Dear friends,
A few weeks ago, I received an enquiry from a visitor here on how to remove urine odours from our mattresses. I’m sure many of us have gone through a stage whereby our babies, kids and even pets have got their pee onto the mattress, and it can be quite a headache for us to remove the stain, and worse, the pungent smell of urine.
If this happens onto a crib mattress, then the cleaning job is easier as we can easily carry it to a convenient place to clean and have some sunlight on it. But if you have a situation like mine – whereby my babies have managed to wet my king-sized mattress – then there is no way that we are going to lug the huge mattress anywhere and any cleaning will have to be done on the spot. 
This is the method that I used to remove urine stains and odours from my mattress :-
1) remove the bed sheet and any mattress protector first. Then wash the stained spots under a tap with some detergent at the laundry or kitchen sink. Rinse. After this, put the bedsheet set into the washing machine, set the cycle for a hot wash, put in detergent, and at the first rinse in the wash cycle, put in a cup of white vinegar. This will remove any odour in the bedsheet.
2) For the mattress, if the urine stain is still wet, put a few pieces of paper kitchen towels to absorb the moisture as much as you can.
3) Make a solution of detergent and warm water, pour bit by bit over the urine stains, give them a quick scrub with a brush, and very quickly use paper kitchen towels to remove the moisture there. Repeat this a few times until you are sstisfied that you have done your best.
4) I used a hair dryer to dry the wet spot. At this point, the urea/ammonia smell is still going to be there and you need something to neutralise that smell.
5) I had used Ammens Medicated Powder to absorb the smell last time because then, I only had this on hand and I have found it to be very effective. Plus, I thought this powder would be safer to use on the mattress since we sleep on it. Just pour the medicated powder liberally to cover the whole stained area.
Leave this on for as many hours as possible………but in case you need to sleep on this mattress (it may be in the middle of the night), place a dry towel over it, and then put a new bedsheet over it and go back to sleep.
6) Next day or a few hours later, just vacuum off the medicated powder. The smell would have gone by now but if there is a bit of odour left, then, you just pour more medicated powder over the spot and leave for a few more hours….then, vacuum the powder away. 
Actually, the best remedy to remove urine odour is to place the mattress or bedsheet in the strong sun, as sunlight can neutralise the urea smell. But when this is not possible, e.g. your mattress is too heavy to be moved, you don’t have sun because now it is autumn or winter, etc…. then using the medicated powder is a good remedy.
I have read that we can use a vinegar and baking powder solution to clean the stains and remove odours, but I personally feel that using the medicated powder is safer on our skin (not that we are having direct skin contact with the mattress, but psychologically wise, I feel better with the medicated powder anyway.)
Many years ago, my doctor has also recommended the use of medicated powder to as a deodorant for my underarms at one time when my underarms were allergic to some deodorants/anti-perspirants that I was using. So, this sort of confirmed that medicated powder can actually remove odours, too.
Please note that I am not being paid or sponsored by the company of Ammens Medicated Powder, but that I am merely sharing with you my experience.
Tania Milner said,
June 6, 2008 @ 9:43 pm
What a wonderful suggestion, I was just wondering where I can buy Ammens powder. My parents used to send me some over from Papua New Guinea but i have not found it in any of the shops in Christchurch. If you could email me directly It would be greatly appreciated.
happyhomemaker88 said,
June 7, 2008 @ 1:14 am
Hello there and welcome, dear Tania
Actually, you can use any brand of medicated powder and they are usually sold in pharmacies and supermarkets, along the aisles where baby talcum powders are located. Otherwise, there are a few online stores that sell Ammens Medicated Powder and you can order any from them. For example -
http://www.drugstore.com/qxp10734_333181_sespider/ammens/medicated_powder_original_formula.htm
Have a lovely weekend!
