social

Removing Urine Stains and Odor From Clothing

March 24, 2013

To remove the smell of urine from clothes I washed them in a load with half a gallon of vinegar and then washed as normal.


Advertisement

 
Read More Comments

December 28, 2020

Please help! I have a senior female dog that is incontinent. Because of this, I am now laundering a load of towels daily that line her dog crate and that have urine on them. To get rid of the urine odor, I have been laundering the washer load of towels with one cup of Biz, which works great, but is expensive.

I'm going through boxes of Biz like crazy. Does anyone out there have a suggestion to add to the washing machine to get rid of the urine odor in the towels that would be less expensive? Please provide quantities with suggested additive. Thanks in advance for your suggestions.

Answers


Silver Answer Medal for All Time! 320 Answers
December 28, 20201 found this helpful
Best Answer

I can suggest white vinegar, but the one-part-water:one-part-vinegar ratio is for a presoak or spray cleaning. Nevertheless, at less than $3/gallon you might want to try adding 2-3 cups to a hot wash.

Advertisement

Alternatively, The Humane Society recommends:
"Add a one pound box of baking soda to your regular detergent and wash as usual, air drying if possible."

Good luck! I'm glad your dog is in such kind hands.

 

Gold Feedback Medal for All Time! 949 Feedbacks
December 28, 20200 found this helpful
Best Answer

Pet enzyme products are great for small jobs, especially cleaning a sofa or rug area where pets have accidents but would be very expensive to have to use for thick towels on a daily basis.
I contacted a friend who had a very similar problem with an aging dog to see how she handled this problem. She said she contacted Consumer Reports to see if they had suggestions and the following is some of their suggestions.

Advertisement


Each night; load dirty towels in fresh water - use no more water than necessary (if your washer has water settings) - clothes will need to move freely and run one rinse cycle to just rinse out urine - just use water only.
Second; reload the same amount of water but add 4-6 cups of white vinegar (more or less according to the amount of water - too much is better than too little). You can also add 1 cup of baking soda if desired. It will 'foam' with the vinegar but that is okay as they both work well together and you may need both right now but after a few washes you may be able to do this part with just one of these products.
Run machine for a few minutes to mix it well and leave clothes to soak overnight.
Run this load through a rinse and then laundry in hot water and a strong detergent (they recommended Tide).
Advertisement

You can also add a cup or so of white vinegar to the wash or rinse water.
Drying: Air dry as much as possible (sunshine) but dryer is okay but try not to use the hottest setting.
Note: They also mentioned using mint Listerine but that is a lot more expensive than white vinegar or baking soda.

This may seem like a lot of extra work but she said it worked for her and it was easier doing this than having the problems she had had in the past.
She also added that she wiped over everything around her dog (especially the bottom of her crate) with 1/1 white vinegar and water and this helped also.

Another suggestion: she purchased cloth (reusable) doggie diapers for her dog to wear when she was not in her crate. I did not think to ask where she found these but I feel sure they are available online or pet stores.

 

Bronze Feedback Medal for All Time! 196 Feedbacks
December 28, 20200 found this helpful
Best Answer

We are in a similar situation and wash smaller loads of towels with hot water, bleach and the detergent from Dollar General--Sun triple clean. It is a purple bottle. We get the detergent when it goes on sale for 2 to 4 cents an ounce--usually 3-4 dollars for 188 ounces. I get my bleach at the dollar store when they have the 64 ounce size for 1.00.

Advertisement

If they have the lemon scent, that works the best, but the regular is OK too.

They come out fine and have no urine odor.

In the summer I dry the towels outside and that helps too. I don't have a dryer, but I do know that if you use a dryer it sets the smells (at least I always thought it did) so line dry (inside or out if you can.

 
Answer this Question

May 20, 2010

My mom is in a nursing home and she is incontinent. I launder her clothes. At times, she has urinated through her slacks. When I retrieve her laundry, her slacks smell badly. Regular laundering does not remove the odor, it exists faintly. I thought I heard vinegar is a neutralizer?

By Modesta from New Bedord, MA

Answers

May 20, 20101 found this helpful

I used to take care of my mom and she was incontinent also. I would add Febreze to the wash and it worked real well for the urine and other smells. I now have a cat that has accidents and I use white vinegar for that smell plus I use it as a fabric softener as well.

Advertisement


My mom is now in a nursing home and they do her laundry there. You might want to ask if they have a laundry service. There might be a slight fee for it but in the long run it could be worth the price.

 
May 20, 20102 found this helpful

It works for me. Try putting at least a cup of vinegar in the final rinse. vinegar works great as a fabric softener too.

 

Bronze Post Medal for All Time! 213 Posts
May 21, 20101 found this helpful

You could try vinegar. It removes lots of odors, but I know that an enzyme based pet cleaner would work for sure, as would peroxide, but it might get costly. I would add Oxiclean to your wash and hang her things out in the hot sunshine so the fresh air and the UV rays can do their work.

