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How to Get Pee Out of a Mattress

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Written by: Alex Savy
Last updated on

It's a common occurrence when tiny versions of us soak the bed with urine, and in the event of such, you must know how to get pee out of a mattress to prevent the foul aftermath odor.  Cleaning a bed soiled with piss is not a complicated process as long as you know the right things to get and how to use them to wash away blotches and odor. In this article, you'd find out how to stop the awful, pissy smell in your home and how to also remove urine-stain marks.

Key Takeaways

  • To get fresh urine out of your mattress, you need paper towels, vinegar solution, and baking soda. Mop up the moisture with the paper towels, apply your vinegar mix, mop up again, sprinkle baking soda on the mattress, and dust it off.
  • If the urine is already dried, you should make a vinegar and water solution and apply it to the affected spots. Then proceed to cover the dampened stain patch with nylon or plastic wrap. Leave for two days, remove the nylon, and air dry your mattress.

You might want to invest in a mattress protector if you have kids or pets prone to wetting the bed. This saves you the stress of having to clean the mattress intermittently while also improving the mattress’ durability.

How to Deal With Urine-Stained Surfaces

If you traveled back to the past in a time machine and walked into the home where you were raised, you'd probably wring your nose from the acrid odor that your urine produced.  If an observer who accompanied you on time travel asks why baby-you made the room smell like where a family of skunks lives.   You'd probably shrug and say something like this:  "It isn't my fault!" Knowing it's not the kids' fault helps find other ways of handling pee on the mattress and other surfaces.  Keep reading to find out when to use either of both techniques when getting rid of pee smell. But before that, let's examine why you shouldn't allow wee stains from dog or cat pee to linger in your home.

Health Implications of Animal Urine

Urine, a waste substance produced by organisms, comprises 95% water and 5% urea.  The higher the urea (ammonia) composition in a person's urine, the darker and more pungent it gets.   If you don't clean pee from a mattress, your home may ooze like a horse stable.  But there's something more shocking.  Unwashed pet urine can make you sick According to Centres for Disease Control and Prevention CDC, humans can contract leptospirosis, a bacterial-inducing fever, from animal wee (1). And that's why it's crucial to know how to clean a mattress pee, or any surface at all.   Also read- Best Mattresses in Canada.

How to get pee out of a mattress

There are two stages of pee on a mattress. First, we’ve got the stage where it’s still new and one that has long stained the bed and has dried up.  We’ll be covering how to deal with both situations:

How to Wash Off Fresh Urine 

Once you discover that your kid or pet has just wet the bed, you can clean a mattress pee by taking the following steps.

How to Wash Off Fresh Urine

  • Remove Bed Coverings

Immediately I detect urine excretion, I lift the kid or pet and set them on another surface. Next, I remove the coverings, taking extra care not to spread the liquid to prevent it from trickling onto the bed. When that's done, I put the sheets in the washer and set it running.

Pro Tip: After washing the bedding, put it in the dryer on high heat. The heat from the dryer will kill any remaining bacteria, which can eliminate odour and provide a more thorough clean from the pee stain.

  • Get Paper Towels

After taking off the coverings, use a paper towel to dab the fresh piss spot applying the slightest pressure. Scrubbing or rubbing the wet surface could prove more harmful than good when you clean a mattress pee And here's why; Scrubbing spreads the piss, increasing its surface area and cleaning difficulty while rubbing forces it further down the bed where the cleaning agent can't reach neutralization.

  • Use Vinegar in a Spray Bottle

I continue by mixing vinegar and water in a 2:1 ratio. Then, I spurt the mix onto the pee surface in a lavish spritz. Don't worry about overdoing it; it’s a surefire way to remove urine stains. After dampening with vinegar, I leave it for a quarter of an hour so the mattress can absorb the neutralizer. Then I return and dab the surface to clean up excess moisture.

  • Apply Baking Soda

Baking Soda isn't meant for preparing cakes and snacks only, and its famous versatility extends beyond the kitchen (2). And if you're wondering what makes this so effective in getting rid of pee smell and fighting odors. This is it; Urine has a mild acidic property that alters everything it touches. Therefore, simply cleaning with water cannot undo a caustic effect. Alkaline, being the opposite of acid, is a suitable substance to use. And since baking soda has high alkalinity, it more than helps to clean pee from a mattress. So after spraying with vinegar and water solution, you move on to the next step.

You can also make a baking soda solution if vinegar isn’t available. It performs the same functions and can be applied as either powder or water-based solution.

  • Dust off  the Baking Soda

After ascertaining that the powdered soda is dry, sweep everything off of the bed's surface. If you own a vacuum cleaner, that'd also suffice. Should there be any lingering odious smell, you might need to repeat the entire process once more.

