Lots of people don’t like to use baking soda for cleaning their mattresses because baking soda can trigger problems like escalating acne outbreaks, irritated skin, and excessive skin dryness

If you are one of them and wanted to know how to clean a mattress without baking soda then you are in the right direction.

Small accidents like urination and vomiting can happen,

If you spilled coffee, milk, chocolate milk or anything then you need to clean your mattress immediately.

And if you don’t want to use baking soda then there are also several ways to clean a mattress without baking soda.

So let’s get started.

Table Of Contents

Why Not Use Baking Soda?

How to clean a mattress without baking soda

Baking soda is a natural odor neutralizer means baking soda can neutralize any type of smell.

But remember baking soda is only useful for removing the smell and it’s not good for cleaning the stains from the mattress.

In fact, baking soda can make stains worse and also triggers symptoms like skin irritation, skin dryness, and other symptoms in some people.

But baking soda also doesn’t work for stains of urine or blood.

Because you will need a stronger solution to clean urine and blood stains.

Whatever the reason is to not use baking soda doesn’t matter.

So let’s just get started on how to clean a mattress without baking soda.

How to clean a mattress without baking soda

To remove stains like urine, vomit, pee, coffee, milk, or any type of stains you need to find an organic way to clean stains from the mattress.

That means you don’t need to use chemicals to clean your mattress.

And the alternative to baking soda is vinegar.

Step 1: Vacuum your Mattress

First, before cleaning your mattress you need to vacuum up the mattress which will remove dirt and dust from the mattress.

Put your vacuum on low settings and use your vacuum to clean the dust from your mattress.

But if the accident is fresh then you need to avoid this step.

Step 2: Start Bloating Excess Liquid 

If any type of small accident like urine, vomit or spilled coffee/milk happens then speed is the crucial factor.

So you need to use a towel to bloat away all excessive liquid as possible.

But just bloat the liquid gently, do not press it too hard otherwise it can spread more.

Step 3: Create a Vinegar solution

Take half a cup of water and half a cup of distilled white vinegar and mix them well into the spray bottle.

But do not shake the solution just mix them into the spray bottle.

Step 4: Spray on the Affected Areas of the Mattress

After creating a solution, spray the solution to the affected areas or stained areas of the mattress.

Spray until that affected area gets completely saturated.

Step 5: Wait for 15 minutes & bloat away again

Now after spraying the solution wait for at least 15 to 30 minutes and after that take a white towel and bloat the excess liquid again.

Step 6: wait until it completely gets dry & Vacuums up again.

You can also add essential oils over the mattress to remove smells like vomit and urine.

And wait for at least 8 hours until the mattress completely gets dry and again after 8 hours vacuum up the mattress.

Different Ways to Clean a Mattress Without Baking Soda (5 Ways)

Now we are going to discuss different ways to clean the mattress without using baking soda.

There are lots of proven ways to clean a mattress without baking soda so we will discuss it one by one.

Way 1: Dish Soap & Water

If you don’t have vinegar and don’t want to use baking soda to clean your mattress then don’t worry because you can also use dish soap to clean your mattress.

Take a few drops of dish soap in a bowl of water until you get plenty of suds.

And now use these suds on a sponge and use this sponge on the stains.

After that dry with a towel and leave to air to completely dry.

Way 2: Lemon Juice and Salt

Another effective way to clean mattress without using baking soda is using lemon juice and salt method.

Lemon juice is a natural stain remover, disinfectant, and whitener which is best for removing stains from the mattress.

Mix one part of lemon with two parts of salt then it will make the scouring paste.

  • Make the paste of salt and lemon juice
  • Apply the mixture to the stain and leave it for 30 to 60 minutes.
  • After just wiping out the mixture with a clean cloth.

Way 3: Using Enzyme-Based Solution (Best Way)

An enzyme-based solution is specially made for removing biological stains like vomit and urine.

It will breaks down the protein in the stains and remove the stains from the mattress immediately.

This is the best way to clean a mattress without baking soda.

  • Mix half a cup of water and a half cup of enzyme-based cleaner in a spray bottle and spray them onto the affected areas of the mattress.
  • Wait for at least 30 to 60 minutes.
  • Bloat away excess liquid from the mattress
  • Again wait for at least 8 hours until the mattress gets completely dry.


Way 4: Hydrogen Peroxide

Mix one part of hydrogen peroxide with two parts of water and apply the mixture to the stained or affected areas of the mattress.

Leave it for at least 15 to 30 minutes.

And wipe out the solution with a clean cloth.

Way 5: Stain Remover Bar

The next proven and best way to clean mattress without baking soda is to use a stain remover bar.

If your mattress has stains of urine, vomit, milk, coffee, or blood then you can use this stain remover bar to clean your mattress.

You can use vanish stain remover bar for removing stains from the mattress.

  • Rub the bar on stained areas of the mattress
  • Leave it for at least 10 to 15 minutes
  • Wipe out with a clean cloth.

So these are 5 ways to clean a mattress without using baking soda.

How to get rid of urine smell without using baking soda

As we all know baking soda can easily remove the urine smell from the mattress but if you don’t want to use baking soda then you can use essential oils in white vinegar to remove the odor of urine from the mattress.

Add a few drops of your favorite essential oils into half cup of vinegar and half a cup of water.

Mix them into the spray bottle and spray the solution on the affected areas of the mattress.

Take a clean cloth and wipe out the solution from the mattress.

You can also use commercial fragrance on your mattress to remove the smell of urine from the mattress.

How to protect your mattress from these types of accidents

There is a saying “Prevention is better than the cure” which means if you do some steps to protect your mattress from urine, vomit, or any type of stains then you don’t need to clean the mattress again and again.

So for protecting your mattress from these types of stains you need to use a waterproof mattress protector.

And if any type of accident happens then you don’t need to clean the mattress because if you use a mattress protector then you need to only wash the mattress protector.

Final Words on How to clean a mattress without baking soda

Lots of people don’t like to use baking soda on their mattresses because it can trigger some allergies in some people.

And using baking soda can affect the mattress in long term.

No matter what the reason is for not using baking soda, there are ways to clean a mattress without baking soda,

One of the best ways to clean the mattress without baking soda is by using vinegar, hydrogen peroxide, or enzyme cleaner.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. How to clean memory foam mattress without baking soda?

For cleaning a memory foam mattress without baking soda, you can mix half a cup of water and half a cup of vinegar and mix them well into the spray bottle and spray the solution into the affected areas of the mattress. 

And wait for 10 to 15 minutes then take a clean cloth and bloat away all excess liquid from the memory foam mattress.

2. How to clean urine from mattress without baking soda?

For cleaning urine from the mattress you need to use biological enzyme-based cleaner which is specially made for removing biological stains like urine and vomit.

Take equal parts of the enzyme solution with an equal part of water and mix them well into the spray bottle and spray the solution on the urinated area of the mattress.

And wait for 15 minutes and wipe out the solution with clean clothes and leave the mattress to completely dry.

3. Which is the best way to clean mattress without baking soda?

The best way to clean a mattress without baking soda is using white vinegar solution which is easily available in your house, 

Simply mix the white vinegar and water in equal parts and mix them into the spray bottle and spray the solution on the affected areas of the mattress.

Wait for at least 10 to 15 minutes and wipe out the solution with a clean cloth.