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(Warning: a bit of a rant ahead, sorry)

Ok, I've mentioned many times that Mom is becoming more and more incontinent as she sinks deeper into memory loss and/or the early stages of dementia. She often forgets to change her incontinence pad, even if I remind her, or simply doesn't care to do it - it seems that everything is just too much effort for her.

Mom had a very good day yesterday, enjoyed breakfast out with the family for Mother's Day, and we took a long ride in the afternoon, all without incident. She changed her incontinence pad regularly, so there were no accidents, and generally had a good day, which made my day easier as well, as her caregiver.

Today, however, was another story. She went 6 hours without changing her incontinence pad (unbeknownst to me, because she claimed she changed it in the "early morning hours" while I was sleeping - which is not true, because the bathroom trash was empty when I got up). She resisted showering until about noon (which is a battle we go through every single time she needs to shower). I reminded her to take her pills 3 times, and she still didn't take them until I stood right there and made sure she did it.
Then, to top it all off, because she told me she had changed her incontinence pad but hadn't, she sat in her recliner and completely emptied her bladder - and claimed she didn't feel it or even notice it was wet - not even when she got up from the chair (which *should* have caused her to feel wet, cold and clammy - but didn't). The entire seat of the chair is wet all the way through from side to side and front to back. So apparently she waited far too long to go to the bathroom *and* to change that pad - the combination made a huge mess.

So now I have a useless 10-month-old, $500 lift recliner unless I find a way to clean it.
I need to know what you all use to clean up incontinence (urine) accidents to elminate the smell from the house and do a deep cleaning on a chair with padding in the seat. Would you recommend a solvent or a steam cleaner or what?

I'm thinking I need to invest in a small steam cleaner with an upholstery attachment to soak the padding with a cleaning solution and then suck it back out to eliminate the urine that has soaked into the pad and eliminate the smell/stain. I checked on having the chair professionally cleaned but I can't afford to do that if she's going to have accidents every few days!

Oh, and to answer any questions:
-I had a protective blue/white washable pad on the seat of the chair, like they use in hospitals - she soaked right through it, which tells me she sat there and released the entire contents of her bladder, not just a little leak. Should I be using something different? I spent quite a lot on a stock of these pads for just this reason, but if she's going to soak right through them, then maybe I should use something else. (And obviously, I plan to protect the chair a little better in the future, with a trash bag or some sort of plastic over the seat before I put an absorbent pad on top of it and tuck it in so she doesn't slide...)

-Mom has been checked over for bladder/urinary tract infection and has none - her doctor said her weight combined with her age and the fact that she's had 4 kids has just left her incontinent and that it's just getting worse because that's what happens over time. Her rapidly declining memory is contributing to the problem - she just doesn't remember if she changed her pad or not, and I think she actually may have completely forgotten to get up and go to the bathroom, and waited too long - so then she had an accident.

I appreciate your input, folks - I don't know where else to turn with these questions right now. I was so happy that yesterday went so well, only to be hit by this mess today. :-(

Ok...rant over. Thanks for listening.

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My MIL is 87 and peed all over the cousin's leather car interior. Never felt a thing. It's part of the dementia and part of the loss of sensation, touch and smell. You can get the urine odor out with a good pet stain remover and the upholstery cleaner machine. Welcome to our world
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We've had good luck using Nature's Miracle Stain and Odor Remover which we purchased in a pet store when our cat decided to spray an upholstered chair several times. The bottle states it "permanently eliminates all stains and odors, even urine odors or your money back". We had to treat the seat area a couple times and used an upholstery machine, and let it dry completely over several days. It worked! Of course, the volume of cat urine is probably not as great as what you are dealing with. Perhaps if you call the housekeeping dept. of a local nursing home you may get additional suggestions.
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My Mom is totally incontinent and has been for some time. Before she became completely bedfast, she literally lived in her lift chair. What I did was purchase a heavy weight plastic sheeting and cut several whatever size I needed to cover not only the seat but also along the front and a little up each side...THEN, I had a lot of really thick white cotton towels that I kept handy and layed them on top of the plastic...it NEVER got onto the chair. The towels soak up the urine much better than those pads (which I also have) and they can be laundered, sanitized, etc. completely each time...it adds a little to the laundry but so worth it to me...it has saved us many times...
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I would get a professional to come steam clean it. They have stronger equipment.

Does she just wear a pad and underwear? I'm Mom wears Depends underwear and a pad and sometimes that's not enough. We get the ones that are advertised as "overnight". They're the thickest ones.
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Also, we use the adult pull up overnight underwear. much better than the pads..even with those, it will leak out, but the towels catch it...
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Hope 22 was right on the dot. we covered my dads chair completely with plastic, put pads over the plastic, blanket and then pads. we also put plastic sheet over his mattress along with pads.
We pulled the carpet out of his room and replaced it with vinyl and clean it with bleach, this helps keep the odor out. good luck!
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Sorry, hit a wrong key and got cut off! As I was saying, the store brands are much better. They are all very similar from store to store, but they are all much better. Stater Bros' store brand seems to be the best. They all seem to hold a TON of pee, I mean, they're practically as heavy as a bowling ball when full and might just begin to leak at that point. I started using them for my mom a long time ago, calling them "throw away underwear", not diapers or depends, to preserve her dignity and reduce her resistance to them. These are seriously good enough, combined with, again, store brand bed pads, to protect the furniture for the most part- what does get on the furniture at that point (with my mom it's usually because she has what looks like restless leg syndrome and wiggles her legs and arches her back on and off all day and somehow manages to wiggle herself and pull on the pads so they are not completely under her bottom and some of the leaks get onto her bed and her recliner, which is leather so it doesn't absorb much anyway). Getting her up every few hours to go to the bathroom (even if she says she doesn't need to go, I say, well lets just get there and see what happens, even if you don't go, it will be good for you to walk a little) helps prevent most leaks from getting to the furniture. I hope this helps some.

ps, I keep making the mistake of believing her when she says she doesn't need to go, sometimes she says it because she has already gone, and doesn't feel the need to go now. On my best days when I'm thinking more clearly, I just get her up and say, lets go check out the bathroom situation.
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To clean the mess. Use OXYclean and vacuum. There is a world of information if you search Google for Hydrogen Peroxide cleaning solutions. OXYclean is hydrogen peroxide with stuff added.
I cover sofa with washable mattress pads, cheap from Amazon and washable hundreds of times.

BTW owning a dog I use vinegar a lot.
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use pet cleaner or streamer for holstery. Try diluting with hydrogen peroxide and vineger. Try clorax dilution to. Look online to see what they have for urine smell.
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I buy Odoban at Home Depot. It has helped ME with the poo smells. It is a concentrate, gives you all kinds of ratios for using. Says it's good for septic tank overflows...that caught my attention. I also spray several sprays when hubby is on the pot!! Sure helps me tolerate. I use the waterproof pads, I get at Walmarts. Sometimes have to use two at night, husband has NO idea if he has to go or not. I think you should not rely on mom's word....she probably doesn't know what she has done or not done today. Not an easy thing to do but you must do whatever makes things easier for YOU.
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