Machine wash your sheets on the cold-water wash cycle and use a heavy-duty laundry detergent. Avoid using hot or warm water. We also recommend that you add a cup of white vinegar to the rinse cycle, which will help to remove the unpleasant urine smell from the fabric.
Unfortunately, there's no golden rule to stain removal. For example, most food stains should be soaked in cold water, unless it's egg, mustard or a tomato-based product. Another tricky rule: Urine stains get cold water while sweat and vomit stains get warm-to-hot water. Take a minute to study our cheat sheet below.
Debra Johnson, a cleaning expert for Merry Maids, recommends running urine-soaked articles through a full-wash cycle using cold water and one cup of distilled white vinegar (without detergent first). Vinegar is an excellent urine stain remover; it breaks down the uric acid in urine and makes the stain easier to remove.
Wash the urine-stained clothes or bed sheets on the normal cycle, at the warmest wash temperature indicated on the fabric care label. Always check the instructions on the garment's care label before washing to avoid damaging items.
To effectively clean bed sheets and eliminate allergens, bacteria, and dust mites, it's generally recommended to wash them in hot water, ideally at a temperature of 130°F (54°C) or higher. This temperature helps ensure thorough cleaning.
Aggressive on textiles, we recommend using hot water to launder only heavily soiled or odorous items made from strong fiber like cotton, and durable synthetic fabrics. Never use hot water on delicate fabrics, as it can cause damage or shrinkage to the garment.
Strip your bed of all sheets and gather any clothes you're washing with them. Transport all infested items to the washing machine in sealable bags, preferably plastic. Add your chosen detergent to the wash. Wash all items at at least 140°F for over an hour and a half.
Wash the garment in cold water with an enzyme-based laundry detergent, like Dropps Odor & Stain or Active Wash Laundry Detergent. The enzymes in the detergent will help break down the urine and remove the source of the smell.
Most urine stains can be cleaned either with a homemade vinegar cleaner, or a homemade hydrogen peroxide cleaner. Foams soak up liquids quickly, so all-foam beds can hold onto the smell of urine more than other mattresses. Many urine smells can be removed by making and using a simple baking soda paste.
Hot water washes can help to break down urine molecules more quickly, but cold water washes may be gentler on fabrics. The downside is that laundry techniques alone may not entirely remove urine smells in some cases, so other solutions might need to be used first or alongside them.
Combat Urine with Hydrogen Peroxide and Surfactants Together
The hydrogen peroxide in Clorox ® Urine Remover breaks down the odor at its source through oxidization and removes uric acid crystals.
Proper hygiene and wearing absorbent products can help manage this. Incontinence: Incontinence, whether urge or stress incontinence, can result in urine leaks onto your pants, causing an ammonia smell. Using incontinence pads or underwear designed to neutralise odours can significantly help.
Vinegar should not be placed directly in the washing machine. However, it can be beneficial to use it to treat stains and odors prior to washing. Just make sure you thoroughly rinse the items before placing them in the washing machine.
Wash on the usual cycle, on the hottest wash temperature indicated. Always check the instructions on the garment's care label. When the cycle is complete, unload the garments immediately. If the urine stain persists after washing, repeat the previous steps before tossing in the dryer, as drying will set the stain.
Urine can dry fairly quickly. In fact, it may virtually disappear within about two to four hours. But even if the mattress is no longer damp, the odds are good that you'll still be able to smell the presence of urine. Understanding how to get the pee smell out of a mattress starts with patience.
The second step, rinsing, involves washing the fabric under cold running water. This step might seem counterintuitive; one commonly hears about hot water being the superior choice for cleaning. But in the case of poop stains, cold water proves more beneficial.
Machine wash your sheets on the cold-water wash cycle and use a heavy-duty laundry detergent. Avoid using hot or warm water. We also recommend that you add a cup of white vinegar to the rinse cycle, which will help to remove the unpleasant urine smell from the fabric.
You can use baking soda to balance the pH levels of your wash water to help keep clothing, towels, linens and other fabrics fresh, bright and soft, without relying on fabric softeners or dryer sheets. It may even help soften items if you have hard water.
I have 'treated' my sheets with two methods that work : 1- spray lightly all over with a (clean) spray bottle filled with 70 % isopropyl alcohol + let air dry all day. Or 2- Sprinkle some talcum powder or Baby powder 'Lightly' just on a few areas then rub in.
“The smell gets more concentrated over time,” Dr. Kornreich says. Additionally, once a urine stain dries, you may no longer see it without using a black light. But you can still smell it, and so can your cat, which can lead them to pee in that area again.
The first clue suggesting that you may have a bed bug infestation is often the presence of itching bites. However, bites reactions are quite variable and may not be due to bed bugs at all. Be aware of the other signs that bed bugs leave behind: fecal spots, molted skins, and aggregations.
We spend a lot of time in our beds, so our sheets tend to become dirty quite quickly. Sheets should be washed at a warm temperature to kill bacteria. A good temperature to wash bed sheets is 40 degrees but a 60-degree wash will be better at killing germs and should be used if someone in the house has been ill.
Clothes are much more likely to shrink when exposed to hot water or high dryer settings. Washing clothes in cold water goes a long way toward preserving the “off-the-rack” size. Avoiding heavy duty cycles, fast spins and high-heat drying can also prevent shrinkage.