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Mum rarely makes it through the night without wetting the bed. Even though I have a quilted plastic bed pad and waterproof mattress cover on the bed, after washing the wet items, I can't seem to get the smell of urine out of them. Regular laundry detergent doesn't seem to get rid of the odor. My house is beginning to smell like a nursing home! Any suggestions?

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I want to thank everyone for the great suggestions this thread is very helpful.

However I would like to point out something potentially dangerous to the bleach users. Urine contains ammonia. Bleach and Ammonia make a very harmful gas that can kill you. I know urine dosn't have a high concentration of it but why risk your loved ones life when they're already in a more delicate stage of life.

Here is a link about it.

http://lindamagill.com/mixing-household-cleaning-products-can-kill-you/
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Vinegar or borax in the laundry water. Plus liquid laundry detergent.

My grandma ruined a mattress peeing on it. We finally dragged it outside and burned it. Nothing worked. Good luck.
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Am having good luck with Lysol Laundry Sanitizer. But Nature's miracle is good for the carpet, I also tape down a pad by the bed as he sometimes misses the commode right there.
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I also use vinegar, but let it soak sometimes....all day! Soaking always seems to eliminate the smell problem for me.
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Also, maybe put a small rug that you can throw in the washer beside the bed commode.
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I use Odor Ban which I buy at Sam's Club. It works very well! Also, usually a spray bottle mixture comes with it and we spray it on the furniture and rugs for a fresh smell. My mom's house was beginning to smell bad too but we took out all the carpet in her bedroom and put a floor in that could be mopped and that helped a lot! We keep pads under her wherever she sits. Also, found someone to come in and clean every other week so that also helps a lot. When you are taking care of mom or dad and doing laundry every other day because they mess up clothes, and you're making their meals it really helps if someone else helps with the clean up of the house. Also, sometimes mom washes her own clothes (we don't live with her) so we put a splash of the Odor Ban in the washer at all times because she won't remember to do that.
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I've been using a Lysol product just for this purpose. I also found a great pad on Amazon that is big enough to really cover enough of the bed to protect from urine overflow. I also use one under the bedside commode to protect the carpet and they are completely washable. Of course I also use a waterproof matress cover and if I catch a whiff of stale urine I wipe down the commode and the armrests and frame and anything near that side of the bed. I will then do a sniff test to determine where the small might be coming from because I have found clothing stuffed under the bed. I clean the commode pot every morning and let the disinfectant sprat sit for awhile before rinsing and returning it to the commode. I keep a plastic bag in the small trash bag by the nightstand, as mt husband is still able to change his own disposables most nights. The problem is, he also put his wet tee shirt in the trash too, but rather that, than continue to sleep in it. Have noticed while helping him to shower that he is getting very red between his legs, so have started having him apply infant diaper ointment. He really hasn't had incontinence during the day but I don't go anywhere now without an extra pair of disposable underwear as well as pants.
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Thanks DadCirca1921 for the tips. I'll look into them. We just had to buy a new washer because we killed the other one from overuse!! My mum was also born in 1921!
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Also, tried the 36 inch wide disposable bed pads but they moved around too much & he took them off & threw on the floor. Found these on Amazon that are wider so can "tuck in" if using a twin bed, they have an extra 18 inches on both sides beyond the 30x36 padded area.
"Extra Large Disposable Incontinence Bed Pad with Tuckable Sides 10 Count (Size 30Wx36L) - Underpad Incontinence tuck in Protection for Adult, or Child - Absorbent Waterproof Chux by BrightCare" www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06Y5ZW1XX/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I found it helps to use a binder clip (like you use to clip a thick stack of papers together) to clamp it onto the rolled trim of the mattress in addition o tucking it in.
Has been a HUGE help with avoiding daily laundry!
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I use OxyClean, at 6-8x the recommended amount, wash on longest, hottest cycle & leave the lid on the washer up so that it stops after agitation & let it soak overnight. Works for removing poop stains on sheets as well as urine stains & odor.
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Stock up on white vinegar. It works wonders.
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Lysol laundry sanitizer works very well for getting urine stains and smell out of laundry. It’s a relatively new product but can be found in some stores and online on Amazon. We now use it for our kid’s sports clothes as well as my folks’ laundry. We’ve also used various fabric softeners (especially Snuggle Plus super fresh) but they don’t work as well without the laundry sanitizer. Urine is a stubborn smell!
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If money is an issue certainly vinegar will help as will nature's miracle. There are a couple of other things that I found that help and one is to make sure the underwear fits well. Then I add a Tranquility booster pad at night. And since I have apartment sized washer and dryer I wash every day and found that Method 4X beach sage keeps the urine smell under control. And to make sure the urine smell is gone I use Fresh Wave bulk to make my own little air fresheners which i stick everywhere in our condo. It removes odors without leaving a smell. At this time I still shower five to seven days a week with some of the showers just focused on the lower half of his body. I hope this helps you.
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My housekeeper brought this product to our house for the washing machine odors and smells from teen athletes. OdoBan Disinfectant eliminates odors in the washing machine. I have to say that she is right, it does eliminate odors. I use about an eighth of a cup in my super stinky wash loads. This works on sweat and animal pee. Wish that I had know about it when I was taking care of my mom.
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Rosemary44, I have purchased them in different sizes on Amazon. They work wonderfully to prevent leaks. Only problem I have is that Mum wakes up and feels that they are wet, pulls them off the bed and goes back to sleep and then wets the sheets! She outsmarts me at every turn!!
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I personally would bleach items that are bleachable and ditch and replace ones that aren't. You can usually find linens pretty cheap at secondhand shops such as goodwill and other thrift shops. You can also go to private sales during summer and pick up loads of linens. Another place to look is patients who frequent the hospitals and constantly bring home the linens. Then of course there are people who just want to get rid of them and may actually just give them to you when they do spring cleaning. Sometimes people will hold certain types of swap meets where everyone brings something to the group. You bring a bag of stuff you're getting rid of to the swap meet and put it out for others to go through. You take what you need. You may also want to check your area for these things called free sales where everything is free. You may find these during summer in your area. Definitely look for things you need and can actually use instead of wasting money trying to clean something that may never come clean and odorless. This is the best way to handle urine contaminated items, just burn them as biohazard if you have a place you're allowed to burn trash
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J
JessicaHay Sep 2018
I hope you do not bleach urine soaked clothing. Did you know the ammonia and bleach make mustard gas. A deadly bio chemical used in WW2. That is why it says not to bleach reusable urine pads.

