Our six-week-old daughter is sleeping in our bed, and she has the unfortunate tendency to fountain in the middle of the night. She did it again this morning and while I’ve washed the sheets, the milk soaked through to the mattress itself, leaving a moist, smelly spot. What can I do to clean it up before I put the sheets back on? I’ve heard that dairy stains can be set permanently if not cleaned up right.
Silly, you don’t get milk out of a mattress, you get milk out of a cow!
A milk fountain? See a pediatrician pronto. It should be pee, right?
Have you tried diapers?
It seems that dilute household detergent is your best bet. More info here, for instance.
And thank you for remind me once again why I’m not having kids until I have perfected the 100% wipe-clean house (and/or hermetically sealed baby). Second-hand milk in the mattress? Not for me thanks…
I actually like the sound of the title and will try to work it into my future conversations more,
“That’s as impossible as getting milk from a mattress.”
Just to be clear, she’s been to the pediatrician and the doctor says it’s probably acid reflux. She said as long as she’s still gaining weight and it’s not occuring after every feeding, we shouldn’t worry. She’s in the 97th percentile for height and weight and she keeps getting bigger, so it’s only a concern in terms of cleaning for now.
I would consider a plastic matertess cover for a while , if it will be a problem. The milk won’t go past stuff you can’t wash. You could use a carpet cleaner attachment.
Maybe get a Gore-Tex mattress cover to prevent any problems in the future as well?
Definitely get a breathable mattress cover. Actually, go back in time and get one, then this would never have happened.
I’m not sure about getting the milk out; one of those wash-vacs for carpets does sounds like a good idea, but that’s going to leave the mattress damp for a day or two.
On a sunny day, lay a clean tarp on your grass. Carry the mattress outside and place it on the tarp. Pour white vinegar onto the milk spot. Lots of it, so it penetrates into the mattress as far as the milk did. Then let the mattress sit in th sun for a few hours.
Dousing it with large amounts of vinegar sounds like a terrible idea. Even if that removes the milk, how will you get rid of the smell of the vinegar?
Take off any nuke the mattress from orbit. It’s the only way to be sure.
Milk is going to be tricky because of the proteins. Is it the proteins that go rancid and stink, right?
I would suggest some sort of enzyme cleaner. Try a pet store for the ‘pee eliminator’ type of cleansers (Stains and Smells is a brand that we’ve used in the past). You’ll probably have to use a steam cleaner/vacuum to get out the stuff that has soaked in.
The bad news is that I haven’t had much success getting the smell of rancid milk and stomach acid out of upholstery. We’ve gone through a few area rugs and have a lazyboy recliner that has noticeable stains, although the chair has stopped stinking after a few months. I tried cleaning the area rugs with the enzyme cleaner and hosing them off in the back yard, but to no avail. Fortunately the early spitups weren’t as noxious as when they start eating real food.
Good luck!
[QUOTE=Mangetout]
Dousing it with large amounts of vinegar sounds like a terrible idea. Even if that removes the milk, how will you get rid of the smell of the vinegar?
The scent of white vinegar isn’t harsh and it doesn’t linger. I used to use it on a baby mattress and blankets to get rid of spilled milk and formula smells. It works on urine smells, too.
During a toddler tantrum, my son threw a bottle of milk at dry-clean-only curtains. The top came off the bottle and the curtains were liberallly splashed. I sponged them off with white vinegar and the milk stains and smell came out. There was no vinegar smell afterwards.
You can place a bowl of white vinegar in a room and it acts as an effective and pleasant room deodorizer.
After you figure out how to clean it, get a plastic mattress cover and use it!
I got an email the other day that said I could turn my mattress into a CASH COW!!!111
Vinegar is a good idea. We use white vinegar to clean up pee, milk, poop, food, just about everything.
If you have a vinegar odor remain, just clean up the vinegar with a little baking soda. Then if you have baking soda problems, just use a little detergent. For detergent stains use a little club soda. To clean up the club soda try using ketchup. To clean up ketchup…
Seconding the ‘soak with enzymatic cleaner’ suggestion. Nature’s Miracle got dog diarrhea out of our carpet, and very old cat pee funk from a previous renter out of a closet. So milk should be no problem. Apparently it works on anything organic. Petco/Smart has it.
I’m surprised more here have milked this thread for all its worth. Or do you prefer to sleep on it for a while?
Maybe this thread has already milked the chimp.
Nope, this thread has jumped the shark. **Lemur866 **has milked the chimp.
(Use vinegar, then get a plastic sheet.)