With peace and joy,
choesf
yakub hamza said,
August 19, 2008 @ 10:38 pm
dear Moms , you may keep a thin rexin which is available in all stores in all sizes. you may put in between matress and the bedsheet. ( make sure the sheet will be like paper it wont disturb while sleeping). once the baby had urinateda and it will be only on bedsheet . so you can wash with good perfumed fabric softner and dry it sun light. you may protect the matress. hope it will help..yakub hamza
happyhomemaker88 said,
August 22, 2008 @ 6:23 pm
Hello there and welcome, dear yakub
Thank you for your recommendation – it will be most useful to those with small children.
Have a nice weekend!
With peace and harmony,
choesf
mary said,
September 1, 2008 @ 10:47 pm
Can you please tell me how to get a mildew smell out of a mattress using a home remedy? The mattress isn’t that old and I don’t want to have to get rid of it if I don’t have to. Thank you!!! Mary
happyhomemaker88 said,
September 4, 2008 @ 2:56 pm
Hi there and welcome, dear Mary
Well, I have not experienced this problem myself but I can think of 2 methods that may work in removing the mildewy smell -
1) apply any brand of medicated powder on all the sides of the mattress, let it stay on as long as you can (one day or so) and vacuum the powder off. If you find this method helps in reducing the smell, then repeated immediately another round of powder on the mattress.
2) if you have full strength sunlight, it is very good to sun and air the mattress for an hour or so, longer if the sunlight is not so strong.
If the mildew is too much and all over the mattress, I would suggest that you change it because the spores from the mildew are unhealthy for us and may cause sicknesses and allergies.
Hope something works for you soon, Mary!
With peace and joy,
choesf
John said,
March 11, 2009 @ 10:05 pm
I found a great product to kill the smell for good. i first used it to get rid of the CAT smell in my garage now i use it everywhere it is called whiff whacker and i found it at http://www.thevetsource.com this stuff is all natural and it works wonders
i had pressure washed the garage and it still smelled like cat sprayed this stuff on the floor and stairs and left when i came back two hours later i could not smell anything there was no smell at all
happyhomemaker88 said,
March 12, 2009 @ 7:26 am
Hi there and welcome, dear John
Thank you for the useful information on how to remove cat smells. I have one or two neighbourhood male cats that would come into my home and spray their pee around, and I have yet to find a way to get rid of their smells, except to use a strong disinfectant to mop the flour. I will check out this product for sure.
With peace and joy,
choesf
manila said,
April 4, 2009 @ 10:35 am
I know Choesf, this urine smell can be a big pain. I used to do almost everything you just mentioned. Instead of paper towels I used to use bathroom towels. I had 4-5 just dedicated for this purpose. Once they did the soaking business I use to wash them separately in the washing machine. When dry, they were kept back for future emergencies.
I really like the medicated powder idea. Good suggestion.
happyhomemaker88 said,
April 5, 2009 @ 9:45 am
Hi there, dear manila
Those who have babies or young children will understand the hassle of cleaning the urine from the mattresses. You have a very good method there in using bathroom towels.
Have a lovely Sunday!
With peace and joy,
choesf
Sharlene said,
June 30, 2009 @ 6:15 am
we have purchased a second hand mattress for our daughter, I discovered it does smell of cat urine I think. I like the sound of the medicated powder. Should I repeat this process until I am happy the smell is gone? Would appreciate any comments
happyhomemaker88 said,
June 30, 2009 @ 7:41 am
Hi there and welcome, dear Sharlene
Cat pee can be quite strong and persistent to remove. It would be good to put the medicated powder liberally on the mattress and if possible, put the mattress out for some strong sunlight for an hour or so, for a few days, until the odour is gone or much reduced. Hope this helps…
With best wishes,
choesf
alina said,
August 27, 2009 @ 7:16 pm
wow, i’ll definitely try this on my bed, one of my cats just loves to pee in my bed, and the smell is awful, so i really hope this works.
happyhomemaker88 said,
August 29, 2009 @ 10:09 am
Hi there and welcome, dear alina
For removing the odour of the more pungent cat pee, it will be more difficult and you may have to try this method out a few times. Hope it works for you.
Do have a lovely weekend!
With best wishes,
choesf