How To Clean Urine From a Mattress: 7 Steps + Stain Removal Tips

Key Takeaways

• If you have fresh urine on your mattress, strip your bed and blot the bed immediately.
• Use a vinegar solution or enzyme cleaner to get rid of pee, then apply baking soda to neutralize the smell.
• Use a machine-washable waterproof mattress protector to keep your mattress clean and dry.

We’ve all been there. Whether it’s a child, a beloved pet, or an aging family member, wetting the bed is common. It’s nothing to be ashamed of, but making sure you take the proper steps to clean your mattress as soon as possible is the key to keeping your mattress fresh.

With a little patience and some diligent effort, you can easily clean most kinds of messes from your bed. Knowing how to clean urine from a mattress is the very first step, so you’re in the right place.

Rest assured, your new mattress stain won’t be there forever. Follow these steps and your mattress will be as good as new:

1. Remove and wash your bedding
2. Blot fresh urine
3. Gather your supplies
4. Spray area with vinegar solution
5. Sprinkle area with baking soda
6. Vacuum the dried baking soda
7. Remake your bed once it’s dry

The secret to not having to clean your mattress at all? Using a mattress protector can prevent fluids or other messes from reaching your mattress, and Purple has the gold standard option that’s waterproof and crinkle-proof.

Keep Your Mattress Fresh and Clean

Protect your mattress from spills, stains, and unpleasant smells with a waterproof, stain-resistant mattress protector.

Shop Waterproof Mattress Protector

Read along for more details about how to clean urine from a mattress. 

1. Remove and Wash Your Bedding

For most mattresses, you should first remove and wash all bedding, including your mattress protector. If the stain is extensive or already soaked in, you may want to use a pre-wash or whitening solution on your sheets and other bedding before putting it in the wash.

Purple mattresses require a different cleaning process due to the internal makeup of the bed. 

We recommend hydrogen peroxide as a spot cleaner as it’s a great deodorizer. However, it can cause discoloration that may damage bedding or memory foam, especially on non white materials.

We advise against using bleach or other ammonia-based chemical cleaning solutions, as they can damage the fabric and aren’t good for your health.

2. Blot Fresh Urine

Blot, don’t rub. Blot, don’t rub. Blot, don’t rub. 

We said it three times because it’s that important.

For this step, you’ll need paper towels or some other absorbent item that you can throw out or wash.

When cleaning up messes like urine or blood on a mattress, it’s important to blot it with a paper towel to properly soak up the moisture, rather than rubbing it in. This is especially true with urine, as rubbing it will spread it further, making an even bigger mess and potential stain.

3. Gather Your Cleaning Supplies 

Once you’ve stripped your bed and blotted up the moisture, you should get the rest of your cleaning supplies ready. Luckily, everything you need is likely already on hand. 

The most important thing to do is clean urine from your mattress right away, while it’s still wet. While a dried stain can still be cleaned, it’s much easier to get a pee stain out of a mattress when it’s damp. Messes that are left to soak are at a higher risk for lingering odors and even mold and mildew. 

Here’s everything you should need:

• More paper towels
• Spray bottle
• Distilled white vinegar
• Water
• Baking soda
• Vacuum
• Enzyme cleaner (if cleaning pet urine)

Some optional supplies include:

• Hydrogen peroxide
• Essential oils (note: some oils may stain/discolor mattresses) 
• Blow-dryer or fan

4. Spray the Area With a Vinegar Solution or Enzyme Cleaner

Using a spray bottle filled with either diluted white vinegar or your preferred enzyme cleaner, lightly dab the entire stain. Let it sit for at least 15 minutes. Then, use a paper towel to blot the area again, soaking up excess moisture. 

Vinegar is a great cleaning solution because the acid in vinegar acts as a natural disinfectant and stain remover. If the smell of vinegar is too harsh for you, consider adding essential oils to cut the acidic scent. Just be mindful if you have furry friends in your home that not all essential oils are pet-safe, such as eucalyptus and peppermint.

Looking for a way to get cat or dog pee out of your mattress? An enzyme cleaner will be your best friend. Apply the cleaning product as directed to break down the proteins in the urine that make it stain and smell. Doing so will not only help eliminate any pesky stains but also reduce the risk of repeat accidents in the same spot.

5. Sprinkle the Area With Baking Soda

Next, sprinkle the area with baking soda. Use a generous amount, as this step helps to both absorb the moisture and deodorize. Let it sit for at least eight hours, but ideally overnight. You may also choose to add essential oils to the baking soda to help with the odor.

6. Vacuum the Dried Baking Soda

After the baking soda has been sitting for at least eight hours, the next step is to vacuum your mattress to remove the baking soda. At this point, your mattress should be fully deodorized and the urine removed, but it may still be slightly damp.

7. Remake Your Bed Once It’s Dry

Allow the mattress to dry for as long as it takes before putting your bedding back on. If you can, set your mattress in the sun to dry — this will not only be faster but the sun is also considered a natural disinfectant, with its UV rays killing bacteria and viruses.¹ 

You can also use a blow-dryer on its lowest setting. Using a circular motion, hold the blow-dryer about 4 inches away from the mattress and go over the stain for several minutes until it’s dry. If you don’t have a blow-dryer, a fan on its highest setting will work as well.

