Smell is overpowering; Need Advice

We had tried everything and I mean everything including bleach at least 3x to get rid of urine from a cat who sprayed everywhere. A friend suggested plain- no mint, no nothing, just the original flavor- mouthwash. It works!!! You might have to go over the area a few times depending on how much urine there was, but it has worked like a charm for us!! Afterwards I use a steam cleaner to get everything up (we have a very light beige carpet). I know you won't be able to use it on everything, but it will help with what you can use it on.

1-STORAGE SHED
2-New bed.... what do you need ?
even a used mattress is better than this
check Sams Club etc
3- Oxyclean helped with the urine smell on the laundry or bleach for whites. I got new white sheets and bleachable blankets etc and grey scrubs so I could see the stains
and bedpads
No bed or bedding that had been exposed to urine came into my house.
There is a spray for cat smell, but better to avoid all together

I could not deal with the smell issue. I would have to hire someone to clean. Check to see how much a professional cleaning service would charge. I am already too thin and I can’t eat with funky smells at all.

If she is stealing moms social security, you should notify social security that she is stealing it.

They will shut it down and probably prosecute her. Which she should be.

One caution:  lemon juice.   One of my contractors uses orange based cleaners and told me that lemon juice works too, but that it interact with some substances.   I learned that the hard way when I used it to clean the bathroom sink.

The plumber's putty, or whatever was used to seal the sink to the wall, turned greyish.    The metal around the base of the sink drain turned black.   Scrub as much as I could, I couldn't restore the original shade and sheen of the metal.

I discovered an enzyme laundry product that actually "digests" biological stains such as feces. It's called Puracy, and I buy it on Amazon.com. I simply spray it on the stain and wait from 5 to 30 minutes before washing the garment. It has worked every time.
It's possible that you could mix a little Puracy with water and use it as a solution to wash things that can't be laundered. Just rub it on, wait for the recommended time, and rinse with a cloth dipped in water.

Also, don't forget that the sun is an excellent disinfectant. You might try washing things and then placing them in direct sun for a whole day. It would probably remove a lot of the smell.

An air filter with a charcoal insert would help too. It will circulate the air in the garage, assisting any newspaper and/or baking soda solutions you use to re-mediate the smell, as well as removing cat dander and other smelly particles from the air. A HEPA filter removes the finest particles, but is also a bit more expensive. Maybe a couple of cheaper filter and one HEPA?

Dust can contain smells all on its own. Taking a moist cloth and just gently dusting/cleaning things like your FIL's portrait can help a lot. There are companies that can scan all the old photos onto a DVD, which may be a better option for everyone anyway because it's so easy to copy and share the DVD full of photos. Later you may want to load several into a digital photo frame for your MIL. BTW - you might want to ask for paperwork to be scan instead of just photocopied too.

Wood is porous and can hold smells really well. I doubt anything will get a cat urine smell out of unfinished wood, but smoke smells can be handled. I recommend cleaning with a solution including baking soda and white vinegar and allowing to air dry several times, maybe alternating with a pine-sol solution. Using steel wool to lightly roughen the surfaces and applying a clear lacquer spray (available in cans from Walmart and home improvement stores) can both improve the finished surfaces and seal smells from the unfinished surfaces.

Hollandgirl, great big hug.

As I read your post I am transported back to when I was called to help my dad.

Only his situation involved dogs and their stink. As well as his incontinents with failing kidneys.

I too spent days washings everything because it stunk. I had to wash things sometimes 4 or 5 times to get the multilayered stench out. And I was having to wash all the linens on his bed everyday. I am busy and an extra 5 loads of laundry a day with a little dog that I had to watch every minute just wore me to a wreck. White vinegar is my BFF for laundry. It kills the enzymes that cause the odor. The challenge is dealing with items that have been washed and dried, setting the odor. Breaking down the bond between the fabric and filth is sometimes difficult. I threw away quite a few items, he never missed anything.

I was blessed that my dad ended up in the hospital and I got some breathing room to figure out what to do. I couldn't have him in my home, long story.

I found a board and care facility that he could afford and he went straight from the rehabilitation facility to his new home.

As hard as it is, sometimes we have to step back and let them be cared for by professional caregivers. I was then able to provide enrichment activities to his life. At my house he got fed and that was all I had time for because he needs were greater than my time.

He is now independent and thriving. He just needed away from his abuser and the care to get better.

