Stcroix, try a good leather cleaner on your couch, maybe do it twice. Then put a throw of some sort ( or even a towel) over the back where his head is, and wash that often. I actually bought a recliner cover for my FILs fav chair , it was actually stained. He washes his hair,, but maybe not often enough, or the oil is different now?

I am just discovering this problem with my husband and mother and this article was extremely interesting!! What product can I safely spray on my 87 yr old mother's less than year old cloth power chair that has a strong urine smell to it?

And our 'leather' type couch where my husband sits has the STRONGEST odor to it-- what could I clean it with to get his smell out of it?! I have washed it down countless times with Gain detergent water, Palmolive antibacterial liquid dish wash and used antibacterial cloth type wipes (both Lysol and Clorox) until it doesn't seem to smell but the next day that sour smell is right back. It isn't urine on his couch but just a sour smell where his back and head touch the couch. He takes a shower every night with Dial white antibacterial soap and smells very clean after that. And he shampoos his hair often and it smells clean. Help!!!

The article on nonenal was extremely helpful. I'm halfway through my 79th year and have only recently acknowledged that I am, dammit, 79 after all and not "a good . . ." whatever as friends and associates have assured me. My wife and I have moved into a "senior living" facility where I've noticed what your article notes is a nonenal smell both in the environment and from myself. Your article gives me the basis, maybe, to begin to alleviate it. Thanks!

A healthy diet can reduce Nonenal smell but I have also found that Japanese persimmon products such as soaps and washes. Google it!

With our vegan diet--both of our lab work is also in good shape in every way. What I like about it for my mom in addition she never smells is that the food is naturally soft. Meat poses a risk of choking. She's good with the vegan diet. but seriously both of us never has any body odor issues. I wonder if it's the meat coming out of pores that makes body odor. We both been vegan for decades.

My mom is 89 years old with advanced Alzehimer's and she never smells. I bathe her twice a week. Not a hint of smell. We don't eat meat, eggs or milk either. I myself never have to use any kind of deodorants and I exercise vigorously about 40 minutes most days. Other than her very advanced Alzheimer's (she requires total care) and insulin dependent diabetes she's doing okay.

My husband and I, both in our early 60s, went away during a very hot spell. The air conditioning had been on night and day during the few days before our trip, which is unusual. We turned the AC off before we left but neglected to open any windows. When we opened the door, hubby said, "Smells like....old people!" It was overpowering! I washed every bit of washable fabric in the house and then discovered moths in every grain-based food whose package had been opened. It was a couple of months before we stopped finding moths, their larvae, or that old people smell. Yuck

If body odders are going to cause divorce then my question would be - where is the love in the marriage? When I said: "I do" that meant to my wife and I both in sickness and in health. NOT knowing that years later she would have Vascular Dementia and many other health issues that are costly - I would still NOT leave her. Yes, it is a challenge but love goes deeper then the challenges that we go through. God is on my side and if I look correctly at Scriptures they tell me to love as HE loved. HE sent HIS Son to die for me when I didn't deserve forgiveness of sins. I am looking forward to eternal life with the Father. HE will give strength for the day and hope for the morrow. I have lived this for years and won't go back on my promise before God and man and that includes my dear wife.

The odor you refer to is called nonenal. I detest this odor and it actually triggers my asthma! My husband suffers from it and I can't even stand to be near him! I have purchased products that might help and he won't even give them a try. The odor is really intense in his sports caps and I can't even have them in the house. The odor stays and lingers in his room even with washing bedding. I can't get the odor out of pillows and just have to throw them out. This is a very serious issue and I am contemplating ending the marriage.

Coconut oil on the skin, washing/bathing with organic soaps, hydration, all helped keep my mother's skin healthy. There was never any "old people" smell.

PLEASE TELL ME WHERE........ I can get these Items - Japanese Persimmon soap, Bio Clean Enzymes, lmho enzyme laundry boosters, mirai cleansing soaps, Odor Ban I think I know that one is Home Depot -- and anything else you can think of --- Thanks!

I am a care giver to my husband who had an L Vad for one year and now recently March 7th had a heart transplant at Vanderbilt hosp -- when we were stationed in Hotel in Tenn I noticed this smell, I tried bathing him, getting cologne using Nivea cream on his body, and next day again, same smell, then I did the same thing all over again, I got back home did 4 loads of laundry , the bedding the sheets blankets etc all his clothes I open his closet and theres that dang smell Im freaking out, I am a girly girl 15 years younger then him is this old people smell? help! Im getting tired of doing laundry every day and grooming someone who is totally capable now of taking care of himself. thanks for all the suggestions im going to get a lot of these items, thank god we sleep in separate rooms because I cannot take the smell even though I do the sheets for him every day.

I have used Mirai cleansing soaps! Good product for my 91 year old mom. I occasionally use it myself! Smells have always been issue for me! Who doesn't want people to walk into your home and love how it smells! I am 24/7 alone & caring for mom. Sisters barely call or visit & I have 4 within driving distance. I use Dr. Bonner's peppermint soap in commode with 3-4" of water! Made huge improvement especially when emptying it!!! I have diffusers with lemongrass oil and occasionally use lavender oil! Yes it takes time and energy but those good smells during the better part of day help keep me sane! Our only bathroom is on 2nd floor and mom is in hospital bed in living room now. We are doing the best we can. Ambulance will take her to doctor tomorrow because we have 2 sets of stairs to our front door and mom can't do any steps. They will put her in wheelchair when we get there & I will get her to Doctor's office. Ambulance will pick her up and get her back home. My sisters have no clue what I go through and I gave up asking for help when they said just put her in a home. When mom does leave this world they will find themselves short a sister. I will care about them as they have cared about us. I am at peace with all of this now. Life got easier once I realized they would never be helping. Sorry, I rambled way off subject but I have been a few days with no one to talk to! Conversation with mom is limited these days as she becomes a bit more out of reality.

