February 13, 2019 - Senior Dog Days

As our dogs age, they will likely begin to have urine leakage while they sleep. It may be just a little leak, or a full blown bladder release. Whichever the case may be, there will come a time when you have to get dog pee out of a foam mattress. This post will guide you through removing wet dog pee from a foam mattress as well as how to remove dry dog pee from a mattress. Since you’re reading this online, we will start with removing dry dog pee from a foam mattress. Removing DRY Dog Pee from Foam If you’ve come across dry dog pee on your dog’s foam mattress, who knows how long it’s been there. The problem with dry dog pee is that it’s really still there, just in a dry form and it will reactivate and stink up the house (and your dog). Just as if a dog pee sat on a hardwood floor until it dried, applying baking soda may deodorize the pee, but it won’t remove it. We want to remove the dog pee from the foam so we can rest easy, right? If you are simply looking to deodorize a dry foam mattress, jump down to step 5-deodorize. Otherwise here is the process for actually removing dry dog pee from the dry foam: Supplies Needed to Remove Dry Dog Pee from Foam 3% Peroxide (normal drug store peroxide)White vinegarTarp or waterproof material to protect your floors (if doing this inside)Lots of absorbent rags, towels or non-glossy newspaper. (Use material you don’t care about because peroxide can alter colors.)For foam that is thicker than 3 inches, a needle syringe or skinny straw, like the type used as stir sticks in a cocktail. Step 1 – Sanitize Use a 50/50 mix of hydrogen peroxide and warm water and saturate the dry dog pee area of the foam. You can saturate by wring a solution filled rag over the foam and rubbing it in or using a spray bottle set to the stream setting. The idea here is “deep penetration” rather than a surface misting. If your foam is thick, use a needle syringe to inject the solution into the middle of the foam so it is truly saturated through and through. If you only have a skinny straw, place the skinny straw into a deep vessel and dip the straw in. Once the straw is in the solution, place your index finger over the top of the straw hold and pull it out (this keeps the straw filled with the solution). Insert the straw into the foam and release your finger from the top of the straw hole. This should allow the solution to fall into the foam. Repeat until saturated. While you’re doing this, the dog urine will be activated and noticeably smelly. Let the peroxide sanitizing mixture sit 10 full minutes. Step 2 – Extract the Sanitizing Solution Now it’s time for the first extraction of all the solution we just injected. Put an absorbent towel under the foam and on top of the foam and step all over it. Using your entire body weight, draw up as much liquid as possible Repeat the sanitation process and extraction process until the overwhelming scent is either neutral or hydrogen peroxide. Step 3 – Neutralize The reason we don’t use mix vinegar into the peroxide solution is because the smell of vinegar overpowers the smell of dog urine which makes it difficult to determine when we’ve actually removed all of the urine from the foam. Now that we are confident that the urine is gone, mix a solution that’s 50% water, 25% peroxide and 25% vinegar. Saturate the foam again using the same method as before. Let this mixture stay in the foam for 30 minutes. Step 4 – Extract the Neutralizing Solution Now it’s time to extract the neutralizing solution. It’s the same method as before where you place a towel under the foam and on top of the foam and step all over it. Using your entire body weight, draw up as much liquid as possible, this time until it’s as dry as humanly possible. Now it’s time for dry deodorization. It’s okay if the foam is ever so slightly moist, but not damp. Step 5 - Deodorize a Dry Dog Foam Mattress Supplies Needed Powdered deodorizer such as baking soda or mildly scented carpet freshener (dog nose)Soft brushVacuum Ideally, wait for a dry, sunny day. Take your foam outside in the sun but protected from bird droppings (like under a porch roof) and sprinkle it with a powdered carpet deodorizer or plain or scented baking soda. Use the brush to help the powder penetrate into the foam. Do this on both sides of the foam. Leave the powdered foam mattress in the sun for an hour and then flip it over. After another hour, vacuum both sides of the foam and test for freshness. The foam should smell neutral if you’ve used plain baking soda and it will help keep the foam deodorized for several weeks. If you need to do this indoors, that’s fine, just keep