Despite our best efforts, it is sometimes necessary to know how to clean pee off mattress surfaces. It may be the result of our own lapses. It could be because a pet joined us in bed and refused to go outside before letting go. Or your toddler joined you in bed before his or her diaper leaked. Regardless of the reason, here is an overview of how to clean pee off mattress tops.
Content:
01. Remove All of the Bedding
02. Soak Up the Worst of It
03. Apply the Right Cleaners
04. Remove the Odor
05. Dry Out the Mattress
How to Clean Pee Off Mattress-05 Ways
01.Remove All of the Bedding
Before you panic, remove the blankets and sheets from the bed. If you’re lucky, that’s as far as the urine went. Wash these in the washing machine with a heavy amount of soap. There’s a second reason to get the blankets and sheets off the bed, and that’s to give you access to the mattress if the mattress indeed needs to be cleaned.
02.Soak Up the Worst of It
The best thing you can do is use sponges and towels to soak up as much of the pee as possible. Lay towels down and press it down into the mattress. However, you don’t want to scrub the stain, since this can push the liquid into the surrounding material. Use several sponges and towels so that you don’t absorb pee into one cleaning sponge and spread it to another. If you don’t have anything else, use paper towels.
03.Apply the Right Cleaners
The best thing to use to neutralize urine is vinegar. You can use one or two cups of water for each cup of white vinegar to make a cleaning mixture. To create a more powerful cleaning solution, add a few teaspoons of mild laundry detergent. Spray it onto the surface of the mattress to help neutralize the pee. Or soak a sponge in that cleaning mixture and press it into the mattress stain. Let the cleaner soak into the mattress for five to ten minutes. Then use a clean sponge, towel or cloth to blot out the cleaner, absorbing it. Wring out the absorbent material in a sink, rinse it with clean water, wring out that water, then start absorbing the next batch of cleaner and contaminant.
Do not use bleach to clean up urine stains. This will stain the mattress, and in the case of foam mattresses, damage the underlying material. Nor should you use one sponge and just dab all over the surface without rinsing it periodically, since this will only distribute the urine more widely.
What if you have a dried in urine stain on the mattress? You should switch to a solution of hydrogen peroxide with several drops of liquid detergent and three tea spoons of baking soda. Spray this solution onto the stain, let it seep in to the mattress for ten minutes, then use the blotting method we described above. Just don’t use detergents with added colors, since this could stain the mattress in its own way.
04.Remove the Odor
The simplest way to remove the odor is to sprinkle a significant amount of baking soda on the affected area. This will pull up some of the moisture, but more importantly, it will help neutralize the urine smell. In contrast, many sweet smelling sprays only mask the odor, and the urine smell will return after those solutions wear off.
Ideally, you’d let the baking soda sit on the surface of the mattress overnight before vacuuming it up with a handheld vacuum cleaner or the upholstery attachment of your upright vacuum cleaner.
If the odor is still bad after this all dries up, repeat the cleaning process until it has completely disappeared. A common cause of this is not letting the cleaning mixture sit long enough to work.
05.Dry Out the Mattress
Before you put those mattress covers or blankets back on the mattress, make sure it is dry. If you want to speed up this process, have a fan or two blow over the surface of the mattress. (Just don’t try this after you put baking soda on the mattress or you’ll end up with that powder everywhere but where you need it.)
We don’t recommend using a hair dryer, since this could melt plastic and warp a foam mattress. You must let the mattress dry out or else you risk mold growing in the mattress. If this process doesn’t work or you have a mattress more than eight years old, you should consider replacing the mattress.