Removing Urine Smells from Mattresses

When someone accidentally wets the bed, usually the first thought is that the mattress is ruined. The worst part of urine on a mattress is the smell. It seems like that smell will never go away. With some work you can have that urine smell out of the mattress.

When first discovered remove all the linens from the bed and put the soiled linens in the laundry room. Take a clean white towel or rag and blot up as much of the urine as you can. Sprinkle some baking soda on top of the mattress, fully covering the damp areas. Let the mattress absorb as much of the baking soda that it can. This can take some time; usually about 10 minutes will do the trick. Vacuum up as much of the baking soda as you can. This will go a long way in helping to eliminate the smell.

Place all the linens that are washable into the clothes washer. Add detergent as you normally would plus a half cup of ammonia. The ammonia will eliminate the smell of urine. Then dry the bed linens as normal. While the linens are being washed and dried, now is a good time to work on removing the urine from the mattress. When the urine is gone, the smell will be gone too.

Items needed for light cleaning solution:

• 2 squirts liquid dish soap
• 1 tablespoon white vinegar
• 2 cups cool water

In a small bowl mix a couple squirts of liquid dish soap, one tablespoon of vinegar, and two cups of cool water. Take a clean white rag or wash cloth and dip the cloth into the water. Using the dampen cloth start to work on the mattress. Try to apply a blotting motion with the damp cloth against the mattress. If you press to hard you will be pressing the urine into the mattress instead of removing it. Keep blotting until the liquid is absorbed. Keep working with the blotter until the stain disappears. If the stain seems to be stubborn then it is time to move on to the heavy duty cleaner.

Items needed for heavy duty cleaning solution:

• 1/2 cup hydrogen peroxide
• 1/2 cup ammonia
• 2 cups warm water

In a medium size bowl mix the hydrogen peroxide, ammonia, and warm water. You want the bowl to be big enough that you can get your hand into it without having the cleaning solution all over. Using a new, clean, white towel or rag, start to blot the stain with this new mixture. After the stain is removed then sponge the mattress with cold water and blot dry.

If at all possible, take the mattress outside on a sunny, warm day and let the mattress air dry. (Make sure you let the sunlight hit the face of the mattress where the urine was.) If that is not possible then let the mattress dry as much as possible indoors before putting the bed linen back on to the bed.

Your mattress now should have a nice clean smell, and is ready for the clean linens to be put back on.