My husband had a UTI; doctor put in catheter. Now have both blood and urine on some laundry. Which stain to treat first?

My heart skipped a beat when I read this. My husband had the same issue and it turned out to be extremely serious. Please call his doctor. They told him it was normal but he developed a high fever and delerium. It turns out that the catheter insertion introduced fungus into his bloodstream. I'm sure not all blood in catheters is this serious, but I would definitely contact his doctor.

As far as the stain, my daughter and I recently discovered Nellie's Laundry Powder and we are blown away with the way it cleans. I saw it by chance on HSN, I never order stuff from TV, but was impressed how the enzymes in the powder literally made an iodine stain disappear. I bought some and it really works.

LL, I have never seen this product, is it sold under a brand name or?

"Tech Stain Remover" is the best product I've ever found to remove blood from clothing.

Another tip: If you have a front-loading washing machine, you have to clean the parts inside the washer, else they will manifest into bad odors. Clean out the bottom trap door and let the smelly water pour into a bucket for disposal. Then totally scrub with a cloth the rubber rim of the washer.

I use the laundry detergent, Persil, for stains. I mix a little detergent and water in a spray bottle and spray it on stains. For tough stains I scrub with an old toothbrush. This should take out both the urine and the blood stain. I would also (before or after) put vinegar on the urine stained area.

Urine is easier to get out then blood.Rinse the item with blood under cold water.Make a paste with either stain remover powdered or laundry( liquid or powdered work) rub into wet area and let sit. I use the stain product called All free&clear oxi laundry booster for sensitive skin.This works on Food stains& blood. Wash on a long cycle in warm or cold water.Never hot water(It will set stain)& a double rinse. I have 15 years working in Nursing Homes doing Laundry.Some times I use peroxide on really bloody items.It will lift the proteins out of the blood stain just by pouring it on the spot.Wash w/stain remover&laundry soap as usual.

This is how I handle occasional blood stains and daily urine stains. I have a front load washer and use only Tide Ultra Stain Release. Put detergent in and run on rinse and spin with an extra rinse. Then I run a second wash either on normal or quick cycle without any additional detergent. I have never had a problem with either blood or urine not coming out. Whether they are “clean or clean enough” as cwillie mentions, I’m happy.

Interesting. It does seem like they would counter-act each other, at least if they weren't rinsed out. I think the most important to treat first is the blood. Once that stain is gone, you can use the vinegar, or I usually have some UrineGone on hand. I think it uses enzymes, but it does work on the smell, even after a wash or two.

Sometimes you will see a small amount of blood due to trauma from the catheter being inadvertently pulled and yanked with normal repositioning or of on insertion of the cath had to be pushed through an enlarged prostate. Sometimes blood can come from a UTI because the bacteria causes normal membranes that do not allow blood to pass through to lose their permeability and a little blood may leak through.

But generally if you should see bright red blood in the catheter bag dad should be taken to the emergency room as this is abnormal.

Urine can splash when the bag is emptied or can stain before the bag is attached to the catheter- while, for instance, if the doctor disconnected the bag/cath to obtain a culture or UA.

A small amount of blood can look like a huge amount when it really is not.

I didn't even realize that you should not be seeing blood or urine with a catheter.

Can I recommend that you contact his urologist and ask what is going on. The whole idea is to not have these problems, I know that is not why a cath is inserted but it is the added benefit of them.

It sounds like something is wrong.

Please let us know.

I would soak in Biz with your regular laundry soap, cold water overnight then put a cup of vinegar in the rinse cycle.

Color test though, I use on everything but denim and don't have any problems. My clothes are brighter and my whites look brand new, they can be as thin as air and still be bright white.

Zout is a great spot cleaner. I have used it to get spots out that have been washed and dried.

Peroxide will get out the blood. Wash it first to get blood out. Don't dry in the dryer. Then soak in vinegar and wash. Again don't dryer dry till u get stains out. Heat sets stains.

Baking soda presoak. Wash in detergent with white vinegar, don't mix the two though. Ask me how I know.

Peroxide for the blood stain. A nurse’s trick. Always worked for me.
Straight peroxide then rinse with cold water.
Repeat.
Urine I don’t have experience with.

You should be able to get most of the blood out by spot washing with pure soap and a cold water soak, then you can proceed as usual. I liked the liquid bleach alternatives for urine odour, if in doubt you probably can skip the vinegar altogether.
And remember, there's clean and clean enough - in this case I'd opt for just clean enough.