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It happens. A child or a 4-legged friend crawls into bed, and the next thing you know, they have an accident. Once you've gotten everyone out of bed and laundered the sheets, you start to wonder, "How will I get the stain out of the mattress?" You may be particularly anxious if you have sensitive skin or if you've struggled to get rid of lingering urine odors in the past. Want to remove blood? Try these steps instead.
Take these simple steps, mostly using cleaning products you already have around the house, and let's make that mattress clean and fresh again without any lingering odors.
The Best Option is Prevention
Mattress and pillow protectors are often the unsung heroes of bedding. As the first layer on your mattress and pillows, protectors are often forgotten since they don’t play a role in overall comfort or design. However, protectors not only keep liquids like urine and sweat from soaking and staining your mattress, but they also prevent dust mites (and the irritants they leave behind) from infesting your sleep space. They also play an important role in protecting your mattress investment.
If you purchased your mattress through a traditional mattress retailer, there is a very good chance that your mattress sold with a protector to help safeguard your new mattress warranty. If the mattress protector fails to protect your mattress, you may be eligible to have your mattress professionally cleaned.
Not certain? It’s best to double-check, as most warranties are voided if cleaning instructions aren’t followed. Contact the retailer where you purchased your mattress. They can provide valuable information about the coverage and length of your warranty (some extend to 20+ years!).
Getting Pee Out of a Mattress Step-by-Step
King mattresses weigh around 150 pounds, so scrubbing them in place is often the only option. That's ok. You can clean urine stains successfully without moving the mattress at all. Here's what you'll need to do:
Gather Your Supplies
- Baking soda
Baking soda absorbs moisture, mopping up wetness before the urine has time to penetrate deeper into the layers of your mattress. It's very basic, too, so it helps neutralize the acidic urine, minimizing the smell.
- Vinegar
Acids can work to neutralize acidic urine, too. The acetic acid in white vinegar breaks down the uric acid in urine. That makes the stains easier to lift out. Vinegar also neutralizes odors.
- Laundry Detergent
You'll need a teaspoon of laundry powder or liquid. Surfactants in the detergent draw stains out of fabrics. Then you'll scrub them away so they don't return.
- Hydrogen Peroxide
H2O2, this oxygenated power cleaner, breaks down proteins and fats, making it easier to remove them. Use the grocery store's 3% mixture, and don't dilute it.
- Vacuum cleaner or hand-held vacuum
- Dishwashing gloves or a scrub brush to work the cleaning solution into the mattress
- Optional:
- Old towel
- Fan
- Spray bottle
Step 1: Pretreat the Mattress to Minimize Liquid and Remove the Urine Smell
If your mattress is still wet, sprinkle a layer of baking soda right away to soak up liquid and odors. You can blot the area with a towel instead and move to the next step if the mattress is mostly dry. Don't scrub from side to side — you'll be more likely to drive the stain and odors deeper into the mattress. The goal of pretreating is to remove surface urine from a mattress and minimize the overall stain area before it sets.
Pretreating with baking soda is a great way to minimize the effects of the urine stain upfront. However, you can skip pretreating entirely if:
- Don't have a fan to help speed drying
- Need to sleep on the bed within hours
Don't worry; we'll be using more baking soda in the second step. While it may be too late to minimize the stain or smell upfront, you'll still be able to clean the stain.
Is the bed still wet? Sprinkle baking soda and let it soak into the affected area. Once you've sprinkled the mattress liberally with baking soda, give it an hour to soak up any liquid and odors. You can use a fan to speed up the drying process. When you're done, vacuum up the remaining baking soda.
Step 2: Soak and Scrub the Mattress with Our Simple Mixture
Now let's get started treating the stain with our common household ingredients.
Mix equal parts white vinegar and water and soak the mattress surface. You'll be more effective if you pour the mixture over the stain, since you'll naturally use more liquid and penetrate deeper into the mattress. however, you'll use less liquid overall and speed up your drying time if you choose to employ a spray bottle.
Regardless of your method, do not mix baking soda into the spray bottle (it will clog). Instead, sprinkle the baking soda over the mattress stains.
Now, mix a cup of hydrogen peroxide with a tablespoon of liquid or powder laundry detergent. You can double this recipe for large stains. Pour the mixture over your existing vinegar mixture and baking soda.
Using dishwashing gloves or a scrub brush, work the mixtures together, turning your baking soda to paste and ensuring that the detergent foams as you work. Look out for the edges of urine stains that remain and make sure they get some attention.
After scrubbing the solution into your stain, leave the mixture to soak and continue doing its magic for 20 minutes.
Step 3: Vacuum up Remaining Baking Soda and Celebrate
Using an attachment, vacuum up the remaining baking soda.
You could be done at this point. Sniff the mattress and make sure your hard work removed all the odors. Congratulations! You're done!
If it didn't, just repeat the process. Some tough stains will naturally need to be treated more than once.
If you're still not having success, you can move on to a second line of attack.
Pee Smell Still There? Try an Enzyme Cleaner for Tough Pet Urine Stains
If odors remain, it's because the baking soda, vinegar, and hydrogen peroxide all failed to break down the uric acid in urine and some proteins remain. You can repeat the cleaning process, but you can also choose to add another product to your arsenal: an enzyme cleaner specifically designed to contain the enzymes that damage proteins like those in urine.
Enzyme cleaners are best at removing stains from biological sources. Their area of specialization includes pet and human bodily fluids like urine or vomit, but they can also be effective at getting out non-human organic stains like dirt and soil. These cleaners use bacteria that can't hurt homeowners but do jump-start the biological process of breaking down living proteins just as in nature.
Enzymatic cleaners are especially powerful in the war against pet stains. While both human and pet urine is about 95% water, the uric acid, urea, and ammonia in a pet's remaining urine is higher than that in humans, making odors more concentrated. An enzyme product can work to break down all the remaining proteins in pet urine.
What should you look for in an enzyme cleaner? If your urine stain came from a pet, ensure your cleaning products are:
- Non-toxic and safe for pets
- Designed for pet stains (remember, dog and cat urine contains different biological substances, so it can also be useful to pick a product designed for either a cat or dog alone)
Differences in Cleaning a Memory Foam Mattress
Memory foam mattresses can retain water more easily than regular mattresses. That means that urine stains can penetrate the mattress layers where it's harder to reach them. It also means that wetting the mattress with cleaning products takes more time and is more likely to damage the surface of the mattress.
Follow the same steps to remove urine stains from both types of mattresses. But memory foam owners, remember to check the manufacturer's instructions to ensure the cleaning products you choose are safe for your mattress.
Future-proof your Bed with a Mattress Protector
When you're finished removing urine from your mattress, keep it safe from stains with a mattress cover that keeps it fresh longer. If urine stains are an ongoing problem, you can even consider a waterproof mattress protector. They can offer a barrier for future urine stains but also protect sleepers from spills, common allergens, mites, hair, and dander.
Additionally, mattress covers are easy to remove and wash, helping to maintain hygiene and freshness. They're one way you can protect your investment, prolonging the lifespan of your mattress.
A Clean Mattress Makes for a Better Night's Rest
A clean, fresh mattress is a key to great sleep hygiene and a better night's rest, so we think it's vital to your overall sleep health. After all, it's difficult to sleep when the pee smell from a mattress reminds you that your environment isn't as fresh or relaxing as it could be.
So once you've got your mattress smelling like it just came off the clothesline, layer your bedding to renew your coziness factor and revisit your sleep habits, too. There's nothing like sleeping soundly on your fresh mattress and waking cool, rested, and ready to start the day (at least until the little ones and the pets come piling back in the bed).
