Orthopedic mattress

How to Get Sick Out of a Mattress

/ Cleaning

When you’re suffering from a bout of sickness, getting to the bathroom isn’t always possible. So the inevitable happens: you throw up in bed.

Unfortunately, however rough you feel, you or someone else needs to clean up the sick because leaving vomit on a mattress has dire consequences.

Not only will the bed stink of sickness and whatever you’ve eaten, but germs will be spread around, and the surface could end up permanently stained by a green-yellow patch of dried vomit.

Follow the step-by-step guide below to quickly clean the vomit off your mattress.

 

Tips to Remember When Dealing with Vomit Stains

  • Act fast. Speed is of the essence when it comes to vomit stains. The quicker you respond, the better your chances are of removing the stain and not leaving lasting marks on the mattress.
  • Try to use products you have at home to clean up the sick. This will save you time because you don’t have to look around for cleaning supplies.
  • Put gloves and a mask on when handling sick. You don’t want to make yourself ill or spread germs around.
  • No rubbing or scrubbing. If you apply too much pressure to the mattress when trying to remove the sick, the vomit will sink deeper into the mattress’ core. If this happens, the blemish will become more challenging to remove. In some cases, the vomit cannot be eradicated effectively, and you end up with an obvious stain on the mattress.
  • Open the windows to leave the smell of sick out.
  • Chew gum when you’re cleaning someone else’s sick up. It can help to take your mind off the activity and lessen the vomit smell.
  • You will likely have to repeat the steps below more than once to remove an entire vomit blemish from a mattress. Protein-based stains like sick are tricky to remove. So, don’t worry if you find yourself repeating the steps below.
  • Allow yourself plenty of time. Treating a vomit stain on a mattress can be tiring and long-winded work. So don’t rush the process; take your time and treat the blemish properly.
  • Take note of the instructions on your mattress’ care label and adhere to them. Check what kind of mattress you have, for example, spring or memory foam, and treat it accordingly.
  • Do a patch test with your chosen cleaning solution before you use it.

 

Step-by-Step Guide to Removing Vomit from a Mattress

Tools you’ll need:

 

Step 1: Remove the sick from the mattress

Grab a square of cardboard and use it to scoop up the vomit from the mattress. A dustpan and brush can be used instead, but clean them afterwards.

When you’ve scooped up the sick, put it in a bag and bin it.

 

Step 2: Clean your bedding

Take the sheets, pillowcases and mattress protector off the mattress and put them in the wash.

You should wash these items at the hottest temperature allowed for the material and with a detergent that contains enzymes (they’ll break down the protein in the vomit).

Make sure the chunks of vomit are gone before you put your items in the wash. Otherwise, the chunks will clog the washing machine.

 

Step 3: Blot away excess moisture

Grab plenty of neutral-coloured cloths or paper towels and gently blot the vomit stain on the mattress. Bin the cloths/towels when they get soaked in vomit.

Continuously blot the mattress until it feels slightly moist. This stops excess moisture from seeping into the heart of the mattress.

 

Step 4: Pre-treat the blemish

Mix a few blobs of washing up liquid with water in a shallow dish. Then, dip a neutral-coloured cloth into the liquid, wring it out and gently and repeatedly blot the sick stain.

Don’t saturate the mattress! A soaking mattress will take ages to dry.

 

Step 5: Soak up the fluids

After treating the vomit blemish, coat it in bicarbonate of soda. The bicarb will absorb the remains of the stain and its odour.

Leave the bicarb on the sick overnight to draw out the liquids from the mattress. The following day, hoover the bicarbonate of soda off the mattress, stick the upholstery attachment on the hoover and vacuum away.

Don’t have a hoover? Brush the bicarb off the surface instead. 

Tip: Put towels over the treated area to protect it while you sleep.

Alternative: Cornflour can be used instead of bicarbonate of soda. However, it won’t deodorise the surface. It’ll just absorb the liquid.

 

Step 6: Treat the stain

Fresh vomit stains

To remove new sicky stains from a mattress, grab a clean spray bottle and put one cup of white vinegar and one cup of warm water inside it.

Shake the bottle to mix the ingredients. Then, squirt the mixture onto the vomit stain (the sick mark should be damp but not saturated), grab a fresh neutral-coloured cloth and start blotting the treated area.

Repeat these steps until the blemish is gone. But remember to use a fresh patch of cloth each time you blot so you don’t reapply the vomit to the mattress.

Dried and aged vomit stains

Coat older vomit stains in an off-the-shelf enzyme cleaner. Or, treat the blemishes with an official stain remover, like Easylife’s Mattress Stain Remover or envii Bed Fresh.

See the instructions on the packaging to find out how to use each product.

 

Step 7: Soak up the fluids

Coat the vomit stain in bicarbonate of soda again, and allow the bicarb to draw out any remaining moisture from the mattress.

Hoover the surface when the bicarbonate of soda has dried out.

 

Step 8: Kill the germs

To ensure the mattress is free from germs, fill a spray bottle with rubbing alcohol and spray a fine mist of the solution over the mattress.

 

Step 9: Dry the mattress

Allow the mattress to dry out fully. Open the bedroom window to encourage air flow through the room and use a fan to speed up the drying process.

 

Step 10: Assess and remake the bed

After carrying out the steps above, you can assess your mattress’s appearance and smell.

Repeat all or some of the steps above if the mattress is still vomit-stained. Or, if you need to, do a deeper clean of the mattress.

If the mattress looks fine and there isn’t a pukey smell coming from it, make your bed.

 

How to Remove the Smell of Vomit from a Mattress

The best way to remove smells from your mattress is to follow the steps above and repeat the treatments if necessary.

Consider the following:

  • Bicarbonate of soda is particularly good at neutralising foul odours from fabric surfaces. For an added kick of fragrance, drop a little essential oil into the bicarb to scent the surface.
  • Make a paste from laundry detergent and bicarbonate of soda. Then, spread this paste over the tainted area, leave it to dry, then hoover the surface.
  • Mixing equal parts of white vinegar and water makes a great chemical-free odour neutraliser.
  • Deep clean your mattress using steam cleaners, official mattress cleaners and even carpet cleaning products (spring type only)!
  • Ask a professional for help. You can find a suitable person by doing an online search. Remember that this service will cost you, and this fee will depend on several factors. So, weigh up your options before you proceed.
  • If the damage to your mattress is too bad, think about replacing it. Given that you spend several hours a day in bed, you want the surface to be comfortable and pleasantly scented. Trying to sleep on an aromatically displeasing mattress isn’t going to do anything for your sleep.

 

How to Protect a Mattress from Future Accidents

Here are some ways you can look after your mattress:

  • Use a mattress protector. This creates an extra barrier between you and your mattress. It’s also a lot easier to treat and clean a mattress protector! Plus, protectors are cheaper to buy and can be delivered quickly.
  • Lay towels on the mattress to protect it. This works in much the same way as a mattress protector. Remember that the towels will move as you wriggle around on the mattress. So, there is a chance that some liquids may bypass the protective towels.
  • Ensure there’s a sick bowl near the bed. Try to avoid a mishap altogether by encouraging people to throw up in a tub rather than in bed.

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