Urine on clothing. Any advice?

Get him to start wearing incontinence underwear. That's first.

Have you tried using a different detergent? My girlfriend swears by arm and hammer with oxyclean, she even cleans her carpets with it. I have never smelled urine in her house. She uses vinegar to rinse and no fabric softener of any kind.

No high heat drying either.

If you search the site (hourglass beside your avatar) for "urine on clothes" you will find many, many suggestions!

Clorox makes a Urine Remover that works well.
OdorBan works very well also. The OdorBan mixed in a higher concentration is also a sanitizer not just an odor remover. (and it is enzyme based so it removes odor does not cover it up)
Is dad wearing incontinent underwear? Either Pull up or tab type?
If not you need to remove all his cloth underwear and have him use disposable underwear.
If he is currently wearing incontinent underwear and it is leaking through there are pads that you can use they will absorb a bit more. Do not double up on the incontinent underwear as the water / moisture resistant lining will prevent the other one from absorbing all it can.

This is going to sound stupid, but bear with me. I don't know how well it would do with human urine, but my one cat had a habit of urinating on our bath mats or towels left on the bathroom floor. After much trial and error, I found that running them through a rinse cycle of COLD water and then washing them in COLD water (with the baking soda and detergent) eliminated the smell. Previously, when I used warm or hot water, it seemed to actually enhance the odor. It could be worth a try.

Anytime we have any clothes that have been soiled due to incontinence, I add a capful of Odoban directly into the washer. You won't be disappointed.

try putting feminine pad liners to soak up urine. He wont even know its there. Cheap at drugstores

If it’s a front loading machine, unfortunately they don’t use a lot of water either during an actual cycle.

For any soiled items I cold rinse first, sometimes twice with odour / antibacterial removal (without other clothes in there for maximum water), followed by normal cycle (can add other clothes at that point). I find lavender softener the best counteractive scent.

Also has he had a urine test?
Urine can smell extremely potent if there’s an infection! I know Mums urine smell hideous when she’s getting a UTI and those times her clothes / surroundings smell worse until the antibiotics take over.

Use a very short cycle and wash with detergent in cold water followed by a regular cycle with detergent in hot water and add an extra rinse if your machine has it. I personally have found Tide (I use the one without scent) to be much better than other detergents. BTW, I have a front loading machine. Most have the option to increase the amount of water which I do unless it is a very small load.

White Vinegar in the wash - just dump some in with the detergent - works well.

Let the clothes run two full regular wash cycles using the cold water setting no hot water. I have tried a few different washing powders for my top load washing machine but keep coming back to Arm and Hammer with Oxyclean. Homemade washing powder recipes found online are also great but it is just so much easier to grab from the shelf. 

My challenge is one wet pair of pants a day. I always know, in the morning, to expect a wet pair of pants so I'm going to try only one pair of incontinence underwear overnight (we use tranquility). So since it does not make sense to wash one pair per day (hubby told me I was going to blow the washing machine up – I just don’t like to let them set) I've resulted to spraying the pants with either a degreaser that has been watered down or just sprinkle the pair with baking soda until I have enough to make a cycle (hence the two full wash cycle).

I use the air-only side to dry the clothes and then finish off in a low heat setting when I am standing right there to take them out quickly. Hopefully, the tips on your post help but if you need to go further because these suggestions are not working, yes use the search function located to the top right of the page.

Has Dad tried wearing diapers or a pad to help with the urine?

Instead of pre soaking, I would try doing a quick wash first then wash again using extra soap.

That happens when you convert a regular home into a nursing home. It's admirable what some people do to care for their sick old-relatives. My deepest respects to those caring souls. I certainly won't let my daughters go through that.

Nature’s Miracle, available in pet stores or online, works wonders.

My father in law’s AL asked for Gain detergent

Incontinence underwear and disposable incontinence pads where he sits or under him when he sleeps are the best prevention. Good luck with the other cleaning suggestions. All the best to you both!

Use 20 Mule Team Borax Laundry Booster, Powder in the wash, and 1/2 cup of vinegar in the extra rinse cycle. Works great.

Maybe your dad is a bit dehydrated. The elderly often get dehydrated easily. Make sure he drinks plenty of fluids daily, unless he is on a fluid restriction. You can also add cranberry juice, diet if he can't take the sugar, or there is also cranberry tablets. Cranberry is great if he may have a UTI.
Both UTIs and dehydration cause urine to become concentrated and smelly.