How To Clean Urine From a Purple Mattress 

Purple mattresses require a different cleaning process from traditional foam or innerspring mattresses since they're made from a GelFlex Grid® material. 

When cleaning a Purple mattress, it's important to avoid removing your mattress cover or machine washing/drying, as this may void your warranty. To clean a pee stain on your mattress, use a clean, dry cloth, mild enzymatic cleaner like an upholstery cleaner, and warm water (avoid harsh chemicals or steam cleaners) to lightly blot the affected area. Avoid saturating the mattress and allow time for it to dry before using. 

If the stain persists, contact a Purple support for further advice. 

How To Get Urine Out of a Mattress When Dry

If you’re trying to get rid of a pee stain on your mattress, we can help with that, too. The steps are the same, except you don’t need to spend the time initially blotting the excess moisture out and can go straight to spraying it with your vinegar or enzyme solution.

Be sure to lightly blot the stain with your cleaning solution and let it sit for a bit longer to soak. After at least 30 minutes, you can add the baking soda to sit and then vacuum it up and let it dry.

How To Get Pee Smell Out of Mattress

For extra difficult stains, the smell may linger in your mattress even after cleaning and drying properly. Vinegar and baking soda both have odor-neutralizing properties, so if the scent is still lingering, repeat the process again. 

The important thing to remember is to not use any harsh cleaning products, particularly those that contain ammonia. Ammonia’s odor is similar to urine, so it will likely amplify the scent. Not only that, but the harsh chemicals in many cleaners are not safe to breathe in nor are they good for your skin, so you don’t want them where you or your loved ones sleep.²

Keeping your mattress clean and protected can also help protect your mattress against mold, dust, and sweat. 

How To Get Pee Out of a Pillow

Cleaning pillows can be a bit simpler, as many pillows can be tossed directly into the wash, but not all pillows are machine-washable, such as memory foam and latex pillows.

The process for getting pee out of a pillow will be different depending on the type of pillow you have. The manufacturer tag should indicate if a pillow is machine-washable. 

All covers on Purple pillows are machine-washable but the following pillows’ cores should be spot cleaned:

• The Purple® Pillow 
• Harmony™ Pillow
• Harmony Anywhere™ Pillow
• Freeform™ Pillow
• DreamLayer® Pillow

How To Get Urine Out of Memory Foam Pillows

Some pillows are machine-washable, some require gentle handwashing, and others, like memory foam pillows, shouldn’t be saturated with water. Getting urine out of a memory foam mattress or pillow requires some special care due to the unique properties of memory foam.

With that being said, a pee-stained memory foam pillow isn’t a lost cause. Apply the same method detailed above:

• Soak up excess moisture with a paper towel or a dry cloth rag.
• Spray the affected area with your vinegar or enzymatic cleaner and let sit for 15 minutes.
• Blot the area until dry.
• Sprinkle baking soda and leave overnight.
• Vacuum the debris.
• Leave the pillow out in the sun to dry, or dry with a fan or blow-dryer.

While you can’t machine wash memory foam, it won’t be ruined by urine or other messes if you act quickly and protect your pillow and mattress with high-quality bedding.

How To Get Urine Out of Machine-Washable Pillows

Pillows such as down or microfiber are often machine-washable. The manufacturer guidelines will outline what type of washing machines, products, and wash and dryer settings can be used. 

Similar to bedding, you may choose to pretreat pillows before putting them in the wash, but make sure you use a product that will not bleach or damage the material. Pillows should be washed two at a time to keep your washing machine balanced, using a low spin setting to prevent the pillows from losing their shape.

If your pillows are stained or still smell like urine after cleaning them, it may be time to replace your pillows. Purple offers several options with different feels, lofts, and firmness levels to best suit your sleep needs.

What To Do If You Can’t Clean Urine From a Mattress

If you’ve tried all of the above tips — and even repeated them several times — but your mattress is still stained and has an odor, it may be time to replace your mattress.

Purple’s patented GelFlex Grid® is the latest sleep technology that promises proven deeper sleep with cooler, instantly adaptive comfort that relieves pressure where you want while maintaining support where you need it.

Purple also offers a 100-day sleep trial, ensuring you can test out your mattress to find the best fit for you.

The Ultimate Restorative Sleep

Every Purple mattress features the flexible GelFlex Grid®, which dissipates body heat, cradles pressure points, and supports spinal alignment.

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Protect Your Mattress From Messes, Spills, and Stains

The best answer for how to get urine out of a mattress is to protect your bed against messes to begin with. Both the Purple Mattress Protector® and Waterproof Mattress Protector are stain-resistant, machine-washable, and anti-microbial to keep your bed fresh.

If you wake up due to bed-wetting or a pet-related accident, all you need to do is toss your mattress protector in the laundry right away with the rest of your bedding and you can go back to sleep.