The Vine: February 8, 2008
Dear Sars,
My 8-year-old had a little nighttime accident last night — in my bed. In my brand-new, week-old mattress I hadn’t yet gotten around to covering with a mattress pad (because my husband is 9,000 miles away, and my son doesn’t usually wet the bed). I aired it out and used some “nature’s miracle” on the spot, but do you or your readers have any other suggestions as to anything else I should do? It was on my husband’s side of the bed, so I don’t have to suffer; but once he gets home, I’d like him to want to stay.
Thanks.
For Me, This Is A Whole New Meaning For “Wet Spot”
P.S. Poor Sars, clearinghouse for weird questions. (Do you ever
regret “ask the readers Friday”?)
Dear Wet,
Second one first: no, not at all. I used to dread it a little bit, with certain subjects, before I switched to blog format and you guys could just leave your comments on your own, because of the formatting hell involved — but even then, I was still getting great tips on everything from buttondown shirts to history books.
As to your stated problem: I think you did as much as you could. It should be fine, and if you’re not smelling anything, you’re probably all set — generally speaking, when something you can’t just throw in the wash gets stained/peed on/whatever, you want to pick up as much of it as you can with a white towel (pressing on or blotting the affected area, not rubbing). Then you want to treat the affected area to kill any bacteria, which is what causes odors — whatever non-bleach cleaner you have in the house that’s not too chemical-laden, or just giving it a shot of Lysol aerosol. Let it dry, hit it with Febreze, remember to turn your mattress every six months (or however often you’re meant to do it), and you should be okay. The drastic measures necessary to eliminate the traces of (or prevent a repeat performance of) cat pee aren’t as critical for other species’ urine.
Readers? Anything to add?
Tags: Ask The Readers kids
BAKING SODA (yes the stuff you put in your fridge!). It seams so simple, but it is a miracle!! It will take the smell out of anything. I used to have a cat that liked to use anything on the floor as a bathroom, and my mom suggested this. Now I use it in my laundry (pour it straight in) and sprinkle it on my couches an vac it up.
If you don’t like the smell of Febreeze or other products of that type, vodka in a spray bottle works as well. The alcohol will kill the odor-causing bacteria and leave littel scent behind. I learned this in college when I worked in the Theater Dept’s costume shop. Lots of time we would have outfits that we just couldn’t wash, but would get quite ripe under the stage lights.
We had this problem with our cats for a while, and we only found one product that was really up to the job on a mattress. A spray isn’t really good enough because it doesn’t reach whatever’s soaked in.
I can’t remember the name of this product for the life of me, but you can buy it at the vet’s office. It’s pretty distinctive – it’s an enzyme-based thing that comes in two parts, one liquid and one powder; you mix the powder with water and pour it on the affected spot, and then when that’s dry, you pour on the liquid part. It takes a while to dry completely (you have to use an amount of liquid equal to the amount of pee), but it performs some nifty chemical magic whereby the stinky solids in the urine get broken down into other non-smelly compounds that just evaporate away.
I had this same issue with my cat after I graduated from college. Brand new mattress…left her for the weekend (my brother also lived in the house, so she wasn’t alone) to visit my parents’ house, and came back to a bed that had been used as a litter box for 2 days. (There was pee EVERYWHERE! Another story for another time, though.)
I was livid, especially due to the newness of the mattress, but honestly, after I sprayed it with the cat urine disipater stuff I’d gotten from the pet store, as well as a liberal amount of Lysol and let it air out, I never noticed any problem. Had to throw the comforter and the pillows away, but I had that mattress for another 7 or 8 years, and it was fine.
As usual, good advice, Sars.
If you can’t find the pet stuff spray, I second the baking soda tip. I have a dog who is outside all day getting as stinky as she possibly can and then coming inside to lay all over my still somewhat new couch. I cover the couch in baking soda, rub it in a bit (it’s a chenille fabric), and let it sit for at least 30 minutes and then vaccuum it up. Voila, couch is stink free without any chemical odors or perfumes.
I use “Simple Solution” for cat pee accidents, and it’s great, i just drown the area with the stuff. it works so well with cat pee I imagine it won’t have any problems with people pee :)
I had to deal with a very similar sort of unexpected kid pee on a mattress situation. I just soaked it (and I mean seriously soaked, with the better part of a bottle) with Nature’s Miracle. It took about 50 years to dry all the way. I had to put towels under the sheet over the spot and night and then remove them in the morning for more than a week, as I recall. But since then, no smell, not even a hint.
Here in Australia we have something of a cleaning celebrity named Shannon Lush. She is known to have the answers to all manner of spills and stains. I just did a quick search and came up with this:
“Problem: Urine Stain on Mattress
What to use: Detergent, cloth, hairdryer, lemon juice or white vinegar, cloth
How to apply: Add a little detergent to water to generate a sudsy mix, Scrub the suds into the stain with a cloth and, if you can, put the mattress in the sun. If you can’t, use paper towels to dry as much as you can. Then dry with a hairdryer. Neutralise the smell with lemon juice or white vinegar applied sparingly with a damp cloth.”
Hope that helps!
I’ve gotten very good results with white vinegar for similar accidents. An incident involving several couch cushions and a toddler too sick to make it to the bathroom (…for either end) comes to mind. Use a spray bottle to saturate the area, let it air dry in a well-ventilated room and you are set. Once it dries all urine (and pickle) odor should vanish. Second option would be an oxygen bleach, but check for color fastness first.
I’m not sure if this is the same product that Amelinda recommended, but the stuff that worked for us (we bought it at the vet’s office) is called (honest to god) “Anti Icky Poo”. And I’m told that it DOES work for human pee, as well as many other organic substances. It was invented by the folks who clean up after abandoned dead bodies. If that’s not a tribune to odor removal, I don’t know what is.
Turn the mattress over, so that gravity does not draw the moisture deeper into the mattress. In a week, flip it back over and clean it again.
An ex of mine once mistook my lovely pillow top Serta for the bathroom during a drunken stupor. I blotted the spot and scrubbed it with simple dishwashing liquid and warm water. After blotting that dry, I hit it with the same pet stain remover I use when my dog has a accident, and you can’t tell that there was ever a urine stain on the mattress.
I would avoid hitting any type of urine stain with Febreeze. As we learned with our cat and dog (and as the directions on a lot of pet stain stuff mentions), Febreeze just sets in the smell of urine, for some reason.
You could also try putting dryer sheets over the stain and under the sheets.
What Lisa said – pee is acidic, baking soda is alkalai, and the one neutralizes the other.
Don’t tell your hubby, he’ll never know…heh.
Yep: I work for a company that makes stuff for this: Zero Odor. You can order it at http://www.zeroodor.com – it’s fantastic stuff actually.
@lacey j:
i’m SO GLAD he’s an ex!! Ewwww!
If you have your carpets professionally cleaned, they will do mattresses as well. Next time, I plan to have the carpets and mattresses cleaned on a Thursday or Friday and then have us all go away (the cat included) for the weekend while they dry.
Nature’s Miracle is great stuff, and human pee is way easier to remove than cat pee. Vinegar is also good, and I totally agree with flipping the mattress so it doesn’t sink further in. The more it has a chance to air out and dry without sheets, the better. But it should be fine once it dries.
Hi I think the product Amelinda is referring to is called Odarid Cat and Dog Pee neutraliser. I used it recently in my car and it works very quickly and well. You have to mix a powder with aliquid which is bit of a nusiance but it certainly seems to do the job. I think the manufactureres also use it on flooring where deceased people have been. Hope that helps