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.
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.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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
It works for me. Try putting at least a cup of vinegar in the final rinse. vinegar works great as a fabric softener too.
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.
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.
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.
I still use borax if I have smelly laundry! You can find the 20-mule-team borax in the laundry aisle of the store.
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
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.
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
Thanks so much for the feedback. Hopefully the inexpensive white vinegar does the trick!!!
If vinegar doesn't work, try 1/2 cup pine-sol. It disinfects and deoderizes. Happened to me when the borax wasn't enough!
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.
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
OH! I forgot to add...you need to double rinse the pine-sol, just to be safe!
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.
I have found many rodent urine stains on non-bleachable clothing, sheets, and more. How can I remove these?
By Mary Lynn from NC
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!
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