Please consider that you and your husband may not be the best solution. And consider the situation with a sick cat. It's not worth a ton of money to pursue treatment if it is old or has something highly contagious. I am going to catch flack for that, but she comes 1st and you have to consider the financial aspect of the situation.

My heart goes out to you. I remember the feelings I experienced and I was so overwhelmed with all of it. One day at a time and you will get through this.

so sorry you are going thru this on top of what is happening with your father. I don’t want to freak you out further but if possible Take off the back of tv, and take a look. Years ago, we had a patient in hospital I worked in bring a radio from home. It got knocked off the table, hit the floor and broke. What looked like100 billion cockroaches ran out. If her sewing machines are in cases, the cases may also smell. It is hard to get odor out of the cases. Her mattress really probably needs to go too. I know you have been busy, but get her registered for Medicaid in your state and on waiting lists for local senior apartments. If her daughter has access to her financial accounts, they need to be closed as well.

Ozone is what hotels use for stinky rooms.

You should definitely check about safe operation. You know the exact conditions that exist so you will understand how to safely use it.

Things will have to be open and moved around to ensure that everything is being hit.

Best of luck. Cat is the most dreadful stink.

You make consider a smoke remediation company. They come out after homes have been on fire and cleaning up and getting the smell out is what the do. I have no idea of the cost. I wish you luck, as cat urine is particularly tenacious. Have you checked her items for bedbugs as well? Just a thought...

Those poor cats!

Shelters are slap full of cats and kittens and here this nut job is breeding more. Intentionally.
Gah!

Does your Mil smoke too?
I suggest starting new.
I like the idea of taking photos, or photocopying documents. The painting can be reframed, maybe that would help.
Overall, attempting to clean everything will cost more than new.

There is likely a health hazard and a flea infestation in your garage now. Call 'Got Junk' to take it all away, and hurry. Especially the bed and bedding. Does Mil have a skin condition, or bites on her?

One has to downsize anyway before going to just a room in AL.

Borax powder was a life saver for me. It took out both human and cat urine odor from clothes, sheets, blankets, rugs, etc. I found that tip here on the forum and it works great. You can also mix it with water to make a spray. You can Google to find the correct proportions. You might try spraying the bed several times letting dry between sprays. Or find out what is so special about the bed (firmness? softness? sentimentality?) and see if you can find a suitable replacement.

The bed should be tossed. Buy a new bed for her. There is one at Ikea that in Canada is about $300 for a queen size, the cheapest frame is $200 and it is incredibly comfortable.

I hope the SPCA has been called and the cats taken out of the situation.

Have you contacted her insurance company? It is unlikely they will cover a claim as she may have been considered that she allowed the kitten mill.

Hire professionals to clean the painting, make copies of photos and toss all the paper and books, you will not get the smell out. For important original documents, take them to a notary to get notarized copies and seal the originals in plastic and then in glass jars, eventually the smell is permeate through plastic.

Yes, you can throw out her things.

We were able to get the stench out of a deep freeze that was left without power in the summer years ago. It took several months. After unsucessfully trying bleach, baking soda, charcoal and more, crumpled news paper was suggested. We filled the freezer with news papers several times over 2 months and eventually they absorbed all the smell. But this may not work for paper.

Also I found that washing clothing that has cat pee on it with Sudsy Ammonia helped to get the smell out permanently.

We had a tenant that had several cats and no litter box, we had to rip up carpets, throw out 3 beds and a sofa (the cabin was rented furnished), I had to repaint the walls and scrub the paneling, I used Sudsy Ammonia and it worked. It was a hell of a job. The cats did not poop inside, just peed.

Sounds like a job for ozone. Ozone is like a gas form of hydrogen peroxide. Both are oxidizers ready to bind and render organics non stinky. If you call someone in to try to solve the problem, they would probably break out the ozone generator.

Before going any further. Treat ozone with respect. Do not have anything that's alive where the ozone treatment will be happening. No people. No pets. No plants. Make sure you air out the ozoned area thoroughly before going back in there. Read up on ozone generators for more info.

You can buy a decent size commercial ozone generator for about $50. Put the stinky stuff in a sealed off room and let the ozone generator do it's thing. Repeat until the stinky stuff is no longer stinky.

I've ozone things from moldy paper found in a safe to a moldy car. Ozone is also a good way to kill mold. It may take a few runs but everything comes out with that fresh from the laundry smell.

