How to Get Pee Out of Mattress

How to Get Pee Out of Mattress

The mattress someone sleeps on is really important. That means it should be kept as clean as possible. However, when it comes down to learning how to get pee out of mattress, things can get pretty stressful.

A bed to sleep on costs money. Yours may have even costed you thousands of hard-earned dollars! So some stains shouldn’t be enough reason to get out your wallet to buy another bed.

Removing stains from anything can be tough. You’d be surprised at how simple it can be with our tips though. Accidents happen, and whether you want to get pee smell out of mattress, just the stain, spilled drinks, or any other stains, it’s possible.

All you need to do is follow our step by step guide for stain removal. You’ll never stress about the stains in your mattress again once you realize this is a battle you can, indeed, win.

How to Get Pee Out of Mattress

What You Need

Before we dive into the step by step guide, let’s go over the products you’ll need in order to remove stains from your mattress properly. There’s more than one cleaning formulas to use, so we’ll share with you two that we’re familiar with.

Solution #1:

  • 8 oz of Hydrogen peroxide / 1:1 hydrogen peroxide and water solution
  • Baking soda or borax
  • 1 drop of dish washing soap (yes, just a drop!)

Solution #2:

  • 8 oz of Distilled white vinegar / 1:1 vinegar and water solution
  • Baking soda

Both of these solutions are nothing fancy, and can be made with ingredients you probably already have in your pantry. To create one of these solutions, all you need to do is mix them together in a clean, empty spray bottle.

Mix by spinning, rather than shaking, especially if you’re using dish soap. This is so you don’t end up creating a mass of bubbles.

Some Other Things You’ll Need

  • An empty spray bottle
  • Lavender essential oil (optional)
  • Extra hydrogen peroxide or vinegar as needed
  • Additional baking soda or borax as needed
  • Towels or paper towels
  • A vacuum cleaner

To Dilute? Or Not to Dilute?

As you can tell, you have the option of using the hydrogen peroxide or vinegar either straight, or diluted with water. This is because the smell can be irritating for some. If you’re sensitive to the smell of hydrogen peroxide or vinegar, it’s recommended to dilute it. It doesn’t affect the cleaning process drastically at all, so don’t worry about that.

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Baking Soda vs Borax

Both of these ingredients are well known for their cleaning powers. While they are different products, they essentially do the same thing. They both help remove stains and odors, which is exactly what we are trying to do here. Which one works better? To keep it real, borax is a bit more effective at cleaning.

Keep in mind that borax tends to be a bit more irritating for people to deal with. If you’re sensitive, then go with baking soda, as it is non-toxic. Otherwise, whichever one will work just fine.

Baking Soda vs Borax

The Step by Step Guide on How to Get Pee Out of Mattress

Now that you know what you need to clean your mattress, it’s time to get into the step by step process.

Getting Your Mattress Ready

1. Get the sheets, blankets, mattress covers, pillows and pillow cases off a urine soaked mattress as soon as possible. Allowing the urine to dry before getting it to a wash will make it harder to clean pee off a mattress.

2. Put them in your washing machine for a wash. While you might be used to hearing that hot water is the best for cleaning anything in general, this is not true. This is because hot water can cause stains to set deep into the fabric.

The best way to get out odors and stains is with cold water. Cold water soaks and rinses are even practiced in the cloth diapering community. If it works for cloth diapers, then it sure would work for your sheets. So if you want the best results possible, put them for a cold wash and rinse.

3. (Skip to step #5 if you need to clean dried urine) If your mattress is still wet, then use either a towel or paper towels to soak up as much human urine as possible. This should be done as soon as possible to prevent the urine from getting deeper in the mattress.

Also, go for a blotting motion, rather than rubbing. Rubbing only promotes the liquid going deeper into the bed.

4. Assuming your mattress is still a bit damp, you’re going to want to sprinkle either baking soda or borax directly over the area. This will help absorb any leftover moisture before you get started with the main cleaning process.

5. Before proceeding, vacuum the baking soda or borax left over from before. Doing so will help give you a “blank slate” to deal with in the next steps coming up. It doesn’t have the be done perfectly, just make sure to get out a majority of the powder.

clean mattress with vacuum cleaner

Going Through the Actual Cleaning

6. Once the mattress has been prepared, it’s time to start the actual cleaning process. At this point, you need to spray your cleaning solution all over your mattress. Focus specifically on the urine stain (or stains) and spray them more.

