattress (at least you know who was in the bed)

fasttalkerchat wrote: »

I think he means because LLs can claim that furniture was damaged etc. The less that is in the house; the less open you are to being unfairly charged.

be easier, then deposit is about damage to property/unpaid rent, rather than on items that can be subject to wear and tear, either there is damage or not, i.e. a hole in the wall is or is not there. Wear and tear can be a bit more subjective.

Qualitymark wrote: »

Different rules on furnished and unfurnished flats. Why? Who knows.

I'm not trying to demand proof, but I'd like to see if thats written down somewhere to see what the differences are, do you have a link to something that details it? Its out of interest.

mikemac1 · 16-08-2012 08:54PM

fasttalkerchat wrote: »

People used to queue for flats? Where?

Dublin and Galway a decade ago

Been there, done that

More last week of August and thousands of students looking for a gaff

Bad times

Landlord looking for mattress cleaning advice.

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