http://lindamagill.com/mixing-household-cleaning-products-can-kill-you/
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Rosemary, I've found them at most pharmacies, usually with the displays of devices like canes, walkers, bedpans etc, or near the incontinence supplies. Just ask!
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I use vinegar in every wash for my mom. Works great. I bought large reusable waterproof pads from amazon. They cover a large area and are easier to wash than all the sheets everyday. I lay one under the fitted sheet and one on top where she sleeps. To wash her soiled clothes, I find Collecting her clothes at night or before she wakes up works well.
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I found washable waterproof bed pads on amazon. They cover a large area and don’t slide around with movement. I bought four. I put one under the fitted sheet and one on top. Saves on laundry. I also put vinegar in with her laundry. Seems to work great. I use it for every wash.
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I use iodine....the small, little cap that comes on the bottle is all I add to one load of bedding which I wash in cold water with laundry soap and liquid fabric softner..There is no smell, whatsoever in just one wash....NOTE: IODINE (BETADINE) WILL STAIN YOUR CLOTHES OR ANYTHING ELSE IT TOUCHES AT FULL STRENGTH, INCLUDING YOUR MACHINE, SKIN ETC... FILL TUB WITH WATER, ADD SOAP AND IODINE TO WATER, THEN ADD CLOTHES....
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White sheets Bleach and Borax: It will work
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I buy the Kirkland brand laundry detergent at Costco. It has an odor eliminator in it. Elderly persons tend to not drink a lot of fluids, which concentrates the urine and makes the smell worse. Also, certain medications or infections can add to the problem. It's important to rinse the urine out ASAP. It is sterile when it leaves the body, so the longer it's out, the more bacteria grow-causing the bad odors
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white vinegar works great. I've used it for a while now years . m
My mother lives with me and her incontinent has just getting worse.
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We've not dealt with the urine smell on clothing and bedding yet, but we have dealt with old man body odor. Even with bathing 3x/week and clean clothes daily, my father-in-law's clothing and bedding just had this weird strong funk. Even worse, I could smell it when I walked into the house. I was washing his clothes and bedding like I had done my children's diapers with a borateem soak followed by two times through hot wash in detergent plus borateem and two rinses and even that didn't cut through that odor. Finally we tried Febreeze in wash Odor Eliminator in the wash with the detergent. It works. I'm able to wash one time in warm water and one rinse and the odor is gone. It lessens my workload and is less hard on his clothes.

