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My spouse has incontinence. Both bladder and bowel. I smell pee all the time. The odor is overwhelming. I have tried over and over to show them the toilet. It just doesn’t work. I try to control the odor but it lingers. I have al the supplies for discarding the soiled diapers and do so immediately out to the garbage in the garage. Double bag it too. I Try to change them often sometimes they resist. I smell it in the bed that we share even though it’s padded on their side. The laundry is tremendous keeping up with sheets and clothes. I use disinfectant cleaners, Lysol spay super size dog pads on my bathroom floor. This all gives me the most stress. Do others have this problem and what do they do about keeping their homes from smelling like a nursing home?

Go to the top timeline in blue of AgingCare site. Move cursor to far right and click on the magnifying glass. Type in "Eliminating Urine and Fecal Odors" and you will see about 20+ answers pop up. We frequently get queries about this and just now I cannot remember the specific compounds recommended, but there are more than a few. This is certainly a problem and when you have folks living with you with fecal and urine incontinence then you are actually living with the same problem that the nursing homes are dealing with. That said you might visit, ask to speak with housekeeping, and ask about special products they find effective.
I am so sorry. I wish you the best of luck. You aren't alone in this problem.
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Reply to AlvaDeer
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You might try getting a powerful UV blacklight flashlight. I've bought a couple of them on fleabay. A lot of people use them to find unseen pet stains. You could use it to find areas that need addressed that you never knew or thought of.
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Reply to jwellsy
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Southernwaver Oct 12, 2024
Definitely this
(1)
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You can go on line and look for charcoal odor eliminators. That's the best thing I have heard but I'm sorry I haven't tried them so I'm not sure.

For personal use I would put some essential oils on a scarf .

Sorry you are going through this, best of luck
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Reply to Anxietynacy
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My late husband had severe urine incontinence until he got his supra pubic catheter placed, and wore Depends when still mobile. I too would do his laundry daily, and shower him every other day, using extra large body wipes for the in-between.
But if and when he got up at 3:00 a.m. to pee and he had already soaked through everything, pj's, pads, blanket and the like, I would immediately throw everything in the wash. Yes even at 3:00 a.m.
And I have to say that my house never smelled like pee or a nursing home.
Even the EMT's who had to come on a regular basis for a while to pick my husband off the floor after he'd fallen, always commented how good my house always smelled. Now I did and still do use Glade plug-ins to keep my house smelling fresh and good.
And even when my husband became bedridden the last 22 months of his life and the hospice aides were only coming twice a week to give him a bed bath, and my hired aide who came in the mornings to put him on the bedside commode to poop right there in our living room, my house never smelled. After putting about 6 inches of water in the bedside commode, I would put several squirts of Poo-Pourri in the water and never had an issue with my living room or house smelling like poop.
So long story short, you may want to try throwing your spouses pee/poop soaked clothes and bedding immediately in the wash after they soil them even if it's at 3:00 a.m.
And perhaps having a bedside commode right next to their side of the bed so they don't have to travel far, might be helpful as well.
I know that the incontinence issue can be a deal breaker for some, and it's ok if it is for you as well.
And if that is the case, you may want to start looking into the appropriate facility to place them in.
I wish you the very best as you try and get this all figured out for the both of you.
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Reply to funkygrandma59
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Look in the house section of target or wal mart, Lowe’s or Home Depot for odor ban and things like that.

Or see if there is a janitoral supply store near you. They have everything.

and order a black light from Amazon because I suspect things are leaking out and on to the floor and possibly soaking in.

There are also enzyme type washing detergent that really eat up biological things.
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Reply to Southernwaver
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Till u can get some of the products suggested, put bowls of vinegar around. My Mom stayed in our old family room where a bathroom and the laundry room were. I put bowls of vinegar out of her reach. Within 2 hrs I saw a difference, a day even more.
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Reply to JoAnn29
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Pooph
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Reply to cover9339
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Try and air purifier. Worked wonders on my litter box odors. Pooph does work but not long term.
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Reply to lkdrymom
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Soft goods are what hold onto odors. Carpets especially. You'd do well to pull them up and lay down vinyl plank flooring or even linoleum.

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Cleaning+products+for+human+urine&rh=p_72%3A2661618011&dc&crid=15YACCRG6AUW1&qid=1728933021&rnid=2661617011&sprefix=cleaning+products+for+human+urine%2Caps%2C330&ref=sr_nr_p_72_1&ds=v1%3A0OwbSFl1SKTIrJ2DFLwTlNeFOQkH3SNB6VXbQGpUBFE

Above is a link to the highest rated urine odor remover products on the market currently.

The following is a link to Medline Extrasorb chuck pads which you lay down on furniture and on your husbands bed.

https://www.amazon.com/Medline-EXTSB3036A350-Extrasorbs-Disposable-DryPads/dp/B00BL6FUX4/ref=sr_1_2_sspa?crid=50X7OMNVWEEE&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.WRFx4xqz8dmdISzg68HDLbuV4zLQl51LhgnEzCokvIMh3Q0_B0M8fH59nXGdh_nnPM_oNJZuaTOkUaP9hW9gjD_kZYjJ3e-nz4qSygCSRsWIaGwfj4CmoePOrlLTMrx9LKqerP_xFjnS7x-Y8t1PTfEiDtmoAughk2ZmSjsUmx5Ps-fcN73KWUWd8cnyrZHv9Q6BwzwTM7kOe29dsEDvMCgDgIhhP0__dGRLQXv4v3QBxizwIidNUvnt7qBG_XaIEcqVhV0buryG1Fe_P53pMVktuoo3-l70uk-fp3IwcAQ.quP0Y5vanGXNLSeveg8iZkQH04Repi2J4viEuXsEkuQ&dib_tag=se&keywords=medline+ultrasorbs+bed+pads&qid=1728933380&rdc=1&sprefix=Medline+%2Caps%2C250&sr=8-2-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY&psc=1

Also, use vinegar and Oxi Clean Odor Blasters in your laundry washes each time.

An Ionic Air Purifier is particularly good at removing odors in a room. Imo, as it EMITS a bit of an ozone odor itself, not unpleasant. Many different models are available on Amazon, of course.

I would personally move into another bedroom to sleep in peace if this were me, because I have a very strong sense of smell. Or at least sleep in a different bed in the same room so you're not directly exposed to urine or feces. Caregiving is hard enough w/o that thrown in! You need restful sleep, my friend. My DH has sleep apnea and RLS so he moved into the spare room years ago. It has nothing to do with love, but with quality sleep in older age. I'd have been fine moving to the spare bedroom myself, it's beautiful, he just chose to move himself.

If you hit this issue on ALL fronts with these suggestions, you should be rid of the odors permanently and hopefully.

Wishing you the best of luck with a difficult situation.
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Reply to lealonnie1
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Use bleach when washing all sheets.

Change out carpeting to vinyl floors.

Keep cans of lysol everywhere.
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Reply to brandee
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