Why do my mom's pants (in the crotch) always smell?

I was not intending to get back in this discussion but a word of caution. Baby powder or Talc is abrasive inside the private area and make certain powder is avoided as it can form infections.

Add baking soda and vinegar to the wash, and/or vinegar to the rinse.

A gentle solution is to add vinegar and baking soda to the wash, and/or vinegar to the rinse.

To help rid the smell of urine in my mom's nursing home laundry, I use borax. Even with depends, there are accidents and leakage. Not only does the borax help eliminate the odor, but helps brighten and removes other stains. (Sometimes the home runs out of clothing protectors and enviably her blouses food spills and the like.) I wash in cold water and use detergent and 3/4 to 1 cup borax. It took me along time to find a laundry process that worked. Good luck. It sounds like you are doing an amazing job caring for your wife with such love and commitment.

I have a question. What is the smell like?
If you could compare it to something, what?
Is there a stain? Dark Brown, but no blood?
Does it smell like menstruation?
Or like when you eat asparagus?
Does the panty smell only on the crotch or everywhere?
Have you tried the Oxyclean?
Can you take mom's soiled panty to the doctor?
My mom's doctor asked me to, that's why I am asking, it is not unusual.
Can you do her laundry yourself? Just the panties? I don't know how nursing home operates.
Your answers will help us out.
M88

Thanks for all the help my mom is in the ritz of nursing homes yes incontinent wears some sort of extra sheild if diaper does not need changed not super wet. Checked every 2 hours in daytime and every three at nite. But just does have urine femine odor in pants? Exactly with the dryerbecuz smell clean after wash but not after dyer. Nh is helping. I believe maybe babypowder between pants and diaper small amount. Spraying her cushion on wheelchair with febreeze.will try many of your sugesstions and thank each and everyone of you for your help!!! God bless and we can all pray and be there for each other. Thanks Rozz

One thing you'll really want to review is to see if your mom really has an incontinence problem or if it's actually just a behavioral problems such as laziness. A friend of mine's mom decided to get lazy and not go to the bathroom and she would instead be discovered to be using sanitary pads instead of going to the bathroom. I'm not sure what the dr. said to her, but I can tell you she was always getting constant infections as a result of her laziness of not going to the bathroom. She long since passed the age of even needing female napkins, and she started using these because her family could no longer afford the diapers. They found out she was getting lazy, and not being able to afford the diapers was actually a good thing because they just quit buying them for her. Lo and behold, she got around this by just using the female napkins so refusing to buy the diapers turned out to not be a very good thing for very long, and the infections continued for I don't know how long. She finally landed in a nursing home, she had a bad reaction to some kind of pill she was still taking and no longer needed. She had some kind of adverse reaction to it and she actually end up being hospitalized twice, the second time sending her to a nursing home. I currently don't know whether or not she still has the laziness problem of not going to the bathroom, but she was definitely a lazy at home. I'm not sure how the nursing home handled this with the bathroom issue, but if she was still being lazy I hope they did something about it.

We use perineal wash. Just spray it on a paper towel, cloth or packaged wipe and use to clean private parts, then dry. Doesn't need rinsing. Skin stays healthy.

I wanted to add that mom wears a pull up. She urinates in her diaper but tries to poop in toilet. I ordered a bidet bottle and use it to help clean her and it does help with the smell. But I can only use this when shes on the toilet. It cleans front to back. You can also add gentle soaps to aid in cleaning. I only use warm water.

imho, based on my experience with my mum, i used a liner in her panties [similar to a TENA or POISE pad, or other disposable pad], which was changed several a few. When she became non-ambulatory/bed-ridden, we had to start using adult diapers. i'm wondering if the washing [with a cloth, front to back] could be causing some abrasions in that tender/sensitive area? After removing mom's soiled diaper, i'd clean her with warm water with Cetaphil soap and using adult wipes - but i'd moisten the wipes in the bin of warm water. Illness or age causes the skin to start to break down, and it was so very easy to cause a lesion or abrasion, with just the wipe of a washcloth. The wipes were far more gentle, and we disposed of those. But her gown, bedding, etc., still picked up an odor. i used white vinegar in the wash cycle. i also used unscented detergent - less irritating. The white vinegar really did wonders at removing the smell of skin dander, urine, body sweat, etc.

Before putting on her fresh diaper [TENA was the best], i used A&D ointment on her bum, at the suggestion of a nurse. It's essentially a water repellent, to prevent sores/rashes. Butt Paste works really well, too. When these products get on the sheets, gowns or clothing, i simply poured a bit of detergent on the spot before washing in the laundry -- and this plus the vinegar seemed to prevent any stains and got rid of any lingering odors. i used Fabric Dryer Sheets [unscented or Spring Breeze - a very mild scent] - 2 or 3 in a load of drying clothes.

i later found out that white vinegar helps keep the pipes unclogged, too. May God bless us all~

I used to use Baking Soda to get my dad's laundry smelling clean. Washing in cold water sounds good too. I always wash clothes in cold water so didn't even think about that. What a wonderful storehouse of knowledge is on this site. I also rinse twice just because we all have sensitive skin.

I don't know if this would help you, but when my cats have an accident I spray the area with a solution of one fourth cup vinegar, one fourth cup rubbing alcohol, and one cup water. Works great on rugs, I don't know about clothes though.

