Polyurethane (PU) copolymer is laterally linked with three kinds of metal ion indicator (calcein, calmagite, or eriochrome black T), with which free metal ion in aqueous solution is intended to be detected by PU color change. Metal ion detection by the indicator-PU fails due to the poor permeation of hydrophilic metal ion into hydrophobic PU layer. Instead, three surfactants with different ionic head groups, aerosol OT (AOT), cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB), and sodium dodecylsulfate (SDS), are tested for metal ion. Cationic CTAB exhibits an instant PU color change, but anionic AOT and SDS do not respond at all. Reason for the selective detection of cationic surfactant is the complex formation between cationic surfactant and indicator. Molecular interactions between PUs are affected by the laterally linked indicators based on the results by infrared spectra and differential thermal analysis. UV-vis spectra reveal that extra peak arising from the linked indicator appears compared to plain PU. The lateral linking of indicator to PU demonstrates, as well as the selective surfactant detection, a 454 % increase in tensile strength and reproducible shape recovery as high as 99 % compared to plain PU.