Once again, read up on the dangers of ozone and act accordingly. Ozone is how those CPAP cleaning machines work. They are just ozone generators.

My uncle was an old bachelor and his house was a mess - dogs, rats, litter. There are some papers I kept that still have traces of that distinctive odour almost 15 years later, IMO you will never get rid of it on anything that is porous/organic. If there are things you can not wash and can not replace you can seal furniture with paint or urethane, cover her mattress with a good water proof cover, photos can be scanned and the originals discarded.

My mom is not big on bathing, but she is fastidious about using baby-wipe type products. We buy a brand on-line that is wash cloth size (easier to handle) and is a type used in hospitals and nursing homes.

Toss it all and replace from a thrift store imo. Shouldn't be too pricey. Store photos and irrellaceables in airtight plastic tubs or somesuch.

Patience is key here..though. sadly, somethings will ALWAYS still smell, it's the nature of the substance. Paper/wood products are terrible for holding on to smells.

In my experience of cleaning apartments-the smell of cat urine is nearly impossible to get rid of. Carpet and padding has to go and the bare floor can be painted over with KILZ. Any cat urine on furniture may be remedied by cleaning with pet-urine odor removers, but if the furniture has been saturated--sorry--it's dumpster time.

Also, bags of carbon spread around the house can help absorb odors. Check Home Depot or Lowes, they have such products. Or check with a professional cleaning supplier.

Take whatever furniture you want to keep and store it in the garage for as long as you need to. Some smells will air out--some never will.

My mother 'willed me' a bedroom set and I don't think I will be able to use it as it smells so powerfully of urine. When the time comes, I will have to have this suite painted or something--everything in her house smells powerfully of urine and dirty birds.

You may have to ditch everything and start over. I have had cats no more than two at a time. Cat urine is very hard to get out when its fresh let alone when its been allowed to dry. Smokes the worst. Your MIL will only take those smells with her if u keep the stuff. Get rid of the albums, but keep the pictures. Maybe lay them out on a table and let them air out.

For clothes, try a soak in vinegar and wash in hot water. Put a cup of vinegar in the rinse cycle. I would line dry if possible. Sometimes using a dryer brings the smells back. I would get rid of the mattress and get a new one. That smell is probably in the batting, felt and polyester used to make it. You will never get it out.

Bathing, the NHs and ALs only do it 2 to 3x a week. For my Mom, Before I dressed her I would wash under her arms, dry and put on deodorant. A woman came in 3x a week to shower her.

Spring is on its way. Open the garage up. Take things out in the Sun and see if that helps with the smells. Don't be surprised though if you just have to ditch things.

Wipe down (just about anything) what you can with white vinegar. Doesn’t have to be soaking wet. You can put photo albums in a closed container (such as a large plastic storage bin) with baking soda.

If you can fund it without going broke, I’d turn the job over to professionals. Have as many of the photos as you can duplicated, and throw away the originals.

The wood furniture may benefit from refinishing with Polyurethane varnish, that may be able to seal the smell, after being soaked and scrubbed with Nature’s Miracle. See if an online search or a big local pet store can suggest anything better.

We took care of a really wonderful person many years ago, who chain smoked 24 hours a day. Not as bad as cats though.

Baking soda, newspapers and coffee.

My father had a "stinky experience" when he and a church friend traveled to Texas to retrieve Dad's trailer after I flew down to bring him and Mom back home when he developed pneumonia and wouldn't accept hospitalization and leave Mom alone.

Although he told the owner of the RV park that he would be returning after his health stabilization, she cut electricity to their trailer.   Everything in the frig and freezer rotted in the Texas heat.   

Dad and his friend spread newspapers, put out disposable dishes of coffee grounds and baking soda.   Eventually the smell disappeared, even from the freezer that was by then full of rotten meat.  

I don't recall if they aired the freezer out after returning home, but the combination of paper, baking soda and coffee grounds helped.   The freezer is now in my basement; there's been no odor problems since Dad returned home, for good. 

I've heard of various blends, mixes, and concoctions, but we prefer natural substances to ones with chemicals in them.  

As to the clothing, I think that Arm & Hammer has a baking soda based detergent, but I'm not sure.  

For personal hygiene, if there's an issue of disrobing and being cold (especially coming from a southern to a northern state), I'd try the no rinse, no shampoo options.   

There may also be an issue of what she's eating, if there's a personal odor.