Aging adults frequently experience urinary incontinence. It can be brought on by eating particular foods or, among other things, by a number of medical conditions (such as kidney stones or a urinary tract infection).
What is the best way to clean clothes that still smell strongly of urine? How to remove urine smell from elderly clothing? You’ll find answer in this blog.
What Makes Urine Smell So Bad?
Urine typically has a mild smell and is clear or pale yellow.
Things that can often make your pee smell stronger include:
- Certain types of food and drink, like asparagus or coffee
- Not drinking enough fluids (dehydration)
- Some medicines
- Vitamin B6 supplements
You may have a urinary tract infection (UTI) if you additionally experience symptoms like pain when urinating, increased frequency of urination, or cloudy-looking urine.
Less frequently, other conditions like type 2 diabetes or kidney stones may be the source of foul-smelling urination.
How To Remove Urine Smell From Elderly Clothing?
Whether the urine stain on your clothes is fresh or has been there for weeks or longer, baking soda can remove it. Here’s how to use baking soda to get rid of urine odor and stains on old clothes, as we mentioned in the introduction.
#1 Prepare A Basin Or Tub With Water And Baking Soda
You can soak the urine-stained clothing in a clean bathtub or a sink, depending on how many items you need to wash.
Warm water should first be added to the bathtub or sink. Add generous amounts of baking soda next.
#2 Agitate The Mixture
Simply swirling the water is what is meant by “agitate.” If you have sensitive skin, you can do this with gloved hands if you prefer. To stir the mixture, you can also use a brush handle or a comb.
Whatever method you use to stir the water, make sure to completely rinse or wash it off when you’re finished.
#3 Put The Clothes In The Basin Or Tub
Your senior’s urine-stained clothing is now prepared to be placed in the sink or tub with the baking soda solution. Make sure all of your clothing is submerged in the water and not floating.
#4 Let The Baking Soda Solution Work
The clothes will need to soak for a while so that the baking soda solution can have enough time to work. After about 15 minutes, the baking soda will start reducing the visibility of urine stains and neutralizing the unpleasant smell of the urine by breaking down the uric acid.
#5 Rinse The Clothing In Clean Water
Submerge the clothing in completely clean water in a sink, bathtub, or other basins. Despite how great it is, baking soda has a high pH and won’t get along with many detergent brands, including Tide.
#6 Put The Clothes In The Washing Machine
Put the damp clothing in a laundry basket, wring out the extra water, and put them in the washer as soon as possible.
The urine-stained clothing can be cleaned using the regular wash cycle, but we advise following the instructions on the clothing label.
#7 Assess And Repeat
Hold up and inspect your senior’s clothing after it has finished the washer. Is the previous urine odor visibly gone now? Can you still smell urination? To fully remove the urine, the aforementioned procedure may need to be repeated.
Do not put the clothing in the dryer if it still smells strong or has obvious stains. A stain may become set in by the heat of the dryer, in which case you will have to work much harder to remove it.
You can always soak the clothes in water and baking soda for an entire day as opposed to just 15 minutes to speed up the process.
#8 Dry Clothes In The Dryer
Once you’re satisfied with how your senior’s clothing is looking, you can put it in the dryer and let it go through its usual drying cycle.
Alternatives For Removing Urine Smell From Elderly Clothing
Are there any other tips to solve the problem: how to remove urine smell from elderly clothing? If the urine remover and baking soda don’t work, or you don’t have these products on hand, here are some alternatives that you can explore instead:
- For all types of stains, white vinegar is a fantastic, all-natural solution. For really stubborn stains, you can let the nursing home clothing soak in a vinegar solution overnight. Additionally, you could put a cup of vinegar in the washer (without any detergent), run the load, and then wash the load once more with detergent.
- Ammonia is a very effective odor remover that works well on bath towels, sheets, and other linens. Along with the detergent you are using, add one cup to the load in place of the bleach. Ammonia is also very effective at eliminating waxy residue from dryer sheets, hard water stains, and other things.
- Borax is another solution for removing odors and smells that was once a go-to household cleaner and has recently been regaining popularity. Similar to bleach, it should be kept out of the reach of children because it can harm the skin if it comes into contact with it and can be dangerous if swallowed or inhaled. Enjoy your clean, fresh-smelling laundry by adding a half cup of borax to each wash cycle.
- Another common household item that can be used to treat stains is hydrogen peroxide. To lighten the stain, you can pour or spritz hydrogen peroxide on it. To make your wash load brighter overall, you can also add one cup to the load in place of bleach.
- In the same way that vinegar does, lemon juice breaks down and kills bacteria. By dabbing lemon juice on paper towels or a clean cloth, you can also use it to get rid of odors from mattresses, carpets, and furniture.
- Your pantry’s little-known baking soda is a cleaning powerhouse that can be used for numerous tasks. Both vinegar and urine can be used to mask the smell. Even though vinegar is excellent at removing urine stains, its smell is not particularly pleasant.
Conclusion
As seniors age, they sometimes find it difficult to take care of their bathroom needs. Your senior will feel good about being able to keep their wardrobe by caring for urine-stained clothing. So how to remove urine smell from elderly clothing? With this article, you can find out that soda, white vinegar and some chemicals can be used.