I would add Oxiclean (or a generic Oxiclean) to the wash and half a cup of vinegar to the rinse. Maybe mixed in with Downy in a fabric softener dispenser then hang outside in the sun to dry. For stubborn odors, use Febreze and/or enzyme-based pet cleaner and odor remover. I like a brand called "OUT!" sold for $4.79 at Walmart in the pet area.

* In any area where you still smell urine after washing, just spray the enzyme cleaner on to the fabric and saturate the area. Let them sit for several hours or overnight while the enzymes do their work. It helps to put the clothes into a plastic bag so the enzyme cleaner doesn't dry out because it only works while it's wet.

 
Read More Answers

March 15, 2006

My 2 year old son occasionally urinates through his diaper and the urine gets on his onesie and pajamas. What I've begun to notice is that even though I wash these items, the urine smell remains. Is there anything I can add to the wash load to help with the smell. I've tried Oxiclean but that hasn't worked.



Thank you so much in advance.
keligator from Bensalem, PA

Answers

March 15, 20060 found this helpful

Use white vinegar. My son sometimes wets his bed and I read on here to use vinegar in the wash. I can't really tell you how much to use, I just dump some in with his bedding. I have a front loading washer and would guess I use between 1/2 a cup per or a cup per load. I would say just experiment until it seems to work. The best thing is vinegar is cheap.

 
By (Guest Post)
March 15, 20060 found this helpful

I still use borax if I have smelly laundry! You can find the 20-mule-team borax in the laundry aisle of the store.

 
March 15, 20060 found this helpful

I agree .. use white vinegar! It works wonder with smells of any sorts! I use it with my kids clothes in the Downy ball instead of softener. Good luck to you! My 2 year old is in the same boat as yours .. hopefully the leaky diapers will be a thing of the past soon!

Rebekah

 
March 15, 20060 found this helpful

if vinegar doesn't work, there is a concentrated cleaner i found at the dollar store called mean green. i think the label says a half a cap per load of laundry. you might try soaking it in that. i soak the hubbys work clothes in it, it has a nice 'clean' fragrance once washed.

 
March 16, 20060 found this helpful

To remove urine smell from clothing use about 1/2 cup of vinegar (white not apple cider) in the wash. Your clothes will be whiter and cleaner with no smell.
Karen in Pensacola

 
March 16, 20060 found this helpful

Thanks so much for the feedback. Hopefully the inexpensive white vinegar does the trick!!!

 

Bronze Feedback Medal for All Time! 233 Feedbacks
March 22, 20060 found this helpful

If vinegar doesn't work, try 1/2 cup pine-sol. It disinfects and deoderizes. Happened to me when the borax wasn't enough!

 
By Shannon from Boise, ID (Guest Post)
March 25, 20060 found this helpful

You can buy fabreeze under private labels at the dollars store. Spray well, let set, wash, spritz again. This has helped even when the cat confuses the hamper with the litter box, and cat urine is way stronger than human.

 
By Ginny Buchanan (Guest Post)
May 29, 20060 found this helpful

I was looking for info. on urine smell remaining in clothes. My mom is 85 and has Alzheimers and I do her laundry. After a while, even the vinegar doesn't work. I will try the mean green. Thanks

 

Bronze Feedback Medal for All Time! 233 Feedbacks
May 29, 20060 found this helpful

OH! I forgot to add...you need to double rinse the pine-sol, just to be safe!

 
Read More Answers

April 21, 2014

I have a prom dress that needs to be cleaned due to a cat urine smell that won't come out. How do I get rid of that smell in the dress without ruining the dress?

By Corbi N.

Read More Answers

June 15, 2013

I have found many rodent urine stains on non-bleachable clothing, sheets, and more. How can I remove these?

By Mary Lynn from NC

Read More Answers

August 22, 2022

Does anyone know how to get mouse/rat urine stains from clothing? I had my off-season clothing hung in my spare bedroom closet but found evidence of droppings and yellow urine stains on the shoulders of the hanging items. I tried regular laundering but the urine stains remained. Didn't want to try anything else until I consulted my friends. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

April 24, 2013

Our cat got in my daughter's room and peed on all her prom dresses. This year's is a polyester chiffon, but other year's have tulle. What can I do to get the stain and smell out?

By Amelia P

Answer this Question
<< First< Previous
Categories
Home and Garden Cleaning OdorsSeptember 1, 2011
Pages
More
🌻
Gardening
👒
Mother's Day Ideas!
🐰
Easter Ideas!
Facebook
Pinterest
YouTube
Instagram
Categories
Better LivingBudget & FinanceBusiness and LegalComputersConsumer AdviceCoronavirusCraftsEducationEntertainmentFood and RecipesHealth & BeautyHolidays and PartiesHome and GardenMake Your OwnOrganizingParentingPetsPhotosTravel and RecreationWeddings
Published by ThriftyFun.
Desktop Page | View Mobile
Disclaimer | Privacy Policy | Contact Us
Generated 2024-03-28 09:56:28 in 7 secs. ⛅️️
© 1997-2024 by Cumuli, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
https://www.thriftyfun.com/tf38236792.tip.html