Removing Mattress Stains, Step by Step

Short answer: Blot the spill with a dry cloth straight away, then find out what your mattress maker allows before you do anything else. Some makers, including Vispring, prohibit wet cleaning outright, while Englander warns against cleaning fluids and against letting liquid penetrate the mattress. Treating a stain the wrong way can cost you more than the stain would.

Most mattress stains that never came out were made worse by the first thing somebody tried. Hot water on blood, a soaked patch that never dried, or a product the manufacturer had already ruled out. This guide starts with what you are allowed to do, then gives the methods for each stain type where spot cleaning is permitted.

Step one: find out what your mattress maker allows

The instructions differ between brands, and they are not interchangeable.

Care aspect	Englander's published guidance	Vispring's published guidance
Cleaning products	Cleaners are not recommended; they may damage the fabric and the material	Do not wet clean the mattress, as it can damage the upholstery
Spills	Liquids penetrating the mattress can damage the upholstery and invalidate the cover	Soak up with a dry absorbent cloth
Stains and cover	Stains of any kind invalidate the warranty	The guarantee may be invalid where the mattress is soiled and unsanitary, or stained because a protector was not used
Vacuuming	Vacuums are not to be used.	Vacuum cleaners must not be used, as they can dislodge the fillings

If your maker prohibits wet cleaning or cleaning products, stop after blotting. Contact the retailer or the manufacturer and ask what they permit for your model. That is not us being cautious: on a Vispring, wet cleaning is ruled out in the care guide, and on an Englander, any stain has already affected the warranty position before you reach for anything.

If you do not know what your mattress allows, treat it as prohibited until you have checked. The gentler route costs you nothing.

The methods further down this page are for mattresses whose care instructions explicitly permit spot cleaning with water or a cleaning product.

Step two: blot the fresh spill

For a fresh spill, dry blotting is the gentlest immediate step unless your maker instructs otherwise. Vispring recommends it explicitly. It is also the step that decides how much of the stain you will be dealing with later, so do it first and check the care guide before anything else.

• Act while it is wet. A fresh mark lifts far more easily than a dried one.
• Wear disposable gloves for anything that came from the body, particularly if it was not your own.
• Press, do not rub. Use a dry, colourfast white cloth or plain kitchen paper, press it into the mark, lift, and move to a clean part of the cloth. Rubbing spreads the stain sideways and drives it down into the fillings.
• Work from the outside in, or a small mark becomes a large ring.
• Do not add liquid at this stage. Blotting removes; wetting spreads.

Safety, before anything else. Never mix cleaning products: bleach combined with an ammonia-based cleaner gives off dangerous gases. Never use bleach on a mattress at all. Work with a window open or the room ventilated, and bag used cloths and any solids for disposal rather than leaving them beside the bed.

Where spot cleaning is permitted: the ground rules

Everything below applies only if your mattress maker allows spot treatment. If it does, these rules apply to all of it.

• Test first, on a hidden area such as the underside near a corner. A hidden test tells you whether a product discolours the cover. It does not tell you whether the maker approves that product, which is a separate question you have already answered above.
• Product permission is separate from spot-cleaning permission. Use a cleaning product only if your maker permits that product or that type of cleaner. General permission to spot clean does not automatically approve every chemical, so a maker may allow water or a mild detergent without allowing an enzyme product.
• Use the least liquid that will do the job. Damp, never wet, and never poured.
• Cold water on blood. Hot water can set a blood stain and make it harder to remove, so start with cold water where your maker permits treatment.
• Work in several light passes rather than one heavy one.
• Dry fully afterwards, as set out near the end of this guide.

Blood

• Fresh blood. Gloves on. Dampen a white cloth with cold water and blot, working the edges inwards, changing to a clean part of the cloth as it picks up colour. Never use warm water.
• Dried blood. Where bicarbonate of soda is permitted, a paste of it with cold water, spread over the mark and left to dry, then brushed away. Removing the residue normally means vacuuming, so this method needs your maker to permit both the powder and a vacuum on the mattress. Where it does not, brush the residue away gently and accept a less thorough result.
• Stubborn marks. Some cleaning guidance suggests a 3% hydrogen peroxide solution, dabbed on with a cloth after a hidden test. It can lighten fabrics and affect some foam and latex constructions, and neither the Englander nor the Vispring guidance checked for this article lists it as an approved mattress treatment. General permission to spot clean does not mean a specific chemical is approved, so use it only where your maker permits that type of cleaner or confirms it is compatible, and stop at once if any colour lifts from the cover.

Menstrual stains

Menstrual fluid contains blood along with tissue and other secretions, so it is not identical to blood from a cut, but the cold-water principle still applies: heat can set the blood component.

Blot first, then treat as above if your mattress permits spot cleaning. If it has gone through from the sheet, deal with the sheet too, or it will re-mark the mattress on the next wash day.

Sweat marks

Sweat is mostly water carrying salts and traces of body oils, so it behaves differently from a pigment spill, and there is usually nothing to lift in a hurry.

Where your maker permits spot cleaning with a mild detergent, a cloth barely dampened with cold water and a drop of washing-up liquid, followed by a cloth dampened with plain cold water to lift the detergent, is the usual approach. Where it is not permitted, keep the protector washed and aired regularly, and speak to the retailer before trying anything on the mattress itself.

Urine

Blot hard and early. Press clean dry cloths into the area to draw out as much liquid as possible before considering anything else, and wear gloves.

Where your maker permits an enzyme or upholstery cleaner, or confirms one is compatible, an appropriately formulated enzyme product may help with organic stains and the odour that comes with them. Choose one formulated for that specific stain, follow its label, and test on a hidden area first.

