There are some homemade recipes on how to get rid of vomit smell on the couch, mattress, carpet, and other upholstery. But in order for the tips to be effective, you need to act quickly when this little accident happens.
In this article, we present some cleaning tips to prevent your house and its furniture from being stained and with an unpleasant smell.
As unpleasant as it may be, accidents in the house can happen. Vomiting, urine, spills of drinks and food are likely to happen from time to time.
Thus, it is important to know which cleaning products you have at home that can help to solve these situations and, mainly, to prevent your items from being stained.
To learn tips on how to get rid of vomit smell from the sofa, mattress, carpet, and other upholstery and prevent them from being stained and smelly, read on.
Why Clean Up Immediately?
Talking about vomiting is not a pleasant subject, but it is important to understand how you can resolve this unforeseen event.
Vomiting can be caused by the most adverse situations. If you have a baby or child at home, you know that little ones can sometimes get sick and end up vomiting on the couch in the living room or even in bed.
Vomiting can also happen if a guest passed the drink bill at a meeting between family and friends. Or even you, the owner of the house, may feel sick and end up vomiting on the floor.
Anyway, these are just a few examples to show how accidents really can happen. Knowing this, your action must be quick.
Regardless of whether it happens at home or in the car, vomit contains acidic substances that can cause the proliferation of microorganisms such as fungi and bacteria.
If the vomit is not cleaned up immediately, these substances can become impregnated between the fibers of the fabrics, causing a bad smell.
The losses, therefore, go beyond the aesthetics of your sofa or other upholstery. If vomiting stays on your sofa for a long time, for example, fabric and foam will begin to absorb acidic substances.
And if that happens, you will hardly be able to eliminate the stain completely. Even, to eliminate the bad smell, several cleaning processes will be necessary.
How to Clean Vomit Out of Couch
The first step in knowing how to get vomit out of couch is to clean the place.
It is obviously not a pleasant action to take. However, it is necessary to prevent the upholstery from being stained and having an unpleasant odor.
So, to remove excess vomit, first, use several paper towels or a dry cloth to absorb the substances. This absorption process can be carried out a few times, changing the sheets of paper for new ones, or the cloth.
It is important to remove all dirt particles first and then perform a more liquid cleaning, in which it will be necessary to wash the place where the accident occurred.
To do this, mix the following products:
- 1 liter of water;
- ¼ cup of alcohol;
- 1 tablespoon of sodium bicarbonate (baking soda);
- ½ cup of white vinegar;
- 1 tablespoon softener.
After removing all excess and solid dirt, if any, mix the products described above. Place the substance in a spray bottle and wet the entire area where the vomiting occurred.
Then, run a soft bristle brush across the stain. The ideal is to repeat the process a few times so that all the dirt will come off the upholstery fibers.
Remove excess moisture with a dry cloth and allow the furniture to dry outdoors.
How to Clean Vomit from the Leather and Suede Sofa
Like most natural materials, leather and suede are porous. That way, they easily absorb the substances that fall on them.
Therefore, if there is a small incident in your home, try to clean the sofa vomit as soon as possible. The sooner you act, the easier it will be to remove.
So, if you notice the stain as soon as it occurs, use a clean cloth or sponge with warm, but not hot, water. This should be enough to clean up the vomit on the couch.
Then use another clean cloth to dry the place. Continue repeating this procedure until you notice that the stain is gone.
However, to remove stains that have been on the sofa for the longest time, scrub the area with an old toothbrush. Then use a cloth or sponge with warm water.
Then, check if the method is working. Otherwise, try to dilute a little mild soap in the warm water rub on the spot. After cleaning, apply a disinfectant to the area.
How to Get Rid of Vomit Smell in Carpets and Rugs
As with the sofa, the carpet or rug can also suffer from some trace of this accident – if it is not hit in the same severity.
So, do as mentioned above. Wipe off any coarse dirt with paper towels or dry cloths.
