Bandits Mattress and Carpet Freshening Powder

by Marie | Sep 29, 2014 | Cleaning, Very Crunchy | 16 comments

This lovely three-ingredient Bandits Mattress and Carpet Freshening Powder refreshes un-launderables quickly and easily, and it uses Bandits Oil to boot, so that’s awesome 🙂

You can whip this up really easily in your DIY specific coffee grinder—it might take one whole minute. Once it’s all blended up, all that’s left is to move it into a shaker bottle of some kind (an old salt shaker works brilliantly).

Baking soda is deodorizing, white kaolin clay (USA / Canada) helps absorb any excess moisture, and bandits oil helps disinfect. It’s a great trio of ingredients.

I tested this out on my mattress for a bit of autumn cleaning. After stripping off the sheets and mattress pad I liberally sprinkled the freshening powder all over my mattress (I used the entire recipe) and then left it for a few hours.

Once I needed my bed back, I vacuumed up the powder, popped on some clean sheets, and hit the hay. Mmmm. If clean sheets are good, this is even better!

Bandits Mattress and Carpet Freshening Powder

4 tbsp baking soda (USA / Canada)
1 tbsp white kaolin clay (USA / Canada)
20 drops bandits essential oil blend

Blend 2 tbsp baking soda (USA / Canada) and 1 tbsp clay together in your DIY specific coffee grinder. Once mixed, blend in the essential oil blend until thoroughly incorporated. Mix in the rest of the baking soda (USA / Canada) and decant into a shaker-top bottle.

To use, shake over a bare mattress (or carpet) and leave it to rest for at least five hours (doing this before work is a great idea, or before you leave for a weekend away). I used the entire amount on my double mattress, though I was being very generous.

When you need your bed/floor back, vacuum the powder off, make your bed, and enjoy your lovely, fresh mattress/carpet!

Save

Humblebee & Me is an Amazon Associate and earns income from qualifying purchases. This is at no additional cost to you.

Help support Humblebee & Me
Many of you have asked if there's a way to help support Humblebee & Me, so I signed up for Patreon. If you love what I do, have learned from me, sell anything made from my recipes, and want to see Humblebee & Me continue to grow and expand, I'd be thrilled if you'd consider becoming a patron. It works by making monthly donations—you can donate $3 a month if you'd like—and then I can use that money to continue to expand Humblebee & Me. There's so much I'd love to do, and you can help make it happen :)
Learn More

Before you comment with a question...

Please read the entire post.
Please read the Substitutions list in the post.
Please look up any ingredients you have questions about in the Humblebee & Me DIY Encyclopedia
Please check out the Humblebee & Me FAQ as well—there's over 100 articles!

Comments that ask questions that are answered in the post, Encyclopedia, or FAQ are unlikely to be answered. I'm sorry, but I'm just one person!

16 Comments

Kat on September 29, 2014 at 7:07 am

Awesome! I love that this is safe for kids/pets unlike the mystery chemical “carpet powder” that I would not want to use around my toddler. I will be making some up for my carpets!
Reply
- Marie on October 5, 2014 at 3:35 pm
  
  Awesome! Enjoy it, Kat 🙂
  Reply
Jillian on September 29, 2014 at 8:11 am

I will definitely give this a go! I will substitute Diatomaceous Earth though, for the Kaolin Clay. 🙂
Reply
- Michelle on September 29, 2014 at 9:15 am
  
  I was wondering about the Diatomaceous Earth. I’m going to mix some up right now!
  Reply
  - Marie on September 30, 2014 at 10:08 pm
    
    🙂
    Reply
- Marie on September 30, 2014 at 10:08 pm
  
  Neat idea! I look forward to hearing how it turns out 🙂
  Reply
- chelsea on October 14, 2014 at 11:03 am
  
  I tried this with diatomaceous earth too – it was very successful! My mattress and all the carpets in my house smell fantastic now. I love the “bandits” blend but I had success with several different EOs as well. 🙂
  Reply
  - Marie on October 15, 2014 at 9:45 pm
    
    Fantastic! I’ll have to try it with diatomaceous earth whenever I finally track some down 🙂
    Reply
W. Devine on September 30, 2014 at 12:56 pm

Brilliant! Another one of your awesome creations for me to try!
Reply
- Marie on September 30, 2014 at 10:09 pm
  
  Enjoy! 🙂
  Reply
Laura on October 3, 2014 at 10:08 am

Great idea! I would have never thought of adding the clay. I have made my own carpet/mattress powder with plain baking soda and lemon, lavender, and peppermint, which I picked to try to combat allergies.. Using “bandits” would be great too! Especially since it has kind of a fall smell to it in addition to it’s other great benefits. Do you think I could use fuller’s earth clay? I have a ton of that but no kaolin. Love love love your blog!! <3
Reply
- Marie on October 8, 2014 at 10:22 pm
  
  Hi Laura! I don’t see why you couldn’t use Fuller’s Earth—it’s still pretty mild in the colour department. You may want to do a spot test on anything white, though, just to make sure it won’t stain 🙂 Thanks for reading!
  Reply
Audrey on July 22, 2015 at 12:40 pm

Can I replace the kaolin clay with bentonite clay?
Reply
- Marie on July 30, 2015 at 8:34 pm
  
  The answer is almost always no, but since there is no water involved here, you should be able to get away with it 🙂
  Reply
monica on May 2, 2016 at 12:24 pm

LOVE LOVE LOVE!!!
Reply
- Marie on May 4, 2016 at 2:00 pm
  
  Thanks!
  Reply

Bandits Mattress and Carpet Freshening Powder