For cat urine, avoid ammonia-based cleaners. The ASPCA notes that ammonia can attract a cat back to the same spot, since urine contains it. For other pet accidents, use a product appropriate to the stain and permitted by your mattress maker.

Where spot cleaning is not permitted, blot thoroughly, dry the area with air movement, and contact the maker or a professional cleaner who will work to the approved method.

Tea, coffee and juice

Blot the liquid immediately with a dry cloth, pressing rather than wiping.

Where your maker permits spot cleaning with a mild detergent, follow with a cloth barely dampened in cold water and a few drops of washing-up liquid, then plain cold water on a fresh cloth. Coloured drinks need patience rather than force, and rubbing pushes colour into the quilting where nothing will reach it.

Vomit

Gloves on. Lift away solids with a blunt edge, working towards the centre, and bag them with the cloths you used.

Blot the area with dry cloths. Where your maker permits an enzyme or upholstery cleaner, that is the usual choice for both the mark and the odour, following its label. Where it does not, blot, dry thoroughly and take advice, since vomit can leave a persistent odour if moisture remains.

Oil, makeup, wax and ink

• Oil, grease and makeup. Do not start with water, which spreads oil. Cover the mark with bicarbonate of soda or cornflour to absorb, then remove the powder by the method your maker allows. Any further treatment depends on whether spot cleaning is permitted.
• Candle wax. Harden it with an ice pack in a plastic bag, then lift the brittle pieces with a blunt edge. Treat any colour left as a dye mark.
• Ink and dye transfer. These are the hardest, and often they do not come out. Isopropyl alcohol is sometimes suggested, dabbed on a white cloth after a hidden test. It is flammable, so keep it away from any flame or heat source and use it in a ventilated room. As with peroxide, neither the Englander nor the Vispring guidance checked for this article lists it as an approved mattress treatment, so it is an option only where your maker permits that type of cleaner or confirms it is compatible. Stop the moment the cover's own colour lifts onto the cloth.

Drying, which decides whether it worked

If you have used any moisture at all, this is the step that matters.

Blot with a dry cloth until no more comes up, then increase air movement with a fan and reduce indoor humidity by running the air conditioning. Drying time depends on how much moisture got in, how the mattress is built and the conditions in the room.

Be honest about what you can tell: a surface that feels dry does not prove the interior is dry. That is the strongest argument for keeping liquid out in the first place.

Check underneath before you finish

If the spill was liquid and reached the mattress through the sheet, check the other side and the base. Moisture that has soaked through leaves the layers and whatever the mattress sits on damp, and that outlasts anything you can see.

When to stop, and who to call

• When the stain is old and set. Repeated wet or chemical treatment can increase the risk of damaging the cover or the upholstery.
• When the cover colour is lifting. Stop immediately and accept the stain.
• When an odour returns. Retained moisture is one possibility, but the source may be elsewhere. Stop adding moisture and check the mattress, the base and the area around the bed.
• When your maker prohibits what the stain needs. Contact the retailer or the manufacturer, or a professional cleaner who will work to the approved method. Professional cleaning does not automatically restore warranty or guarantee eligibility after staining, so check the terms before paying for it.

If the mattress is past the point where any of this helps, our mattress range is a better use of the money, and you can try options at our showrooms in Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah and Umm Al Quwain. Under the return policy set out on our terms of sale page, goods supplied in error, incomplete, damaged or faulty can be returned, with faulty goods classified as those received damaged or where a manufacturing defect occurs within a year of purchase. Damage from wear and tear is excluded, and general sales remain final.

The part that makes all of this unnecessary

A suitable waterproof mattress protector reduces the risk of stains and liquid reaching the mattress, which matters because some warranties and guarantees restrict cover where staining or soiling is present. Not every protector is waterproof, so check what each one does, and wash it to its own care label rather than the mattress's.

Both makers above point the same way. Englander's guidance is to use a mattress pad and wash it frequently with the bed linen. Vispring states that its guarantee may be invalid where a mattress is stained because a protector was not used.

Frequently asked questions

How do you get stains out of a mattress?

Blot immediately with a dry cloth, pressing rather than rubbing, then check what your mattress maker allows before going further. Some prohibit wet cleaning and cleaning products entirely. Where spot cleaning is permitted, use cold water on blood, test any product on a hidden area, and dry the area thoroughly afterwards.

Does a stain void a mattress warranty?

It depends on the brand. Englander's published warranty excludes mattresses with stains of any origin and warns against cleaning fluids and liquid penetration. Vispring's guarantee may be invalid where a mattress is soiled or stained because no protector was used. Check the terms for your own mattress.

How do you remove a blood stain from a mattress?

Only where your mattress maker permits spot treatment. Use cold water, never warm, since heat can set blood. Blot a fresh stain with a cold damp white cloth until no more transfers. For dried blood, a bicarbonate paste left to dry then removed can help, though removing the residue usually needs a vacuum.

Can you use an enzyme cleaner on a mattress?

Only where the maker permits an enzyme or upholstery cleaner, or confirms one is compatible, since general permission to spot clean does not approve every product. An appropriately formulated enzyme product may help with organic stains such as urine or vomit. Follow its label and test on a hidden area first.

What if my mattress cannot be wet cleaned?

Blot the spill with a dry cloth, dry the area with air movement, and contact the retailer or the manufacturer for the approved method. A professional cleaner working to that method is the next option. Then use a protector, since the same spill is far less trouble on a washable layer.