Someone wet the bed in our camper -Help!

[Camping_Lady]

We loaned our bunkhouse camper to a friend last week to go to a convention because they couldn't afford a hotel. Her son who is about 12 wet the beds in the foam mattress bunks. I think he did it multiple times, and he is a big kid. The camper smells horrible ( They hauled rabbits in it too). I washed the outside with vinegar and water, but I think the smell goes all through the foam. I've got the mattresses outside to air out. Has anyone gotten the smell out of a bunk after a bed wetting incident? If I take the foam out of the mattresses and immerse it in water and laundry soap will it ruin the shape of the foam? Thanks for any help.

[B_O__Plenty]

Never saw a motel or hotel you could bring rabbits into....Are sure they couldn't afford it or did they just want to bring the rabbits?

B.O.

[am1958]

If the lady is a good friend she will make it right...

You'll be able to judge the quality of her friendship by how she deals with this because she has to know about the bunnies and her childs's midnight micturition.

[MarkTwain]

NJRVer wrote:
Foam rubber mattresses are cheap.
A lot of mattress stores use them as a come on. Single foam mattress $99.

You'll spend $50 on all the cleaning enzymes and chemicals, not to mention all your time, and still not feel like the mattress is "clean".

X1, could not agree more and hopefully we can close this bit on PEE PEE AND POOP POOP!!!!! It is not rocket science folks:)

[Padlin]

I'd toss it and get a new one, as she offered to pay for damages if it's big $ ask her for the money if you don't think she has the $ or it'll cause a hardship, then forget about it if it's not a hardship to you.

[down_home]

If they are foam mattresses get rid of them. The many many tiny surfaces of the foam will continue to hold and release stink and microbes. Even if you get it completely dry damp air or just perspiration etc will renew stink, if it ever went away to being with. Foam mattresses, are terrible things that can make you sweat orbs moisture and odors, and retains odors. And in a short time you will notice the foam turning orange/yellow/brown and crumbles etc at the edges and forms breaks etc as the foam it self breaks down.

[Wanderlost]

There's another urine eliminator out there, which does not require rinsing. It's called Wee Cleaner, and it's only available online. Price is comparable to the ones in pet stores, without the added tax.

What it does is destroy the enzymes in urine that cause the odor. While standard cleaning may kill the vast majority of the odor, it's still there for critters to smell. Should your rig ever host dogs or cats, they'll find the old urine spots, and it will signal "pee here." So total elimination should be the goal.

With Wee Cleaner, you thoroughly wet down the spot that your ultraviolet light found, and let it dry. If there's still an odor, do it again - at least the instructions say so, but I've never had to soak something more than once.

This product is far safer than bleach, doesn't damage metal, rubber, plastic, etc. It's now the only product we use.

Wee Cleaner

Now regarding that ultraviolet light: it has to be true ultraviolet, and those are hard to locate. Of the last three I tried, two were complete garbage. The one I kept requires me to shine the light about a foot or less above the suspected spot before it will illuminate anything, which can be a serious pain in various joints if there's a lot to examine. When you find a good light, cherish it.

[Deb_and_Ed_M]

drsteve wrote:

newman fulltimer wrote:
get a ozone machine off amazon and run it in the camper around 8 hours and do it monthly till all oders,are gone

Ozone is a powerful oxidizer. It can rust exposed metal and degrade rubber and plastic.

Exactly! It's like soaking your RV in strong bleach. Car dealers use ozonators successfully to remove bad smells in used vehicles - but they are getting RID of that vehicle. They don't CARE if the wire insulation has been made brittle or the fabric weakened/faded. With any amount of luck that will be someone else's problem in a matter of weeks.

[NJRVer]

Foam rubber mattresses are cheap.
A lot of mattress stores use them as a come on. Single foam mattress $99.

You'll spend $50 on all the cleaning enzymes and chemicals, not to mention all your time, and still not feel like the mattress is "clean".

[Camping_Lady]

Sorry for filling up your inboxes with all these responses. I appreciate all your suggestions, and thank you for them. I will be trying as many as it takes to get my camper smelling good again. ??

[drsteve]

newman fulltimer wrote:
get a ozone machine off amazon and run it in the camper around 8 hours and do it monthly till all oders,are gone

Ozone is a powerful oxidizer. It can rust exposed metal and degrade rubber and plastic.

[et2]

That's just sick. I'd toss it in the garbage and use bleach water to disinfect the area. One thing if it's your family or kids. That's one odor that just gets ones attention.

I would never subject my family to that. But I'd never ... ever ... no matter what, lend my rig to anyone.

Just curious, where would the rabbits been if it wasn't raining?

[Thomas_NH]

Man talk about "no good deed goes in punished" I thought I was being helpful by offering advice on a order eliminating product. Now my inbox is full of responses' on this topic... Enough on this subject, let me out... How do I un-scribe? I've heard enough.

[mr__ed]

B.O. Plenty wrote:
What were you thinking? If they couldn't afford a motel they should have stayed home. Rabbits too? Sounds like maybe you asked for it...Sorry. Best replace the mattress.

B.O.

X2. It's not worth the effort to salvage the smelly mattresses.
If I had a kid that consistently wet the bed, I'd be sure to have him wear Depends at night. I know from experience they hold a lot of pee!

[SidecarFlip]

Camping Lady wrote:
I texted my friend yesterday and then she called me. When I asked about the bunks she said that her son might have wet the bed. I'm sure he did. She said that the rabbits were only in there to ride home from the convention because it was raining. It's a 2 hour drive at most. She felt bad and offered to pay for anything that needs done. She really is very nice, and her house didn't smell at all the few times that I was there. I washed the mattresses and covers with white vinegar and then with laundry soap with a strong fragrance outside today, and sprayed them with a hose forever, and if they have any odor I'll replace the foam. I'm airing out the camper and I still need to wipe things down in there. We have only camped one night since 2015 because of my husband working Saturdays and church obligations, so the camper was just sitting there not being used and loaning it to my friend seemed like a nice thing to do. We haven't loaned it before, and won't do it again.

All humor aside, I understand your situation. My wife and I probably would have done the same thing. In out case though, loaning the camper out isn't an option as it's a truck camper so the truck would have to go and that isn't going to happen.

I still like wabbit stew however.