Skip to content
How to Get Urine Smell Out of Sheets (and Why It Keeps Coming Back)
- by Brodie Cook
Another night, another bed to strip. The spare sheets go on, the wet ones go in the wash, and you hope the mattress protector will be dry by tomorrow. You’ve used a good detergent, and a day later that smell is still there.
It isn’t about how hard you scrub. Urine smell hides in the layers of a bed you didn’t wash and comes back when bedding dries slowly. That’s fixable, and it doesn’t take more washes.
This guide helps you work out what to wash, whether the protector needs a different wash, and what to check if the smell remains, so you can stop repeating a routine that isn’t working. It starts with Laundry Sanitiser in the first main wash. One sheet goes into the drum alongside your detergent, adding a tested antibacterial step in cold or warm water.* Use it from the first wash, not after the smell comes back.
Why urine smell keeps coming back
Fresh urine has little ammonia smell. The sharp urine odours build as bacteria break down the urea that urine contains. A wet bed is warm, damp and left alone for hours, which suits those bacteria well.
So you are not scrubbing off a mark. You are stopping a process that restarts whenever bedding stays damp. Three things keep it going:
- Missed layers. Urine soaks through to the protector, pad or mattress, but only the sheets get washed.
- Cool washes. A 2025 study notes that cutting microbes in a wash usually takes 60°C or more, or an oxidising product such as bleach. Many bedding washes sit below that. However, our solution allows for a cool wash!
- Damp drying. The smell can return while laundry dries.
Is an odour-free sheet the same as a clean one?
Not exactly. Smell is an alarm, not a lab result. It tells you something is active in the fabric, but it cannot count germs. It also has a flaw: noses tune out smells they live with, which is why a visitor notices first. Whoever just walked in often gets the stronger hit, so you and your partner can both be right. For a fairer test, sniff the bedding when it is dry and cool, as you first walk in. Or ask someone who does not sleep in that room.
Perfumed products make this worse. They mask the smell and switch off your alarm. Aim for bedding that is fresh and clean because it was washed, sanitised and dried well, with your nose as the final check, not the only one.
Which layer holds the urine odours?
A bed is several layers, and urine ignores the boundaries. Check each one before anything goes in the machine.
| Layer | What to do |
|---|---|
| Fitted sheet, pyjamas, duvet cover | Wash them. Check the doona itself if its cover is wet. |
| Waterproof mattress protector | Wash it if urine touched it, even if the mattress feels dry. Follow its care label. |
| Washable pad | Follow its own care label for washing and drying. |
| Disposable underpads | Bin them. They are not made for the washing machine. |
| Mattress | Check under the wet area (see the mattress section below). |
A damp protector put straight back on the bed can keep the room smelling, even after the sheets are washed.
How to get urine smell out of bed sheets
Act quickly where you can, because wet bedding gives bacteria more hours to work. Keep soiled bedding away from clean laundry.
Step 1: Rinse first to remove urine from soaked bedding
If the bedding was soaked through or sat for hours, run a rinse-and-spin with no detergent or sanitiser. Let it finish and drain, so you rinse thoroughly before the main wash. Some machines also have an extra rinse cycle, so check your manual.
For a small fresh patch, rinse the affected area with cool water, then go to the main wash. If you cannot wash yet, keep wet items in a separate washable container.
Step 2: Add detergent and sanitiser to remove urine smell
Our Enzyme Laundry Detergent does the cleaning:
- Half a sheet for a 4 kg half load.
- One sheet for a standard 8 kg full load.
- An extra half sheet is allowed for an extra-dirty load.
Add one Laundry Sanitiser sheet directly into the drum alongside the detergent, after any separate rinse has drained. The sanitiser is for standard washable fabrics, not delicates.
It showed a 99.9% reduction in two tested bacteria.* That is its antibacterial job. It does not remove stains or clean a mattress. For more, see our guide to sanitising laundry without bleach.
Step 3: Pick the right wash cycle
Choose a normal cycle in cold or warm water that the care label allows. You do not need the warmest setting. Skip short refresh cycles, because urine-soaked bedding needs a full wash cycle.
Give the drum room. An 8 kg rating means dry laundry, and wet bedding is heavier, so split the load if linen and pads are wedged in. Read a waterproof protector's care label before adding any laundry product, and wash it separately if it needs a different programme.
Step 4: Dry completely before you remake the bed
This is where many routines fall down. The sheets come out of the machine smelling fine, then the smell creeps back while they dry. Slow, humid drying gives bacteria a chance to grow again, and damp fabric can turn musty or grow mildew.
The tricky part is that bedding can feel dry on the surface while it’s still damp inside. So give it more time than you think it needs:
- Follow each item’s drying label for the dryer or line, and space sheets out so air can move between them.
- Check folded edges and thick pad seams, which stay damp longest.
- Never put a dry sheet over a protector that still feels damp.
Polyester tends to hold on to odour more than cotton, so check polyester sheets first.
How to get pee smell out of clothes and pyjamas
Use the same routine: rinse if soaked, then detergent and sanitiser in a normal cycle. Check cuffs, sleeves and waistbands, and wash urine-stained pyjamas even if the patch has dried by morning.
Check each care label, and set delicate sleepwear aside. Even after potty training, night accidents are common in young children, so keep spare pyjamas ready.
Stubborn odours and set-in stains: what to check
Change one thing at a time, so you can tell what worked.
| When you notice it | What to check |
|---|---|
| Straight out of the washer | Was it rinsed first? Was the drum crowded? Did the dose match the soil level? |
| Only while drying | Airflow, spacing and thick seams. Rewash anything musty. |
| Only on the made bed | The protector, pad and mattress, not the clean sheets. |
| Sheets fine, protector smells | Wash it alone by its label. Check the backing for peeling or splits. |
A set-in stain needs a pre-treat product that is safe for the fabric. Check its label first.
What about the mattress?
If urine got through, use a clean cloth or paper towels to blot the area. Avoid rubbing, which can push urine deeper. Then follow the mattress maker's cleaning instructions.
A high-quality waterproof mattress protector helps prevent this. If bedwetting suddenly starts again, or comes with pain, see your GP, as a urinary tract problem can be behind it.
Do vinegar, baking soda and fabric softener remove odours?
- White vinegar. The American Cleaning Institute says vinegar can help remove some unpleasant odours, though it may leave its own smell, and it is not a disinfectant. So it is not useless, but a better smell is not proof of sanitising.
- Baking soda and vinegar. There is no need to add either to this routine.
- Uric acid crystals. Urine does contain uric acid, and some pages blame its crystals for stubborn odours. We found no reliable evidence, so this routine does not rely on it.
- Fabric softener. Skip it while troubleshooting. It adds fragrance, which can hide your early warning.
Make the 2am change faster
The easiest night change is one you’ve already set up.
Layer the bed. Make it up with a mattress protector, a fitted sheet, a second protector or washable pad, then a second fitted sheet. After an accident, strip the top two layers and a made bed is already underneath. Follow each protector’s and pad’s care label.
Keep a night kit within reach. A spare set of pyjamas, a towel, and a lidded container or bag for the wet bedding, so it stays away from clean laundry until morning.
In the morning, start at Step 1 above of how to get urine smell out of bed sheets.
Lucent Globe Laundry Sanitiser Sheets were independently tested by TÜV under ASTM E2274-24 and demonstrated a 99.9% reduction in Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli (E. coli) under the test conditions. Follow the current pack directions. This bacterial reduction result is not a measurement of urine-odour removal.
){kind=link}