How Do You Get Urine Out of A Child's Mattress

Anyone with kids knows the drill.

You’re either woken up by cries in the middle of the night or you discover the mess first thing in the morning.

So, what’s the best way to treat a urine accident and how can you prevent them from happening in the future?

 

So, Why Does Urine Smell?

A diagram illustrating how bacteria and uric salts combine to cause pongy urine smell.

Aside from the fact it’s unhealthy sleeping on a mattress laden with bacteria, urine can emit a terrible odour.

When urine dries it leaves bacteria and uric salts behind. The bacteria grows when there is moisture present (this is why we smell the urine most on humid or wet days) and emits an "off-gas" which is the smell that you may be familiar with.

 

How To Remove Urine from Your Child’s Mattress

As tempting as it can be to want to ignore the mess until morning when there’s an accident in the middle of the night, you need to act quickly for the best chance of removing most of the stain.

 

What You'll Need

 

Step 1

Blot the area as much as possible with a dry, preferably uncoloured towel.

Step 2

Mix 1:2 of white vinegar and warm water and pour onto the affected area to help break down the uric salts and odour causing bacteria.

Step 3

Dry with an absorbent towel on the stain while pushing on it to add pressure.

Step 4

Open up a window or fan to ensure the area has dried properly. If you’re using a cleaning product on the stain, make sure it is an enzymatic cleaner, which uses enzymes to break down the uric salts and odour-causing bacteria.

 

If the stain has dried, follow the steps below.

What You'll Need

 

Step 1

Generously sprinkle baking soda onto the stain. Let it sit for 20 minutes before vacuuming up.

Step 2

Mix 1:2 of white vinegar and warm water and pour onto the affected area to help break down the uric salts and bacteria.

Step 3

Use folded up large white towels to soak the water up, adding pressure as you go. You may need to do this a few times to effectively soak up what you need to.

Step 4

Sponge with warm water and thoroughly dry the area. You may need to open a window or use a fan to ensure it has dried properly.

 

How To Prevent Bedwetting

Bedwetting is a common occurrence for small children, in fact, research from the Royal Children’s Hospital Melbourne indicates that around 30% of 4-year-olds wet the bed.

The link above has some great tips on what causes bedwetting, how to treat it and when you may need to see a doctor.

 

What if There Have Been Multiple Accidents?

Urine is a surfactant which means it breaks down surface tension. Because urine breaks down the surface tension in the fabric (and padding) the urine is likely to penetrate deep into the mattress after multiple accidents.

Once the urine penetrates the padding, the treatments above are unlikely to treat all of the uric salts, so the odour is likely to return.

To treat it, a professional technician from a company like Electrodry needs to inject a solution into the mattress to dissolve the uric salts. Tough stains like these need professional expertise, solutions and equipment to effectively treat the urine stain and the smell it leaves behind.

 

*Please note that if the urine decontamination is larger than a dinner plate, we recommend replacing the mattress for health reasons.