Whether your child just came into your room and said, “I had an accident” or if you came home tired from work only to smell dog pee on a mattress, you’re probably asking yourself how to get pee out of a mattress. Before worrying too much, these cleaning suggestions might save your mattress.
Act Quickly
Urine on a mattress smells and stains. Even worse, most mattress warranties are often void if there are stains on the mattress. So if you have a new mattress, you want to remove the stain entirely. You also don’t just want to mask the smell. You want to make it go away! There are a few ways to go about this.
But Before Cleaning
Check your mattress warranty. Some companies may void your warranty depending on how deeply you clean your mattress. And, as mentioned, the stains could void your warranty, too.
The mattress warranty protects manufacturer defects such as structural sags in the mattress. The cleaning voids this warranty because the fluid used to clean it could cause the sag in the mattress. Similarly, if there is a stain in the mattress, the company might assume you got water on the mattress and that is why the structural problem exists.
A Few Home Cleaning Options
Prior to anything, if the pee is fresh, try to soak it up with either a wet/dry vacuum or paper towels. The longer the pee stays in the mattress, the harder it will be to remove the stain and the smell.
Depending on your materials, one of these options may work better than another. The most important thing is getting the pee out of the mattress as soon as possible. So see which one of these options best fits your materials.
Dog pee and cat pee differs minimally. So if you have dog pee on a mattress, these tips should be equally as helpful. But it may require a second cleaning because the odor can be more intense.
Option 1:
- Empty Spray bottle
- Hydrogen Peroxide
-
Baking Soda
- Liquid Dishwashing Soap
-
Lavender Essential Oil
- Handheld or Canister Vacuum
Mix 8 ounces of hydrogen peroxide with 3 tablespoons of baking soda. You can also add a couple of drops of lavender essential oil to help further neutralize the pee smell.
Place the mixture in the spray bottle. Then spray the mixture onto the areas with pee until the areas are saturated.
If the stains are recent, they should disappear within a few minutes. If they are older, you may need to let the mattress dry and repeat the process.
Finally, vacuum up the remaining residue from the cleaning mixture and let the mattress dry for about 18-24 hours. Placing it under a ceiling fan, a standing fan or outside in the sunshine.
Option 2:
-
Empty Spray bottle
- Roll of Paper Towels
-
Distilled White Vinegar
- Baking Soda
Similar to the first option, in this case, you do not place the baking soda in the mixture. The baking soda is placed on after the white vinegar to help dry and soak up the pee stained area.
First, soak up as much of the pee as possible with several layers of paper towels. Again, if the pee stain is older and already dry, this will be more difficult.
Second, saturate the pee area with the distilled white vinegar. You can use a spray bottle or pour the vinegar. Pouring the vinegar might result in saturating the mattress too much, so be careful.
Then soak up the saturated areas with another round of paper towels.
After you soak up the area, sprinkle baking soda on the affected areas in order to help them dry. Wait several hours until the baking soda begins to cake; this signals that the mattress is dry.
Finally, vacuum up the baking soda and let the mattress dry for 18-24 hours.
Option 3:
-
Wet/Dry Vacuum
- Paper Towels
-
Baking Soda
- Laundry Detergent
As with the other options, quickly soak up the pee with a sponge or paper towels.
Then use the wet/dry vacuum to suck up any remaining pee from the affected area.
Take the laundry detergent and mix it with several teaspoons of water on the pee areas. Make sure to blot the area with a wet paper towel in order to disinfect any residue urine in order to avoid odor or mold.
Remove the moisture with your wet/dry vacuum or paper towels.
Then apply the baking soda to the whole mattress, or all the areas exposed to moisture, but especially the areas with the pee. The baking soda helps dry the mattress and acts as a further means to soak up any remaining pee residue and moisture from those areas.
Let the mattress dry for 18-24 hours. And finally, vacuum the mattress.
Preventable … Sometimes
If you successfully cleaned your mattress, now is the time to prevent getting pee out of a mattress.
Most people buy a waterproof mattress protector. These go over the mattress, saturate any pee, and protect the mattress.
But, sometimes these protectors break, are uncomfortable, or make a considerable amount of noise depending on the brand.
Either way, these will be useful to try to prevent future pee stains or odors.
But If it Doesn’t Work
As said, there is one major problem with getting pee out of a mattress. That is, these options are most effective only if you immediately soak up the urine on a mattress. They are also not effective for continual accidents or urine on a mattress.
If you do not notice until the pee is already dry, it is more difficult to remove the stain and smell. Further, if you have an accident-prone child, resulting in continual stains or urine on a mattress, then eventually a mattress might be beyond repair.
So if you’re tired of trying and tired of asking how to get pee out of a mattress, if your child is old enough to have a new bed, and if your dog is potty trained, now might be the time for a new mattress.
If local to Reno, Nevada,
Sierra Mattress Company
offers you a wide variety of mattresses at various payment plans and options. Otherwise, the best of luck cleaning your mattress.