How to get the smell of urine out of sheets and clothing?

About those pads, I wash mine in bleach anyway, even if it says not to, and they still work fine. I agree, that smell won't come out unless you use it. HE washers also make it very difficult to get the smell out of clothing, I've found. Until I had an HE washer it was easy to soak and get rid of it. Once I got an HE, I've found that I often have to wash them more than once which entirely defeats the purpose of an HE washer.

I purchased the OdorBan at Sam's Club and the Clorox product in the same place.
If I recall they were both under $9.00 for a gallon as well as a spray bottle to use to dilute the product.
I know what you mean, soaking through. My husband can soak through the under pads and ..are you ready..keep the brief dry. I think I have figured out that the urine flows over the crease in his hip area and never hits the absorbent padding. I might try putting him to sleep on his side for a few hours.
And I know what you mean about the only quiet time! My husband is not verbal, has not been for about 5 years but he moans and makes other noises. When he is asleep that is the only time I get a break.
Stay strong!

Thanks Grandma1954, She does sleep with a pad underneath her and sometimes goes right through it, and the Depends as well. Where can I find the OdorBan or the other one by Clorox you mentioned? I haven't tried getting her up during the night. It's the only quiet time I get if you know what I mean! Sometimes it's worth the cleanup!! Thanks for your suggestions. Susan

I purchased 2 products that have helped.
One is for general odors it is OdorBan it is a Disinfectant, Fabric and air freshener. The scent I have is Eucalyptus. It is their original scent. It is a multi purpose cleaner and "kills 99.99% of germs".
The other product I got is by Clorox it is Urine Remover for stains and odors. and it does a good job. This product works on hard and soft surfaces
You also may want to place an Under Pad or "chuck" on top of the sheet directly under her, that will catch and absorb much of the urine before it gets to the sheets and under padding.
And is your Mom using an absorbent undergarment at night? A pull up brief or tab type might help as well.
And although it disrupts the sleep have you tried getting her up to go to the bathroom? You could try getting her up a few hours after she has gone to bed, if she goes to bed a 8 and you go to bed a 11 get her up just before you go to bed.

White vinegar works wonders on urine stains and smell

Because I am ancient I remember real terry towelling diapers (nappies to us in the UK). Now they could smell pretty foul as we all know BUT a soak in a nappy solution certainly left them smelling sweet once washed. If your sheets are flowered or coloured in anyway it could well remove or lighten the fabric but if white no problem.

In the UK it is called Napisan and it really does work. Best to have sheets that you can HOT wash (over 60C)

I have tried home remedies and I have to say they aren't as effective although probably a lot greener in environmental terms.

CMs idea works too but I still think Napisan is better but I do use cotton sheets not polyester ones (despite hating ironing them). When Mum had a period of really bad incontinence through absolutely everything including her diaper, I used what we call a draw sheet...not sure if you have them over them but let me explain just in case you aren't familiar with them.

It is a half sheet, made of paper with a plastic backing and goes across the full width of the bed at the relevant point. Be warned it does crackle when you move on it but it did save a lot. When the kids were small we used to use a rubber draw sheet over which we put a small sheet so although we still had the washing to contend with the size of the sheet was only half what it would have been otherwise.

As for the mattress from which the smell could be emanating into the sheets, I threw Mums out and bought a hospital style sealed mattress. I know Norix make them in the USA but there will be others and they can be steam cleaned bleached and even run over by a car (preferably without loved one being on it at the time!) So it might be worth having a look and as CM said starting from scratch with all the accoutrements in place

Do you have a product called Vanish in the States? It's an enzyme-based booster that you can also use for soaking. If you haven't got that, I'm sure there'll be something similar.

Anyway. Put your pads with a scoop of Vanish in a diaper bucket. Leave for the prescribed time (not sure if there is a maximum - if not, leave them overnight). Put them un-rinsed into your washing machine. Put them through a maximum wash at maximum temperature with biological detergent. Give them an extra rinse. Dry in the open air, if possible.

If, after that, the odour is still there then throw them away. Because even if it does eventually fade your nostrils will still suspect it's there and you'll have no peace.

I read that hydrogen peroxide works wonders or OXI-clean if bleaching is an issue. Another poster offered lukewarm water, liquid hand dishwashing detergent and ammonia.

One I only just bought, I use the disposables when I think we may need extra protection but....
I was thinking of some advice I read in my grandmother's big black book of helpful hints for the home and farm from back at the turn of the last century, put the item in a pillowcase and bury it for a week LOL

Um. Don't shoot me; but throw them out and buy disposable ones?

