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DLB1218 Asked February 2022

My dad (91) is starting to lose control of his bladder. I can smell urine in our house. He wears Depends & disposes them in trashcan. Advice?

I ordered one of those adult diaper buckets. Any other suggestions on how to get rid of the smell? ?

MJ1929 Feb 2022
Take them to the trash outside every time.

Llamalover47 Feb 2022
DLB1218: Perhaps you can use a 'diaper genie.' In addition, put the soiled item in a zippered plastic bag as an extra odor preventer.

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Countrymouse Feb 2022
You can get adult-sized disposal bags, if your father is able to he can put his used pad in one of those when he changes, tie it up, and put it in the trash.

If the odour is so strong it's still a problem when the used pads are securely tied up, you want to get his urine tested.

There also handy charts (Google "healthy wee is 1-2-3" for an example) which show what colour urine should be - perhaps you could stick one on the bathroom wall to alert him to when he needs to take in more fluids. Especially if he's upset or anxious about the issue, he may be misguidedly cutting back on how much he drinks.

velbowpat Feb 2022
What about a diaper genie?

Midkid58 Feb 2022
Getting him to change as soon as he has urinated will help. Also, folding the depends into a tight bundle (think of how you do with a baby diaper) and getting in into a tightly closed container will be a good start.

Check his clothing, piece by piece. Anything that has been wet will possibly dry with only a small remnant of scent, but once it warms up, or gets wet again, it can be pretty powerful. Some pants may have to be disposed of, if they've gotten wet too many times. Some you might be able to save with soaking in Borax, soda or a combination of detergent and pet odor removal.

Personally, I have tossed a few of mother's favorite pants after ordering new ones in the same color and size.

Wet diapers don't go into the regular trash. Esp when you aren't hauling out 2-3 bags a day.

Doing a good floor cleaning, carpet cleaning--whatever you have down should also help.

Hopefully dad is compliant and competent enough to do the disposal of the wet depends on his own.

Also check any upholstered pieces of furniture and clean those too.
IF my mom allows me to clean more than doing her dishes, I open all the windows and air out the place. Any little thing you can do adds up and helps, overall.

DON'T use a multitude of those portable air fresheners. They are bad for an elder's lungs and don't do anything but put out a burst of 'freshness' every 10-30 minutes. Mom had them all over her apartment. The best way to a fresh house is keeping it clean, getting soiled/wet diapers out of there ASAP and cleaning all spots that have been 'baptized'.

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