When our children are toddlers, they’re so busy exploring the world they often forget to listen to signals from their bodies – including signals about the need to pee.
Busy toddlers don’t have time to use the toilet.
Eventually they curl up on a comfy bean bag to read a book, watch TV or fall asleep – and then they pee!
Suddenly… toddler peed on bean bag. Another problem you have to deal with.
We’ve all been there. You see your sleeping child on a bean bag. How cute!
You take a picture. Then you sniff the air. Is that the ‘toddler peed on bean bag’ smell you detect?
Now you have hundreds – maybe thousands – of tiny bean bag balls that possibly have pee on them.
What do you do with the bean bag?
Can you wash a bean bag with beans in it?
First, to deal with this dilemma properly, you need to know what filler your bean bag has.
There’s a few different types, such as:
- Microfoam
- Memory foam
- Plastic
- Polystyrene.
The type of bean material in the bean bag will determine whether you can wash it.
Most commonly, bean bags are filled with polystyrene balls, because they’re cheap and easy to buy.
Read on to find out what to do with each type of bean bag filler.
Are there beans in bean bags?
Bean bags don’t usually contain actual beans.
They are filled with small bean-like objects, made from the types of materials listed above.
Knowing what type of bean bag filler yours has in it will determine how you can clean up, after your toddler peed on bean bag.
How do you get pee out of a bean bag?
Scratching your head and wondering what to do?
The outer lining of the bean bag should be easy to clean.
Clean it as you would clean your regular laundry.
If you’re worried about it smelling of pee, you can try adding these to the wash:
- Vinegar
- Baking soda.
If your washer isn’t big enough or you don’t want to put a peed on item in it, you can put it in the bath.
Soak the lining in a bath filled with warm water.
You can add vinegar and baking soda if you’re worried about the smell.
Can bean bags get wet?
It shouldn’t be a problem if the cover gets wet. Some bean bags even have a waterproof lining inside.
This means if your child pees on the bean bag, you just need to remove the cover and wash it.
To dry, either:
- Follow the instructions on the cover for using a tumble dryer
- Hang the cover in the sun to dry it naturally.
The cover should be easy to wash. The bigger problem is washing the tiny balls inside.
Can you wash a bean bag with beans in it?
You could get really lucky. If your child has peed on a bean bag, there might be only a small amount on the cover and not on the beans inside.
If it’s just a small amount of pee on the cover, you could solve the problem by:
- Patting the fabric dry
- Spraying with water and patting it dry
- Spraying with vinegar
- Spraying with a fabric freshening fragrance you can buy in the laundry aisle of the supermarket.
If there’s only a small amount of pee, this might be enough to solve your problem.
If your bean bag has a waterproof liner, you can take out the inner liner, with the beans, and just wash the cover.
But what if your toddler peed on bean bag filling and it’s wet?
Toddler peed on bean bag – how to clean the filling?
First, you’ll need to figure out what your bean bag is filled with.
If you’re really lucky, your bean bag will have a zip that can be opened easily to investigate.
The most common fillers are listed above.
An easy way to tell whether or not the beads can be washed is by putting a few in water.
If they absorb the water or dissolve, then obviously the beans can’t be washed.
If the beads are polystyrene, for example, they will dissolve and definitely can’t be washed.
You can toss some baking soda into the beans and leave them for a few days to dry.
Then try the sniff test. You might be surprised to find the baking soda has absorbed any pee smell.
Toddler peed on bean bag filler
If your bean bag filler is washable, you have a few choices.
If there’s only a small amount of pee on them, you can:
- Put them in the bath and let them soak, before rinsing and allowing to dry
- Put them in the bath and spray them with the showerhead
- Put them in a paddling pool, spray them with a hose, and let the sun dry them.
If the beads need a more serious wash, you might want to put them in the washing machine.
In this case, you could also add:
- Vinegar
- Baking soda.
Obviously, you won’t want to put the beads loose in the washing machine.
You’ll need to contain them while they’re being washed.
Some options are:
- Keep them in the original bean bag cover
- Put them into pillowcases that have zips
- Put them into comforter covers that have zips
- Use laundry washing bags with zips.
Can you put bean bags in the dryer?
Bean bag covers have a label on them that will tell you whether the fabric is safe to tumble dry.
If your bean bag cover is safe to put into the dryer, follow the instructions and use only a low heat setting.
Many people choose to dry the cover in the tumble dryer and let the balls dry naturally in the bath or outside in the sun.
Are bean bags safe for toddlers?
Bean bags should have a safety fastening so the zip can’t be opened, which would be unsafe for toddlers.
Peeing on the bean bag won’t make the bean bag unsafe in any way.
If a bean bag has been peed on, it should be a simple fix. You shouldn’t have a problem cleaning it.
But if all else fails, and your bean bag filling is ruined, at least it’s easy, and cheap, to replace.