the foam in a warm dry space and it will be fine. Let the powder stay on the foam several hours before vacuuming. To keep your dog bed protected from dog pee, consider pee proof blankets for dogs. And if your foam is beyond salvage, you can replace foam very easily by having a piece shipped to your door. Just remember to measure your old piece before tossing. For more information on pee proof blankets or replacement foam, scroll to the bottom of the article. Otherwise, we’re going to move on to removing wet dog pee from foam mattresses. Removing Wet Dog Pee from Foam Ignore your instincts! At the first sight of a liquid spill, most of us instinctively grab a cloth or paper towels and start blotting and squeezing. Do not do this when trying to remove wet dog pee from a foam mattress. Follow these steps instead: Step 1 – Stop the Absorption Go ahead and turn the foam over so the wet side is facing the floor or ground. You can do this outside or over the bathtub or sink depending on the size of the foam; just do it as quickly as possible to prevent deeper absorption and allow gravity to naturally assist Step 2 – Gather Supplies Now that you’ve halted absorption and put gravity to work, it’s time to go gather supplies. Here’s what you’ll need to remove wet dog pee from foam: A vacuum, shopvac or leaf blower that blows OUT (preferred)Absorbent material (cotton towels, chamois, paper towels, unglossy newspaper, etc.,)Baking Soda or Powdered Carpet DeodorizerWhite vinegar (cider will work if it’s all you have)3% Hydrogen Peroxide (the regular drug store type) Step 3 – Suspend the Foam Always keep the foam facing pee side down. Suspend the foam over the tub, sink or perhaps laying across outdoor chairs if you’re outside. Just make sure the foam is not touching the ground because we’re going to blow the urine out of it and we don’t want it to reabsorb. Step 4 – Blow out the Dog Pee Using the blow feature on your vacuum, shopvac or leaf blower, get ready to blow the dog pee out of the foam. With the appliance off, place the mouth of the blow hose directly and as straight as possible onto the backside of the foam. Hold the hose nozzle tight and steady against the foam and then switch it on. Do not move the blowing hose back and forth as this will cause the dog pee to spread out in angles as it leaves the foam. You’ll get the best results by blowing one small spot, turn the vac off. Move the hose a few inches, hold the hose firmly, switch the blower on. Repeat until no more dog urine sprays out of the foam. If you don’t have an appliance that BLOWS, you’ll suck the urine out instead. Try to keep the pee side down by placing the foam onto something tall and work with your vacuum from the underside. Step 5 – Lightly Blot With as much dog pee out of the foam as possible, your foam should feel just slightly damp and now it’s time to start blotting. Keep the wet side down for now and use your absorbent material with light to medium pressure and blot the damp spot until you’ve drawn out as much pee as possible. Step 6 – Apply Heavy Weight At this point, you’ve taken as much dog pee out of the foam as possible while containing the spread. But now, it’s time to get the stubborn residual. Place an absorbent cloth or newspaper down on the floor or ground and put the foam on top (pee side down). Place more absorbent material on the backside of the foam (facing up) and compress the wet spot by standing on it with a slight bouncing motion. Check for wetness on the materials, both on top of the foam and under the foam and swap for dry as needed. Continue until both cloths stay dry during this bouncing compression. Step 7 – Assess Results At this this point you can go in one of 2 directions based on how your individual piece of foam turned out. If you are happy with your foam and it’s in good, clean order then you can simply deodorize using the dry method. If you are worried that dog pee is still somewhere in the foam and can’t get to it or if the foam smells really nasty, then you should use the wet method of deodorizing. If your foam is not smelly and you’ve managed to get it really dry and can barely tell that anything happened, you can deodorize using the dry method. Step 8 – Sanitize & Deodorize Whether you choose to wet deodorize, dry deodorize or both, it’s finally time to flip the foam! Wet Deodorize – protect your floors with waterproof material or do this this step in a sink, tub or outside. Mix 50% water with 25% vinegar and 25% hydrogen peroxide (example 1 cup water ½ cup vinegar, ½ cup peroxide) and spray it on the foam. If you don’t have a spray bottle, simply douse a cloth in the solution