Getting sick is no fun.
Whether it is an illness or accidental food poisoning, most of us take to our beds when we feel under the weather.
Sadly, sometimes accidents happen, and cleaning vomit out of your bed is the last thing anyone wants to do right after throwing up.
Unlike the sheets, you can’t just plunge your dirty mattress into the washing machine, so cleaning it may seem like a sizable task.
Luckily, we’ve done the research, and cleaning vomit out of your mattress is fast and easy.
Using everyday household items, you can remove vomit from your mattress in as little as 15 minutes, allowing you to get back to getting better.
Continue to read below for the items you will need to clean vomit from a mattress.
What You’ll Need
You will need a few essential household items to remove vomit from a mattress properly.
Now that you have everything you need, read on for step-by-step instructions on how to clean vomit out of your mattress.
1. Remove vomit from the mattress
Especially if the vomit is fresh, the first thing you should do is remove the vomit from the mattress.
Strip the bed of all its blankets, sheets, and anything else on the bed.
Scrape off the vomit into a trash bag or the toilet, and then wash the bedding.
Follow the care instructions on your sheets and blankets, but you may want to give them an extra wash cycle to ensure that all of the germs have been killed.
While the bedding is washing, take a fresh cleaning cloth and begin blotting up any extra liquid from the vomit that has permeated into the mattress itself.
Blotting will help to remove the liquid before it can stain your mattress more deeply.
Be careful not to rub the area, though.
Gently blotting will allow you to get as much liquid out as possible without working the liquid further into the mattress.
Pro tip: You may want to wear rubber gloves for this process, and it will prevent your hands from coming into direct contact with the vomit.
I recommend the LANON Wahoo PVC Household Cleaning Gloves, Reusable.
They get excellent reviews on Amazon.
2. Mix a 3% hydrogen peroxide solution
Once you have extracted as much vomit liquid as possible from your mattress, mix a 3% hydrogen peroxide solution.
Most hydrogen peroxide is already sold as a 3% solution, but if yours is not, this is the percentage of hydrogen peroxide to water that you need.
Add a drop or two of dish soap to the hydrogen peroxide to increase its ability to remove the vomit.
3. Apply the solution to the vomit stains
Using a fresh cleaning cloth, apply the hydrogen peroxide solution to the vomit stains.
You should begin to see results quickly.
Rub or blot gently and be careful not to use more of the solution than you need.
The goal is to remove the vomit without soaking the mattress.
4. Iron the stains to remove them altogether
Once you have applied the hydrogen peroxide solution to all of the vomit stains on your mattress, lay a towel over the stains.
Turn your iron onto medium heat, and gently iron the stains through the towel.
The heat from the iron helps the hydrogen peroxide pull the vomit out of the mattress, taking out the vomit stain quickly and effectively.
You should see the towel absorbing the hydrogen peroxide and the vomit liquid as you iron.
Once done, allow the mattress to finish drying before putting fresh sheets and blankets on the mattress.
The following video demonstrates how to remove vomit from your mattress.
0:35—If the vomit is fresh, remove the sheets and use a towel to clean up as much of the vomit as possible.
0:58—Mix a 3% hydrogen peroxide solution. Add a couple of drops of dish soap to the solution.
1:15—Apply the hydrogen peroxide mixture to the vomit stains using a cleaning cloth.
1:54—Lay a clean towel across the stains and iron the area to lift the vomit stains out of the mattress. The iron should be on medium heat.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I clean vomit out of my mattress if I don’t have hydrogen peroxide?
Yes, you can use other household items to clean vomit out of your mattress, but this other method takes more time.
If you do not have hydrogen peroxide in the house, mix one-part mild soap and three parts water.
Use a cleaning cloth to dab the affected area with soapy water.
The soap will help lift the oils in the vomit that are creating the stain on your mattress.
After you have applied the soap mixture, allow your mattress to dry completely.
You can use a fan to help speed this process along.
Then, mix one cup of distilled white vinegar and one cup of water.
Doing this will help to further clean the affected area.
Spray the vinegar and water mixture across the affected area.
Use just enough of this mixture to dampen the site; if you use too much and soak your mattress, you risk damaging your mattress.
Allow the affected area to dry completely.
Again, you can use a fan to speed this process along.
You may find you need to repeat your use of the vinegar and water mixture a few times before the vomit stain is completely gone.
How Do I get rid of the vomit smell in my mattress?
The hydrogen peroxide should eliminate any lingering smell, but if you find that there is still a lingering odor, you can use baking soda to get rid of the rest of the vomit smell.
Sprinkle the affected part of your mattress with baking soda, and allow the baking soda to sit for at least 8 hours, although overnight is better.
If you or someone else needs to sleep on the mattress during this time window, you can place a towel over the baking soda and then place the sheets over that.
Once the baking soda has sat for at least 8 hours, vacuum up the baking soda and dispose of it immediately.
