Learning Center - Keeping the Bed Clean

• Easy Tips for Laundering Urine-Soaked Bedding
• How Do Odor Removers Work?
• Does My Child Need Protective Pillow Covers?

Easy Tips for Laundering Urine-Soaked Bedding

In the event that you're unprepared for a nighttime accident or your protective bedding fails to keep all urine away from your child's bed, you'll want to take some quick steps right away to prevent urine stains and odor. There are products that can help, but those can wait until morning. The following tips can help make the next day a little easier:

• First, soak up as much as you can using a towel or super-absorbent cloth. You'll want to press hard, as the urine may have soaked through to the mattress. It's a good idea to keep some towels in or near your child's room so you don't have to run all over the house in the middle of the night.
• After you've removed the excess urine, apply a waterproof overlay to the mattress so your child will be able to sleep on a dry bed until morning.
• You might also keep some plastic bags on hand for storing soiled bedding, towels, and clothing until the morning.

The next day, you can apply a urine stain remover and give it adequate time to saturate the material and dry. You'll want to apply the same amount of stain remover as there is urine to adequately treat the spot.

How Do Odor Removers Work?

When trying to remove urine smell from bedding, mattresses, furniture, and floors, it's important to use a product that works to eliminate the odor, rather than just cover it up. Because of urine's chemical makeup, it can be particularly challenging to get rid of. Finding a product that's designed specifically to neutralize urine and other organic odors will make the task much easier.

Urine contains stubborn uric acid crystals that adhere to all kinds of surfaces, including flooring. The most effective urine stain removers are designed to break these crystals down, which is the only way to succesfully eliminate the smell, rather than simply hide it.

Urine-Erase and OdorZyme are two highly effective products that are made to tackle urine stains and smells. Urine-Erase, which requires two application steps, works on set-in stains and ultimately turns them into oxygen and water. It also comes with a black light that enables you to clearly see urine on surfaces. OdorZyme is a one-step product that gets rid of uric acid crystals. This product is great for pre-treating urine-soaked bedding and clothing.

Does My Child Need Protective Pillow Cases?

In the middle of the night, while changing your child’s bed, you notice that her pillow is soaking wet. How did that happen? Many children sleep restlessly, causing them to move to many different areas of the bed throughout the night. For this reason, it's important to protect as much of the bed as possible from nighttime accidents.

While waterproof mattress pads and overlays are essential for protecting your child's bedding, it doesn't occur to many parents to protect the pillows as well. Waterproof pillow covers are available either in vinyl or breathable, waterproof fabric. Vinyl pillow covers can be wiped clean, while fabric covers are machine washable. Both varieties are zippered so that they protect the entire pillow. Both types also protect your child's pillows from allergens and bacteria.