Go to the pet dept at the grocers. Get Nature’s Miracle or something similar. Works on rugs etc. fairly well. I also use OxyClean

Hi! Have you tried a 1/4 cup of pinesol in with your regular detergent? I have the same circumstance, and it works great!

Borax works well as a laundry booster. You can alsodo a pre-soak with it or double strength oxiclean.
I personally think that the capsules seem not to clean as well as liquid, but that could be my machine. If this is a regular thing for him then switch him to incontinence briefs.. Just remove the underwear from the home. If he's already in incontinence briefs then it's time to get a heavier version and see if you can get him on a bathroom schedule. You've ruled out a UTI, right?. Good luck!

Hayleypee: Clorox has a whole host of products designed to get the urine odor out of clothing. However, perhaps you'd want to attempt to eliminate this problem by determining why your father is soaking through his clothing, e.g. perhaps he could see his PCP and his urologist and/or your father could wear protection in the form of Depends/an adult diaper.

Spray the wet area with white vinegar as soon as he removes the clothes. I use a plastic spray bottle. Works great for DH aunts clothing. Laundry as usual. I think I got this tip on the forum. If you smell the urine odor when the clothes are in the dryer, you didn’t use enough vinegar or didn’t get it all covered. I stop the dryer, respray and rewash. If the odor is released in the dryer, the clothes aren’t clean. If the clothes smell of vinegar after laundered, do a second rinse.

Note. Aunt wears disposable underwear. She breaks through during the night and her pads and pjs are what is being treated.

If possible (and I know it's not possible for most people especially this time of year), dry clothes outside in the sun. The sun will kill all odors.

For my mother, every morning her pants are wet despite wearing 1 pull up plus 2 insert pads. I take off her pants and immediately soak them in hot water in a basin, not washing machine. I don't use soap or anything else, just very hot water. After soaking for 15 minutes or so, I rinse again in clean hot water, then hang dry in the sun for at least a day or two if sun isn't hot enough. Then voila, no smell of any kind.

Could try any of the products in the pet department for urine stains.

Buy and enzyme spray cleaner designed for bedding / furniture and use that. The only way to get fid of the smells is do get rid of the left behind molecules of the urine. You will find plenty listed on Amazon, either as a spray on or a soak, even for animals - it is the enzyme for breaking it down that you need.

I use VINEGAR in with the wash and use DOUBLE detergent. Then, I do the wash cycle again with GOOD SMELLING liquid fabric softener. In the dryer, I use good smelling fabric softener sheets.
It works, even with soiled underwear, but with poop,you do have to wash it off in the sink or toilet so you don't contaminate the washing machine.

I have used two different products.

When my daughter was in cloth diapers, I put Borax in the diaper pail water. In the summer months I line dried the diapers, they always smelled fresh.

I have had cats all my life and if one of them pees on clothing I do a soak cycle with ammonia, it always gets the smell out.

2 scoops of OXYclean w/ tide hygiene on hot water wash works the best for me.

It’s not about the type of soap or washing machine setting.
Does he wear pull-ups or diapers? He’s incontinent, so he can’t wear regular underwear. & needs to be reminded &/or taken to bathroom. He’s needing help in bathroom too. He will have #2 in trousers soon…get him in disposable pull-ups or diapers Hugs 🤗

I answered earlier but I just wanted to mention that I used a product called My Pet Peed for DH Aunts little dog who became incontinent as he aged. He’s gone now so I forgot about this product when I answered. It really works not only for pet waste but also for humans.

The reason I switched to just plain vinegar after I no longer needed it for the dog, is because the vinegar is less expensive and also works and the pee was only on the pants, pjs, bed pads. Things that went into the washer and not onto the floor or furniture or car seat or wheelchair etc.

The My Pet Peed product requires spraying and leaving to dry. No rinsing. When the stain is sprayed, there is a bad odor because the product releases the odor from the stain as it dissipates. Then it’s gone. The product itself has no odor. It can be used on all surfaces.

The vinegar smells like vinegar so if that’s offensive in the laundry room, you might want to try My Pet Peed. I personally don’t mind the smell of vinegar and it also works.
If my incontinent loved one were leaving pee and/or poop on anything not going in the washer, I would use the My Pet Peed.
They give a money back guarantee.