While we all hope to never wake up smelling that urine in our beds, sometimes it does happen. It could be a surprise from your toddler or even your pet. And that is when you start the whole process of cleaning, scrubbing, and vacuuming.
Even though most people try to clean the affected area with soap, water, and detergent, sometimes it is not enough and you might still wake up a week later feeling like you can still smell it in the mattress.
There are some specific methods on Sleep Underground to follow while cleaning urine out of a mattress, this is to make sure the smell and the stain are completely gone. To be specific, there are six steps that we need to follow to get the job done.
How to Remove Urine From a Mattress?
First of all, you will need your weapons, starting with the cleaning gloves, you will need to have baking soda, laundry detergent, cold water, vacuum, white vinegar, and clean towels. The first step is to remove it from the bedding.
Start with striping your mattress and throw your linens in the washer as soon as possible. Urine stains will set, so get your linens and comforter into the washer as soon as possible. If the pee stain or odor persists after washing your bedding, add a cup of white vinegar to the wash and run it again.
While cleaning the stain, do not scrub the area, but blot it instead. This will ensure that no urine gets soaked deeper in the mattress which makes it a lot harder to clean off.
Combine two parts cold water, one part white vinegar, and a small bit of laundry detergent in a spray bottle. Spray the stain widely and thoroughly, feel free to completely soak the soiled area with the mix.
Give it at least 10–15 minutes for the solution to be soaked in your mattress and sit. To absorb the surplus liquid, blot with a new clean cloth. Then, sprinkle baking soda all over the soiled area and let it sit for 8-10 hours.
The last step is to vacuum up the baking soda. Vacuum the dry baking soda from the mattress with a hose attachment. If you don’t make sure the powder is totally dry, you risk ruining your vacuum. To clean up damp powder, you can also use a wet/dry vacuum.
How to Get the Urine Stains Out of a Mattress?
While it is best to clean the urine out of mattresses right away, it is still possible to clean those mattresses where urine died on. To get the stains out, you will need cold water, plastic wrap, laundry detergent, white vinegar, and towels.
Cover the stain with the same solution as before (two parts cold water, one part vinegar, and a bit of laundry detergent). Apply enough solution so that it covers all the areas that were soiled, feel free to soak it in the solution.
Any extra liquid should not be blotted or rubbed on the sprayed areas. Instead, wrap the damp area in plastic wrap and set it aside for 24 to 48 hours. This will keep the solution from evaporating, which gives it more time to remove the stain.
Allow the mattress to dry naturally in the open air after removing the plastic wrap. It’s better to leave it at least overnight to ensure the fabric dries completely.
When you are done with the steps above, check if the stain is still there, if yes, then repeat the same process again.
How to Get Rid of Urine Smell in Mattresses?
Even though removing the pee and the stain from a mattress is quite easy and fast, the smell, on the other hand, could persist for a few weeks, and this is the toughest part to clean. For cleaning out the smell, you will need a vacuum and baking soda.
Baking soda is an excellent way to get rid of the urine smell, this is because baking soda has a basic pH, which removes the urine smell instead of just hiding it. To begin, spread some baking soda on your mattress and focus on those soiled areas.
For the baking soda to do its job, it might take up to 10 hours. Try doing this in the early morning or when you are leaving the house and will not need to use the mattress for a while.
After the 10 hours pass, you can go ahead and vacuum the mattress. The vacuum will remove the sprinkled baking soda and the urine smell as well. You will notice a huge improvement after you’ve vacuumed the mattress. If the smell persists, repeat the same steps again.
How to Remove Pets Urine Out of the Mattress?
Sprinkle baking soda over the area if the accident happened recently to pull out the pee. With hours passing, the baking soda should deepen in color. To continue drawing the urine out of the mattress, vacuum the baking soda off your mattress and sprinkle baking soda again.
Repeat until the baking soda stays completely white after you’ve sprinkled it on the mattress. Baking soda, hydrogen peroxide, and liquid detergent are all useful for removing the heavier urine odors that your animals, particularly cats.
How to Prevent Stains & Odors in the Future
The easiest way to keep stains and bad smells from developing on your mattress is to keep it well-protected. We recommend investing in a good mattress protector, preferably one that is completely waterproof to avoid any future accidents with toddlers or pets.
Washing your sheets and other bedding on a regular basis can also help prevent odors from developing on your mattress. Sheets and pillows should be washed roughly once a week.
Dealing with urine is definitely not a pleasant thing for anyone to do, however, following the cleaning steps mentioned above, facing these unpleasant situations should be a lot easier in the future.
