How do you get the old people smell out of your laundry and home?

"breathegreen charcoal purifying bag" - www.breathegreeneco.com may help to rid of the malodorous smell.

Midkid58, I’m with you on this one. We aren’t trying to be rude. It really is a sad situation. If I could change my mothers clothes, believe me I would. Unfortunately, she has severe mental ill illness, refuses to bathe, refuses to let me wash her hair, refuses to change her clothes and lives in a stinky hoarded house. That is the reality. The LAW says that if someone is competent and of sound mind, they can live any way they want. My mother lives alone in her hoarded 2 story house. Her choice.

I can’t change her. She won’t let ANYBODY help her. I didn’t cause this and I can’t cure it. It is just a sad situation all the way around.

Before you do the wash, fill the machine up with very hot water and a couple scoops of Oxy clean crystals which smell very nice. Then let the clothes and bedding soak in it for a couple hours. Add the laundry soap and do the wash. You can also add some Downy fragrance beads to it too and they're nice You don't have to use bleach unless you want to for washing whites. Oxy clean is a good product. Set the machine on for a double rinse if it has that feature. To get the "smell" out of her room will entail the entire room literally being washed down from ceiling to floor with cleaner and water. Then if there is carpeting it will have to be shampooed and maybe more than once. Sometimes in situations like yours the rugs have to be shampooed several times. Also, it helps to use disposable bed pads which are waterproof. They're changed daily and thrown away.

Try soaking in a vinegar solution

My mother is 98 years old and smells good. I bath her every day and wash her hair. I put lotion on her back and legs every day. I spray her room with a natural air freshener after I change her. Sheets are changed every week and when needed. I wash her sheets in hot water. Clothes on the warm cycle. I spray her favorite cologne on her every day and powder her. She has fresh clothes every day and some days she may wear the same thing, but they smell good and are clean. A hospital worker sniffed my mother and told me she was the best smelling older woman he ever smelled. I thought it was a little odd but funny comment. He actually was smelling her as he wheeled her to her room. I use honest cleaner and wash her from top to bottom. Make it a routine every day and I think you will smell the difference in a positive way.. Good luck.

Pinesol works very well when added to laundry. It doesn’t have a strong scent at all after drying in the dryer.

This is not an answer but another question. What is the best thing to use on a love seat? My slob husband sits on it all day long and it smells. Yeah, I know. Get him to clean up his act. Believe me, I've tried.

OkieGranny, what type of fabric is the loveseat? If you want to PM me we can go over what I would recommend that way or here is fine.

if she uses Depends, get the dirty ones out of the house as soon as possible. The floral-scented trash bags protect the trash barrel from odor absorption.

There are some wonderful pet products which chemically neutralize urine odors and work equally well for human accidents around the house (including upholstered furniture, mattresses, carpet). They can be purchased in spray bottles or by the gallon.

Puppy training pads work like the “chucks” used in hospitals, but they are disposable - one less smelly item for the washer.

Tide pods with Downy worked for me in the laundry. Washing soiled and wet clothing items immediately in hot water (or sanitary cycle) reduces the smell by killing bacteria.

If she had any accidents staining the carpet, there are some “spot” treatment machines which help greatly and work similarly to the larger Rug Doctor rentals.