Edit - my son has been using the Febreeze in wash Odor Eliminator on the old towels that he uses to clean up his puppy's accidents and it works for them too. 
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While the initial post is old, I do see others have come here from time to time, so I decided to add my comment.
At the time my kids were growing up, there were no "special" treatments that I was aware of. For the training pants, I used regular old vinegar (white is best). It is not expensive and is not laden with chemicals (I detest the chemical smell - hated walking down the laundry aisle in the store!) It worked well for killing the odor (urine is acidic, vinegar is base, so the combination of the two should neutralize the odors, provided you get to it soon enough, and use enough).
CAVEAT!!! Once while soaking the pants, I decided to add a little bleach to help whiten them, as I had hard well water. The stench was unreal! It took years before I found out what the problem was, and of all places, an insert with a corelle teapot: It warned not to mix household chemicals, which I was well aware of, however it specifically said not to mix bleach and vinegar... I certainly do not consider vinegar a "chemical". The bottom line, it creates chlorine gas! For those who bleach in the laundry and add the vinegar in a rinse cycle, probably not an issue, but do NOT mix these two in a sink, tub or bucket to presoak!!!
Since then, I have been using Nature's Miracle for cat urine. Cat urine is much more concentrated and therefore smells much worse. The dregs in the litter box is unreal, but I have found world's best (corn based) soaks it up, doesn't leave "dregs" and results in limited if any smell and reduces the number of litter pan cleanings!

What I found with using the Nature's Miracle (would likely be the same with any pet enzyme killer): hard surfaces it takes away the smell. Soft items? Not so much. Initially the item smells okay, but in short order the smell in back. :-( So the only thing I use it for is hard surfaces.

For people with cat urine issues - the person who posted about the apartment smell, your carpet guy is correct. Carpet cleaning *may* eliminate the carpet odor, for a while. However if it has permeated the underlayment, the only solution is to get under the carpet and clean that, if possible, or replace it. The place I am in had a doggie problem. The RE told me they cleaned the carpets, but there was still a "doggie smell". I planned to get rid of the carpet anyway (4 br and long hallway) because of one cat problem, didn't want carpet and it was old and stained anyway.
I do not know much about the products others have suggested, but paying big money for products that claim to treat and don't... I'd go back to the basics!

DB - your solution is to replace the sheets? What, every two weeks? That will get rather expensive quickly!!!
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Never mind the urine in bedclothes how to get the small of cat's urine out of a house. i have a rental where i allowed the tenant to keep hers and her dead mothers cats. The small was overwhelming and everyone who looked at he house ran out gagging so i knew something drastic had to happen. My cleaner spent six hours in the house going over and over the carpets with her steam cleaner. The house e was sparkling and smelt really fresh _ for 24 hours then the smell was back as bad as ever.
I called in the local carpet guy and he said that even if you get the carpet clean the underlayment soaks up the urine and there is no way cleaning will help. The downstairs carpet was fairly new and of good quality and B said he would pull up the carpet put down and enzyme that would eat the urine crystals and then put down a new underlayment and original carpet. He is to simply replace the upstairs carpets and put down new as they were at least 50 years old. I was afraid of hearing the quote but it was not unreasonable so i will be going ahead. So I hope it will work otherwise i shall have to employ the local arsonist!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anyway I wanted to share that hopefully the smells both human and animal may be removed if you are prepared to pull up carpets and at least replace the underlayment if the carpet itself is new and of good quality. I know many people put down new carpet when a loved one is going to move in and soon regret their generosity.
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I usually handwash the stuff first and then wash it again in the machine. Washing them in the washing machine alone won't do it.
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Check out a product called odoban. Sam's club carries it in gallon size. As does home depot. It is a hospital grade disinfectant. And can be used in cleaning or laundry.
Hope it helps-
Sparkles
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20 mule team borax in hot water and laundry detergent (the most fragrant one, I use Arm and Hammer) - when drying, best outdoor then to soften the sheets, place in dryer with bounce.
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Yes. I use 2 washable chucks "under her sheets " in addition to plastic cover on mattress. I use 2 washable chucks on top of sheets and 3 disposable chucks. I also use extra heavy Kotex in her pull up at night for extra absorbancy. Wet linens go in wash as soon as I remove from bed. Some chores can't wait. I also use baby wipes versus toilet paper. It helps clean at same time and keeps smell away.
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