Freqflyer: A lot of elders have lost their olfactory sense. Not pretty!

Back in January, my Dad moved to a senior housing apartment complex, his apartment was totally remodeled... had that nice new house smell :)

After 3 months, there was that odor that I remembered smelling in my parent's house. Dad doesn't mind me snooping around his apartment [could never do that if Mom was still alive and they lived in their house]... I found the source. Dad wasn't emptying the bathroom and bedroom wastebasket which contained his Depends. Oops. And here the trash shoot for his apartment floor is just steps away from his front door.

Dad admits he has become nose blind to the source of the smell. Dad isn't much on doing any house cleaning, never was as that's women's work... [sigh].

ADCaregivers, thank you for the suggestion, I will look for Oder Ban at Home Depot. Glad to know that I can use this to wash dishes, as I had brought home a lot of really nice glassware settings and china dishes, and the rooms where I am storing said items are starting to smell like my parent's house.

freqflyer. Go to Home Depot or on Amazon. Get this product OderBan in lavendor or plain. Then wipe the items with 1 part OderBand and 3 parts H2O. Try a spray bottle first.
Also pick-up microfiber clothes. I buy mine at Costco. Also on Amazon. Buy a bundle. Don't use near chlorine bleach.
after you spray an item, take the micrfiber cloth and wipe of the film that is covering you items. Soak your dishes in hot water with a generous amount of OderBan. Also you can use OderBan as a room deorderizer.
This stuff reallly works and much cheaper than Febreze.

Use plain white Dial soap for Cellulitis per my podiatrist.

I got the pure castile soap. I choose the lavender sent. Cant find the thread were i gratefully received suggestion to use for recurrent boil. I know its not caused from poor hygiene, I bathe daily. But I have worked with homeless over many years and have yet to see boils in any case. Cellulitis to legs very commom. Going off on a tangent there. But I am going to give this a try. smells like some carbonic soap I used to keep in bathroom. So Im sure I will like it whether or not it helps the problem. Again thanks amundo for the advice.

freqflyer: OMG! I feel badly that you have to go through that! No one opened a window in 35 years?! WOW! So gross about reusing pads, too!

Cayenne: Eat a pineapple? Really?? The person needs a bath or 50!

This is timely for me! My BIL is going throug a rough patch, and I suggested his daughter and SIL could come over for a rew hours in the weekend so he and wife could reconnect from the stress of the ILs liveing with them. He said his daughter can;t stand the Old people smell, so she wont come. Someone needs smacked upside the head....

Well, I am now dealing with my parent's empty house which is on the market For Sale "as is". My parents did very little updating in the past 35 years and it now shows.

I have scheduled for the carpets to be professionally deodorized and steam clean even though I know whomever moves in will rip those 35 year old carpets out immediately or use the carpets as drop cloths while painting :P I want future Buyers to at least get past the front door. Right now the odor is very noticeable.

It wasn't until my Mom [98] had passed and Dad [94] wanting me to remove all of her clothes, I was finally able to snoop around the house. Besides the fact no one opened a window in the past 35 years, it was poor bathroom habits as my parents aged. My parent's race to the bathroom but not making it on time. And this is so gross... Mom reusing her Poise pads over and over, same with Dad with his Depends [which I blame on my parents being children of the Great Depression and not wasting anything] found them on the laundry rack.

Plus found out that Mom's vacuum was making the normal vacuum noise but the brushes weren't going around and around. Gosh, wonder how many years she was using it that way?? No wonder I didn't see vacuum bags on her grocery list over the years. Mom had refused any outside cleaning help.

This year Dad moved to Independent Living and took what furniture he wanted, thus there were still a lot of things left behind at the house. Most of the stuff has been moved out into the garage, and the things smell like the inside of the house. Even glassware had that smell.

Now I worry about my own house, and if I had become nose blind to it.... [sigh]

Try eating pineapple every day. It helps freshen you up. It's easy, cheap and delicious.

Kazzy: Ooo! I know that stench..I sympathize with you!

Bring in Hospice. They don't ask opinions. They keep patients clean.

So what do you do when an old man has a brief shower once a week and no more, sits in a darkened room with no ventilation. This isn't 'old people smell', totally stale pee that you can smell some distance away from him. He just thinks he doesn't sweat the same as everyone else

The stronger Yankee Candle concentrated room sprays take care of, to be blunt, poop stench! I can't stand that odor either!

I live with and care for my 90 yr old Mom for last 4-5 yrs. Smells so disturb me. I do my best to keep it pleasant. Mom is in hospital bed in living room with commode at bedside. She has weak legs that do not hold her up long. I do wash her in Japanese persimmon soap once a week & gentle soaps for less thorough wash up. Working! Biggest problem was the commode odors! I tried everything! By far the very best remedy is Dr. Bonner Peppermint soap. Pump bottle & 3-4 squirts then add 2-3" of water!!! Changed my life!!! Whenever anyone comes in our home they often compliment the lovely smell! Diffuser with lemongrass oil works well and is mild! Only problems this caretaker has these days are when a sibling shows up for their dose of guilt relief & I have to listen to their numerous opinions! If it were up to them, mom would be in a home. So no one would know how rarely they visit. They say they worry about me. If they were that worried they would show up and say go out for the day & take a break & I will sit with Mom. They never have & never will. I keep smiling and take care of Mom.

Old people smell is caused by ingestion of Omega 7 fats, usually from the milk they drink. Sea Buckthorne extract has it in spades, Any older person, that takes it will reek of old people smell within a matter of weeks. The type of Omega 7 found in Macadamia nuts will not cause the odor.