and wring it out over the foam. In this case, you’ll want to help the solution soak into the foam so keep the former pee side up and let gravity assist the vinegar solution penetration. To help facilitate the soaking, rub your hand gently across the pooling solution as it sits atop the foam. Let the solution stay in the foam for an hour and then begin blowing it out of the foam or sucking it out with your vacuum, shopvac or leaf blower. Repeat the steps 4-7 until you are satisfied with your foam and can move onto dry deodorizing. Dry Deodorize – your foam should be nearly dry before moving to the final step of dry deodorizing. With the former dog pee side facing up, sprinkle baking soda or a powdered carpet deodorizer over the former wet spot. Rub in in and repeat with another sprinkle. To help the powder penetrate the foam, you can tap the foam or vibrate the foam, kind of like you would do when trying to remove bubbles from a pan of cake batter. Let the dry powder sit at least 3 hours, preferably overnight. Vacuum the powder out of the foam and check for happiness. Final Thoughts on Removing Dog Pee from Foam Dog beds are not cheap and hopefully these steps have saved your foam from the trash can. If you are unhappy with the state or condition of your foam, you do not have to get an entirely new dog bed. High quality foam can be sent directly to your door and you can cut it to size with a bread knife, saw, or by using multiple passes of a razor knife. If you’re thinking of replacing the foam, measure your dog’s foam before tossing it into the trash and remember to measure the thickness too. This will be most helpful when buying and cutting the replacement piece. And excess foam is great to have around the house. I’ve used the excess to make a dog pillow, a cat bed and I’ve even used it to pad the sharp corners of my bedframe. You should have no problem figuring out what to do with excess quality foam. If your dog's bed is beyond cleaning and you just want to get a new bed, here is an extensive guide on selecting the right bed the first time. You can read it: Comparing Dog Bed Designs. How to Protect a Dog Bed from Dog Pee Going Forward A well trained dog can become very insecure once he’s realized he’s wet his bed and having an upset owner will only add to his bad feelings. Having pee proof dog blankets on hand and in rotation will help ensure that everyone keeps their cool, including your dog Puppy Pads If using puppy pads, I recommend opening your dog’s bed and laying them flat between the foam and the cover – this assumes you have a zip or removable cover. Make sure the puppy pads are facing up, just like they would on the floor, and then re-zip the dog bed. Mattress Pad or Pee Proof Dog Blanket You can use a bed-wetting mattress pad made for humans or a pee proof dog blanket. Whichever you choose, simply drape the protector over your dog’s bed and then top with his favorite blanket or sheet. If you’re worried about looks, open the bed and place the pee proof blanket on top of the foam and then close up the bed Using a top sheet over your dog’s bed will cut down on the number of washes for the actual bed cover as you can simply throw the top cover and mattress protector into the wash. In addition to incontinence, there are many other reasons why every dog owner could benefit from having one or two pee proof dog blankets on hand such as: Overnight stays at hotels or wherever you’re a house guestSteroid Medicines cause frequent and urgent urination and a weak bladderLong car rides that may also cause nausea and vomitingYou can provide pee proof blankets to your dog’s pet sitter.Coming home after surgery or medical treatment (it’s not easy to think of these things as they are happening) What to Look for When Selecting a Pee Proof Dog Blanket Your dog will be peeing on this so you want a pee proof blanket that is machine washable. For your dog’s optimal comfort, choose a pee blanket that is NOT plastic which will make your dog extra hot and sweaty which will reduce her chances of using it.Make sure it isn’t a noisy material. Some blankets sound like garbage bags and dogs don’t dig those. The material should be comfortable, and relatively quiet.Finally, the material should be non slip and should wick moisture away so your dog's fur doesn't get saturated in his own urine. This pee blanket is all of the above and you can read the feedback when when used by adult dogs and puppies: 2-Pack Dog Pee Absorbing Blanket (product link) Hopefully, the dog pee came out of the foam and all you need to do is put your dog bed back together and give your dog a hug! Thanks for visiting SeniorDogDays!