How to Clean a Mattress with Pee Stains

Pee. Piss. Piddle. Urinate. Take those four words and mix it up with a mattress and you’ve got a strong-smelling accident on your hands. Unfortunate incidents caused by members of the family, human or pet, might as well be part of Murphy’s law-whatever can go wrong will go wrong. The job of figuring out how to clean fresh urine, stains and that acrid stench from the mattress will inexplicably fall on you, but it doesn’t have to be quite the hassle. If you follow these important tips, your mattress can look good as new with only a few simple household ingredients.

Removing Wet Stains

1. Sponge up the excess urine with an old, dry cloth. Paper towels could also be used but to be more environmentally-friendly, try to find scraps of cloth instead. Dab the stain multiple times until you can remove as much urine as possible. Keep sponging until it feels damp and not soaking anymore. If there’s still a lot of excess liquid left, use a bigger, thicker cloth like an old towel instead. Remember to change the cloth, towel, or paper towel once it is saturated.
2. Sprinkle a few pinches of baking soda over the stain. This should help soak up the remaining urine.
3. Get a spoon and pour 4-5 heaping tablespoons of baking soda over the entire stained area. Add more spoonful’s as you find necessary, using too much won’t damage the mattress.
4. Combine 1-part white vinegar to 1 part water. If you have a spray bottle, that will come in handy. The white vinegar will neutralize the strong urine smell and help remove the stain as well. Pour the created solution directly into the spray bottle. It’s important to use the largest spray bottle available, to reduce energy and time spent on refilling the spray bottle. The size of the stain is directly proportional to the volume of solution you’ll need. Adjust the solution’s strength by reducing the added water. You can also spray pure white vinegar onto the mattress. The strong smell will easily dissipate within the hour.
5. After generously spraying the solution over the stain, let it stand for about 5 minutes. The goal is to add enough moisture so that the mattress is wet, but not to the point of complete saturation.
6. Use another old cloth to sponge off the excess moisture. Dab the stain and remove as much of the solution as you can. It’s alright if the baking soda comes away, you can just add more later. Make sure the mattress gets as dry as you can.
7. Sprinkle baking soda on top of the mattress. Add more baking soda liberally and ensure that you’re able to cover every surface. This helps eliminate other foul odors from the mattress.
8. Leave the mattress overnight to dry before you can start vacuuming it. For the stench to go away faster, open all windows and doors, and keep a fan on. The mattress should be fully dry after 18 hours. After that, its time to vacuum up the baking soda. Cover all of the crevices in different directions. Make sure all traces of the baking soda have been removed.

Removing (Old) Dry Stains

1. Using a spoon, thoroughly mix 8 fl oz (240 ml) of 3% hydrogen peroxide, 3 tbsp (43.2 g) baking soda, and 2 drops liquid dish detergent in a small bowl.
2. Use hydrogen peroxide ONLY on white mattresses, it can bleach colored cloth. If you’re afraid of any discoloration, use white vinegar on the stain/s instead.

TIP: This solution can also effectively remove for bloodstains.

1. Hydrogen peroxide breaks down fast. Use the solution immediately after mixing it. Solutions that are older than 1-2 hours need to be discarded.
2. Dab the stain thoroughly with the hydrogen peroxide solution. Make sure the mattress is completely dry before you use it again. Be generous in pouring the solution but make sure to not saturate the mattress too much, else it will take longer to dry.
3. For persistent stains, use dry foam. In a small bowl, mix together 3 tbsp (50 g) of laundry powder with 1 tbsp (15 ml) water. Spread the paste over the entire stain. Use a spoon to spread. Additional dry foam may be needed for larger stains.

TIP: Don’t use laundry powder with oxygenated bleach. This can damage the mattress.

1. Let the dry foam stand for 30 minutes before scraping it off completely. After 30 minutes, the dry foam should have removed the stain away as if by magic. Use only a spoon to gently scrape the dry foam without damaging the mattress.
2. To remove any baking soda or dry foam left on the mattress, use a vacuum. Try removing the vacuum cleaner floor head and just using the nozzle. It will enable you to get into all the crevices.
3. For stubborn remnants of dry foam, dip a white cloth into hydrogen peroxide and dab at the stain until it is gone.

What About Our Furry Animal Friends?

Since most pet-owners treat their furry pals as important members of the family, it is not uncommon for dogs and cats who are given freedom in passing and going through various rooms, even sleeping on the same beds as their human caretakers. However, this paves the way for other accidents. These accidents have a specialized clean-up method, slightly different from human accidents. Messes by your furrier family members can be solved by the same kit you’ve previously used to take out stains of human urine. Baking soda and vodka will be a tremendous help in removing the stronger urine odor that often comes with your animals, especially felines.

1. If it was just recently peed on, sprinkle baking soda to draw out the urine. You’ll know it’s working when you see the baking soda darken.
2. Use a vacuum to remove the baking soda off your mattress. Sprinkle some more on, to continue drawing out the remaining urine. Repeat until the baking soda doesn’t darken anymore.
3. Once the baking soda has done its work, or if the stain has already had time to dry, throw some vodka into a spray bottle and mist the mattress to neutralize the scent.