Not with my mother's things but with my previous dog's bedding once she (the dog, that is, name of Cindy) became 'unreliable' - feeling there wasn't much to lose, I ignored all rules and put them through a boil wash with good stout biological detergent and some disinfectant. They (an old New Zealand tartan wool blanket, a cellular cotton blanket and a synthetic filling old quilt) survived. The quilt was bit lumpy.

So... I'd do that: try the hottest wash you dare, preferably with a prewash, and don't spare the horses when it comes to adding detergent. You can always give them an extra rinse if you're worried about detergent residue.

I have found that many of the ideas here work on urine smells, but I have been rewashing mom's bed pads over and over and can't get rid of the feces smell, ugh. They can't be bleached, any ideas on the best thing to try next??

Washing soda also called soda ash could do the trick, too

Adding BORAX along with detergent and a white vinegar rinse works.

White vinegar does wonders on housecleaning in general along with baking soda

I am my 97 yr old mother's care giver and her slacks can get quite nasty smelling. I put about 1/2 - 3/4 C white vinegar in the washing machine right along with the detergent; it helps a lot.

X-O Odor Neutralizer Concentrated ( 32oz, 1gallon, 5gallons ) - ALL-NATURAL Odor Neutralizer Deodorizer. Concentrate amazon.com

For cloth diapers, they were rinsed in the toilet and tossed into a diaper bucket that already had bleach and water. The full bucket was dumped in the laundry tub and rinsed again. Then they were loaded into a washer with HOT water, detergent, borax and more bleach. The timer on the washer was repeated for a second cycle on HOT with nothing added, just rinsing. Then the diapers went into the dryer on HIGH for an hour to kill off anything left. 1950's. It worked.

Morrisons Non-Bio Powder contains amongst other ingredients: 15-30% Oxygen Based Bleaching Agents, 5-15% Anionic Surfactants, Zeolites, Less than 5% Non-Ionic Surfactants, Phosphonates, Polycarboxylates, Also contains: Optical Brighteners, Perfumes. Available in the UK.

Hi smellFree, what is non bio detergent? I use Tide. Soda crystals? Are you sure I can put vinegar in the liquid fabric softener dispenser in my washer?

Hi there, I scoured these pages for advice on getting the smell of urine out of clothes which was causing my house to smell like a nursing home and success!! This is what I do and it get rid of the smell. Use non bio laundry liquid, I used Morrisons own brand, 1 tea cup of soda crystals to wash on 60. Then I put white vinegar in the fabric softener drawer and hey ho! The smell has gone much to my relief. We are talking mans pee smell, so I say, RESULT!!

vinegar and water work wonders here. Although I am not at that stage yet where I can't make it to the bathroom on time, I wash my clothes with vinegar along with the detergent, and I like the way they come out.

All laundry liquid soap and snuggles! What a big difference.
Good luck😊

Oh yah...all urine soaked clothing goes outside in a basket immediately...until washed.

First of all...you can't let urine soaked clothing sit more than 2 days. When I wash the clothes, I use bleach and use an extra rinse cycle with fabric softener in the second rinse. Nothing every smells...and I was a lot of peeee soaked clothing.

Would that be the white vinegar, JessieBelle?

Soaking in water with vinegar added will neutralize the odor before you put it through a wash. Arm and Hammer's detergent is a great detergent as well.

I've had this issue as well, and have found that using bleach while washing them in HOT water has done the trick for me personally. I, too..didn't want my house smelling like a nursing home...also used Lysol (lemon scent) on her bed after I stripped it down and would wipe anything that was touched with it as well. I never quite doused the bed...but would spray it on and scrub it in really good and let dry before putting the bedding back on. Hope this helps!! God bless you and your family!! :)

I like the suggestion to add vinegar to the final rinse, I'm going to give it a try. Some food for thought, it's embarrassing enough to have to have your children take care of you and know you don't get to the washroom on time, please try to refer to their incontinent products as briefs or underwear. Less embarrassing for both of you and more dignified for mom or dad.

Thank you....I'll try it today!

I've had a similar problem with my mom but not as bad. If she wets the bed or gets urine or poop on her clothing from missing the toilet, I will first hose down soiled stuff outside in the back yard then place in washer with good old Tide. I will wipe down the bed liners immediately (her bed has two plastics zippered mattress covers and a waterproof pad) with disenfectent solution. I have found that cleaning solutions with a floral scent works wonders. I found that anything with a lemon scent makes urine smells worse! In fact, my God send is adding bleach with the lavendar scent to all cleaning detergents for the floors, etc. works amazingly well. For a while I could not get rid of the urine smell in her bathroom no matter what I used! I tried everything i found thru Google search! Vinegar and lemons and citrus products made the smell worse! One last tip, because my mom lives in my home, I am able to throw out dirty diapers immediately - no time for odors to linger. Plus, during the day her home health provider is also vigilant so between the two of us, house and her room is odor free.