Also read: Mattresses Suitable for Back Pain ,

Memory Foam Mattresses in Canada

How to Stop Dry Urine Odor

Knowing how to get urine out of a mattress that's just been soaked isn't all that different from cleaning dry wee blotches. It's more or less the same. 

How to Stop Dry Urine Odor

  • Apply Vinegar and Water Solution

Spray the same mixture of water and vinegar so that the stained surface soaks. Never bother with dabbing with a paper towel this time around.

The best time to deal with a urine stain is when it's fresh. The longer the stain persists, the tougher the removal process.

  • Cover Sprayed Spot

The next step is to seal the wet area with nylon or plastic wrap. The essence of sealing is the prevention of moisture escape, a proven way to remove urine stains. Afterward, leave the plastic wrap for two days.

  • Air Dry Your Mattress

After leaving the plastic wrap for two days, take it off and air-dry the bed. If any stains remain, a little spritz of water and towel scrub should do the trick.

Pro Tip: If your mattress needs a helpful kick in the right direction, consider renting a steam cleaner to remove the dry pee stain. The hot steam can break up stubborn stains, and leave your mattress sterile and pristine.

Whether pee-stained or not, air drying is good for your mattress health. It combats allergy-causing irritants like mold, mildew, mites, and generally bad smells.

My Experience With Getting Pee Out of a Mattress

In my personal experience, when testing the Puffy mattress, my pet did have an accident on the bed. I panicked much less than I thought I would, as the Puffy mattress cover is removable. I zipped it off in a few seconds and had the cover in the wash while I dealt with the remaining stain seeping through the top cover. A little vinegar went a long way, and after letting the mattress dry out, I couldn’t tell there had been a stain in the first place.

Ineffective Methods of Getting Pee Out of a Mattress

There are a few ineffective methods that you’ll want to avoid while attempting to get pee out of a mattress, which include letting it simply air dry, not letting it air out entirely, and using perfume to cover the smell.

Only Air Drying

Only letting the mattress air dry after a pee stain can leave odours in a mattress. It can also make the stain more prominent. This can make a mattress less sanitary and more unpleasant to sleep on.

Pro Tip: If you want to speed up the drying process after using a vinegar solution, you can consider using a hair dryer. However, speeding up the drying process without a cleaning solution will not effectively treat the pee stain.

Not Letting It Dry Out

Packing a mattress with pee stains under blankets and quilts before letting it air out entirely has some adverse effects. The moisture in the mattress can become a breeding ground for bacteria and leave a lingering smell. This can cause unpleasant dampness for the next time you want to use the bed. After it dries, the smell may linger more prominently due to the slow drying time.

Using Perfume

Using perfume instead of a cleaning solution like vinegar doesn’t treat the pee stain. Instead, it masks the smell. This will cause the need for the perfume to be reapplied whenever it fades, as the smell will return. In the long run, the pee stain will be very similar to only letting the mattress air dry, which can make for a less sanitary bed.

FAQs

Does the Smell of Urine Go Away?

Yes, once you know how to get pee out of a mattress and you leave the bed to dry, the smell of piss from your dog or cat pee will go away.

Can I Use Hydrogen Peroxide for Urine Stains?

If you know how to get urine out of a mattress with hydrogen peroxide, you can use it. Otherwise, you can follow the steps listed above.

Also Read: How to Get Blood Out of A Mattress

Conclusion

Having kids and pets playing around the home is such a beautiful sight to behold. But these bundles of joy are notorious for leaving a trail of piss everywhere they go. 

And before long, the entire house oozes like a boys' boarding school bathroom.  

Knowing how to get pee out of a mattress is a vital requirement for every parent and dog lover, and that's why we chose to write a comprehensive, DIY guide to solve the issue. 

What other latest tips do you think should be added to this list. Perhaps, you've heard personal experiences with animal wee and solved them in unique ways.

Still have questions about how to get pee out of a mattress? Alex Savy, the Co-Founder and Chief Editor at Comfynorth has reviewed countless sleep products with over 4 years in the industry and can help you find what you’re looking for. Reach out through email at [email protected]. When emailing Alex, include your full name and phone number or email address.

References:

  1. Division of High-Consequence Pathogens and Pathology (DHCPP). (June 2015). Leptospirosis Infection. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases (NCEZID). Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/leptospirosis/infection/index.html
  2. Alice Graves and Kate Qualmann. (February 2018). The Science of Baking Soda. Retrieved from https://axial.acs.org/2018/08/03/the-science-of-baking-soda/
 
 

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