In rugs, the fibers of the fabric can be loose or deeper. So it is important to try another tip.
Use a portion of baking soda or cornstarch to make sure all excess vomit has been removed. Both work as absorbers of the liquid and the sodium bicarbonate still has the power to disinfect.
So, let the product act for about 20 minutes. Then, use a vacuum cleaner to remove the baking soda or cornstarch.
Check if the carpet is still smelly. If it still is, clean it with water, vinegar and fabric softener, described above.
How to Remove Cat Vomit from Carpet
You, who have pets at home, know how they always eat what they shouldn’t. Thus, it is not uncommon for them to end up feeling sick and vomiting around the house.
If the domestic accident has happened recently, start by cleaning up as much vomit from the carpet. In that case, wearing rubber gloves makes your job more practical.
That done, make a solution with equal parts of vinegar and warm water and place it in a spray bottle. If the vomit has left a persistent stain, add a little detergent.
Spray the carpet with this solution, using a brush or soft cloth to rub the surface. Then, remove as much moisture as possible and wait for it to air dry.
To continue treating the smell, cover the affected area with baking soda and let it rest overnight. The next day, vacuum the area and if you think it is necessary, repeat the procedure.
How to Get Rid of Vomit Smell in Car
Just as we talk about the dirt on the sofa and carpets, cleaning vomit in the car is also very important.
The processes are the same and, as we said before, the first step is the heavy cleaning of the thick part of the dirt.
For cleaning and removing the bad odor we will need the following ingredients:
- Detergent;
- Water;
- Cloths;
- Loofah;
- Vinegar.
Make a mixture with water and detergent and use a loofah to scrub the entire stained spot. Then, with the help of a dry cloth, remove excess moisture.
For the next step, make a mixture with two equal parts of water and alcohol vinegar.
With the aid of a spray bottle, apply the mixture on the spot and, with a soft loofah, rub the solution all over the car’s upholstery.
Allow the area to dry outdoors and, before closing the car, make sure that the upholstery is completely dry.
These tips may work well depending on the case. But, there are situations in which the vomit stayed in the upholstery for a long time. Or even the homemade recipes were not enough to remove the bad smell.
If this is the case, the ideal is to have the help of a company that specializes in cleaning sofas and other upholstery.
How to Get Vomit Out of a Mattress
It is very common for babies to vomit where they sleep. In addition, many young children are sick, unable to stop vomiting and end up dirtying the mattress.
With the type of food that babies and children have, the smell that remains afterward is not at all pleasant and is really impregnated in the place. This can make sleeping nights unbearable.
The strong odor is due to the acidity present in the vomit. So just cleaning the mattress may not be enough.
How to Get Vomit Smell Out of Mattress
So to get vomit smell out of the mattress, put a layer of baking soda or cornstarch on the affected area. These products absorb the stain that causes the unpleasant smell.
In addition, they have properties that increase the pH of substances and neutralize the acids that cause the bad smell.
First, get as much moisture out of the mattress as possible. Then spread the powder on the spot and let it rest overnight.
After a few hours, use a vacuum cleaner and remove the baking soda or starch from the mattress, with the help of a soft bristle brush. To ensure that the stench does not resurface, use a disinfectant on the spot.
How to Get Rid of Vomit Smell: Professional Cleaning
As much as homemade products are effective in some situations, to know how to get rid of vomit efficiently is to hire a professional cleaning company.
But, you will not get rid of, at least, cleaning the place.
After all, no matter how much you hire a company, you won’t expect a professional to come to your house with the vomit in the same place, will you?
So, clean up the bulk and look for reliable companies that specialize in upholstery cleaning.
How to Clean Up Vomit on Concrete
To remove a stain of vomit on concrete, do the following:
- Dab a cotton ball moistened with diluted bleach on the stain.
- Rinse thoroughly.
- To fight the odor, sprinkle the area with baking soda.
Did you like our article on how to get rid of vomit smell? Do not forget to clean the place as soon as the accident happens.
