My mom has dementia and we have hospice coming in and tending to her 5 days a week. She is getting plenty of bathes but her clothes and room still smells. Washing her laundry now has the washer and dryer smelling as well. Everything I wash now smells like her. I have tried bleach and other cleaners but I can't stand the smell anymore. Need advice.
There are some wonderful pet products which chemically neutralize urine odors and work equally well for human accidents around the house (including upholstered furniture, mattresses, carpet). They can be purchased in spray bottles or by the gallon.
Puppy training pads work like the “chucks” used in hospitals, but they are disposable - one less smelly item for the washer.
Tide pods with Downy worked for me in the laundry. Washing soiled and wet clothing items immediately in hot water (or sanitary cycle) reduces the smell by killing bacteria.
If she had any accidents staining the carpet, there are some “spot” treatment machines which help greatly and work similarly to the larger Rug Doctor rentals.
So lovely. I wanted to have that with my mom. I couldn’t please her. I tried. Doesn’t always work out.
Started off okay. Went downhill. Maybe it’s no one’s fault. It was hard for both of us.
I pray that I never get Parkinson’s disease. Watching her deteriorate killed me. It just flattened me.
I can’t change her. She won’t let ANYBODY help her. I didn’t cause this and I can’t cure it. It is just a sad situation all the way around.
I was simply pointing out that my mom's place is stinky (and there's no use sugarcoating this and saying it's not) and my MIL's place is immaculate and smells extremely clean. I mean no disrespect, and neither does anyone else. Once you get furniture and carpets that have been saturated with urine--you just want to cry. Mom's visitors are always kind, but they will also often comment on the smells. I can't do anything about, and it makes me sad.
I know a woman that went to bed with a cigarette in her hand. She burned a part of her bed. Thank God, she woke up and was able to put out the fire.
She lives in the upstairs part of the condo that her daughter owns.
Her daughter has severe allergies and can barely stand the reek of smoke when she goes to see her mom.
Of course she still smokes! She has smoked since she was 15 and says it is a very tough habit for her to break. She has tried to quit many times but always goes back to smoking.
She drives her daughter crazy! Her daughter has threatened to have her move if she doesn’t stop smoking but doesn’t have the courage to follow through on her threats. It’s sad for both of them.
When she used to let me clean the first thing I did was open all the windows (which had not been open since the LAST time I'd cleaned). Sadly, the smells (primarily of cooking fat and urine) has simply saturated the walls and floors and clothes. Replacing the floor with wood laminate helped a lot. But the 'TV room' still had carpet. Last time I cleaned it, the water I pulled out of it was thick and black--I do not know how she got it so dirty.
She shares w/d with SIL. SIL runs vinegar and pet urine remover through the machine, but the dryer still has a smell of urine. Mom can't smell it.
Cleaning, deep cleaning is your best bet. I love bleach and use it a lot. Also vacuuming fabric surfaces on the reg. Smells can get into everything. She has waaaay too much 'stuff' in her place and it all smells. She's 'left me' a bedroom set, which, frankly, I won't take b/c although it's lovely, it smells so awful.
One weird thing I discovered that I use at home is a few crumpled up sheets of newspaper in the bottom of the trash. Kills the smell of the trash and buys you and extra day. I'd do this in mom's 'diaper pail' but she'd get mad, so I leave well enough alone.
On the flip side, my MIL's house smells fantastic. She has it cleaned every week, but there is literally NO bad smell there. She opens windows every day and bleaches her bathrooms and gets her trash out pronto. She is immaculate in her personal hygiene and I think that is a big factor.
Both my Grandmothers lived alone into their 90's. Their places smelled not just clean, but 'sweetly clean'. One gma made her own soap! and her place was so sweet. The other employed a maid. I do not know why mom's place smells so awful and their places were sweet and clean.
I must didn't use the right mixture.
I recommend going to everydaycheapskate.com and checking out her diy cleaners. They have been tried and tested and offer great results. I haven't had to scrub a bathtub in over a decade using Mary's shower cleaner.