You’re looking to get the mattress saturated.You can also focus only on the stained areas. Since you are already spot cleaning your mattress, it could be beneficial to just clean the entire thing. If that’s what you decide to do, then don’t forget about the sides.

7. Allow this mixture to set in on the mattress for at least 10 minutes. You can leave it to dry completely if you have other things to take care of, though our next steps will tell you to do otherwise.

8. After letting the liquid solution set in your mattress for several minutes, then blot the area some more with either paper towels or a towel. Again, avoid rubbing to keep the liquid from setting in deep.

This step is an important step that is done to get out additional urine residue. Especially if your mattress dried before you were able to perform steps 3 and 4, this is very important. Not only does this further collect urine, but it prevents the formation of mold in your mattress.

Make this step a bit more bearable by wearing a pair of protective gloves and choosing to dilute your solution with some water.

Opening the windows for some fresh air would also be beneficial to keep your lungs from becoming irritated. A ceiling fan or floor fan will help even more. Remember to blot as much liquid out of the mattress as possible.

9. After blotting, cover the entire mattress (or just the stain) with more baking soda or borax. This should be left to set for a minimum of 8-10 hours, and ideally up to 18 hours. Allowing your mattress to dry for a long time is going to allow the baking soda or borax do it’s work in regards to complete stain and odor removal.

10. When your mattress is finally dry, it’s time to thoroughly vacuum the baking soda or borax. Go over the entire mattress several times to ensure all powder is vacuumed.
Pay special attention to creases, as powder can easily settle in these spots. It’s important to get all of it off because some people can become irritated by leftover powder still being present.

11. If you find that you are not satisfied with how clean your mattress came out, then repeat the entire process all over again until you’re fine with it. Most likely, though, you will not have to do this. In fact, you’ll be extremely happy with the ending result.

Keep in mind that if you were trying to remove old urine stains from your mattress for a while before attempting this cleaning routine, there is probably going to be a slight yellow stain left. Either way, with a super simple formula (and some patience), you will have improved your mattress conditions.

12. Most of you will be finished by now, but there is still another thing you can do if you would like. With stains that seem to be too stubborn, you can do a bit more spot cleaning. Simply spray some vinegar or hydrogen peroxide on these areas, then scrub thoroughly with a toothbrush. When you’re finished, just blot and allow to dry completely.

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Clean pee out of mattress with vinegar

After Cleaning and Prevention of Future Pee Stains

13. When the cleaning is all said and done, you’ll want to take some preventative measures before putting those sheets back on. There are several options you can consider to help prevent future pee stains from happening again in the future:

  • Insert a mattress under pad (or underlay). These lay on top of your bed sheets, covering the main middle area of the bed. The downside is that they don’t protect the entire bed. You can find both disposable, and reusable mattress under pads.
  • One of the most popular options has to be vinyl covers. They are affordable and can encase the entire mattress, giving full protection against clean fresh urine. Vinyl covers are also effective at protecting against bed bugs and other mattress allergens.
  • Mattress pads offer anywhere from 3-4 layers of protection for your mattress. These also happen to be the most comfortable to deal with. A downside to mattress pads is that they take a long time to dry.
  • A breathable mattress cover works in the same way a vinyl cover works. The difference is that these covers allow ample airflow for your mattress to “breathe”. Because of this, it will help keep your mattress cooler when it’s hotter outside.

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Conclusion

While this step by step guide addressed cleaning out human urine from your mattress, the same thing can be done for both dog pee and cat pee. You will be amazed to hear that it works on other stains such as vomit and juice spills.

No worrying about having to buy a new mattress before you hit that 7-10 year mark. A new mattress is an expensive price tag, so keep the one you have now in great shape with our cleaning guide.

If you enjoyed the step by step tutorial, then we would appreciate for you to share your thoughts in the comments below. Let us know about your very own personal formula, or about the experience you had with ours.

Everyone is going to deal with stubborn mattress stains at one point or another, so it will be beneficial to get the conversation going!

As somewhat of a disclaimer, make sure to figure out what kind of material your mattress is made out of before trying out of method and formula.

Box spring and memory foam mattresses will act differently. If you’re not sure about how compatible our formulas are on your mattress, then do a quick spot check before continuing. Do this by simply spraying a small area, and then waiting for 20-30 minutes to see the ending results.

Of course, if everything comes out fine, then you’re good to go on and clean the rest of your mattress.

If you are having success with our cleaning method on a unique type of mattress, let everyone else know about it in the comments below! Share your very own methods and advice to those who are in need of it!

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