Have you ever tried soaking the pants with baking soda and a different laundry soap? Perhaps soaking them by themselves in a tub or bucket will alleviate the problem.
Anytime you buy laundry detergent, you must be very careful what you buy and don't settle for the cheap stuff. I actually use Tide laundry pods that are actually pretty good. If you repeatedly washed the same pants and the smell has not subsided, chances are very likely the smell is already set into the fabric since you most likely put them through the hot dryer. If this is the situation, remember that laundry soap is already very expensive. If you find yourself constantly trying to remove a smell that just won't come out, it's going to cost you because you're only wasting your soap if the smell is not coming out. It's much cheaper to replace the garment than it is to keep wasting already expensive laundry soap. What you can do is take that money and invest in adult diapers, (or at very least the pads depending on how bad the problem is). Just make sure that they're changed regularly to prevent the problem from recurring. You may speak to the person's doctor to see if insurance would cover those diapers or pantiliners.

ADCaregivers..... I used Odoban for my husbands clothes. He only wore his briefs when home, but used for sheets too. Odoban was great, for me. Had some in spray bottle just to spray in toilet when he 'went'. I am awful when it comes to smells, but this was great for me.

Thanks for the suggestions. My Mom wears diapers and sometimes her pants will get wet. I started off washing them once and they would still smell. So I started adding a second wash and soaking them overnight and finishing the cycle in the morning and sometimes they would still have an odor. Very frustrating!

When my kids were little I used cloth diapers and when changing dropped the soiled ones into a bucket of cold water with a little bleach added. I also washed the solids off in the toilet first. I dumped the whole bucket full in the washer and ran a spin cycle, then a rise cycle and finally the hottest wash.
I had two in diapers so the bucket full got washed every day. Everything was hung to dry as we could not afford a dryer at that time. Oh those were the days!.
Now hubby and I find using pull ups to catch the leaks is perfectly comfortable.

Has anyone tried a penile clamp? They work wonders as long as you don't put them on too tight. Not cheap but Amazon carries them. The Dr may be able to prescribe. Don't know the answer to that

first of all....you cannot let clothes sit in urine for more than two days...or the smell won't come out. i throw all clothes that have urine on them outside in a little basket...and wash everything every two days. i put them on rinse twice...with a little softener...never smell.

Couldn't read all the answers but my suggestion is Vinegar. Either put it in a spray bottle and spray on the area before washing or put it into the rinse cycle of the washer. I have also used Shout for "certain" smells.

Try using a cup of white vinegar in the rinse cycle. It is a great and inexpensive fix.
I'm so grateful to have this site and all of the people on it that take the time and effort to offer their advice and compassion. God bless you all for your caring.

I use Tide with Febreze and I also hang them to air dry. That really helps with those synthetic fleece pajamas... I also do it for her chico's travelers collection stuff and her knit slacks.

I highly recommend having you put your mom in Depends. No more washing of panties; no more odor. Depends are absoluely wonderful! I have been using them on my husband, who has dementia, for six years now. I also began wearing them, as opposed to panties, several years ago, and now when I leak no problem. I feel safe and secure with Depends. I urge you to start using Depends on your mom. Greatest thing on the market so far as I'm concerned.

if you have a regular septic system, I would be very careful in using bleach in your washing machine, could wreck havoc on your septic system. I wash all my clothes in cold and I NEVER dry mine because of shrinkage but glad for the info for any future issues, especially the pet enzyme thing.

Mom (97 with dementia) wears disposable pull-ups and even then sometimes odors cling to clothing and places she sits.

In such cases, I spray OxiClean Max Force Laundry Stain Remover on the crotch of the slacks before laundering.

Regarding chairs, we have every seat in the house protected with disposable waterproof pads (paper with plastic backing). That way she can sit anywhere, the same as everybody else.

The pads are expensive so if they just have a slight odor I spray with Fresh Wave Natural Odor Eliminator Home Spray at night before bed. The ingredients are from nature rather than chemicals so they don't trigger our allergies. Also I sometimes give a spritz of this spray on the seat of pants Mom's wearing and she never notices.

Best of luck with this challenge. You've been given some good suggestions. Just be careful not to get chlorine bleach and ammonia together as they give off harmful fumes when combined. (And my sympathies to EllerySir regarding his wife's Aikido moves.)

My dad's private caregiver (part time) gave me this tip on changing disposables: Put on two, then cut the inner one out when soiled. It reduces the clothing removal during the day.

She is a special ed assistant. This tip works well for children in school, too.

Same thing with my mother who was 86 and it turned out she had a UTI.

We are now using a product called the Tena Stretch Brief night, which is more expensive at $36.99 for 28 of them. But it works as a sort of hybrid between a pull up and a diaper, because you can put a new one one without taking the pants and shoes off, and after its on it can be operated as a pull up all day. Mom does not have large volume incontinences, though. Except rarely of stool.

I always used depends a different brand as the waist was not as tight and when wet would discard and use a children's wet cloth to keep her clean to avoid UTI,
Washable panties are a breeder of germs.

If you are taking all of your parents clothing from the NH and doing their laundry 100% of the time, these are great ideas.

But if their laundry is being done by the facility the only real option to getting clean & freshly-fresh smelling clothes is to replace their clothing often. The NH & AL use industrial machines & detergents & hot water & high heat drying.. Everbody's stuff & funk gets washed with others. Had I known I would have stockpiled dusters, undies, camisoles, etc in advance of moms ever entering a NH!

Urine will give off an ammonia smell, and feces ranges from mild to will-not- come-out of clothing. I had a pair of my husband's which he defecated in, and I washed them three times and I could still smell the odor. They got thrown out.

I have an 82 year old in my home and when I wash laundry and bed pads I add about 1/2 cup of Wisk detergent to my normal detergent. Wisk is an enzyme cleaner for protein stains ( sweat, urine, etc.) It can be hard to find and a little pricey so I use it as a booster only. I can usually find it at Home Depot.