How to Find & Remove Urine Odors, & Smells in Clothing or Other Soft Goods
InspectAPedia® -
Where to buy urine odor removing detergents, enzymes, and bacteria-enzyme deodorizers
How to remove animal odors, pet urine odors, or human urine odors from building interiors or exteriors
How to remove human urine odors
How to identify odors or gases by type, source, and toxicity. Noxious odors or smells in buildings can be diagnosed and cured
InspectAPedia tolerates no conflicts of interest. We have no relationship with advertisers nor with topics or services discussed at this website.
This article provides suggestions for finding and removing animal odors from soft goods: cloths, bedding, towels, carpets. This information is part of our odor removal guide for animal or human odor removal from building interiors, building exterior surfaces, from soils around buildings or from urine-odor smelly clothing, bedding, and other soft goods. This article series focuses on removing pet or other animal odors from buildings due to pet urine, pet feces, wild animal urine, or even human urine on and around buildings or on clothing and othrer soft materials. Page top photo - our grandson Chase P. flushed his training underpants down the toilet - see WHAT CAN GO INTO TOILETS & DRAINS?
A complete guide to tracking down and curing odors in buildings is at ODORS & SMELLS DIAGNOSIS & CURE. Readers should also see Black stains from animals for a description of the cause and cure of various types of stains caused by pets or other animals in buildings, and also see CAT DANDER in buildings for a discussion of animal allergens indoors and how they are detected and removed. Also see Car Odors - Animals.
This website provides articles on to diagnose, test, identify, and cure or remove a wide range of obnoxious or even toxic
odors in buildings and in building water supply. We discuss odors from a variety of sources including
animals including pets, dogs, cats, or unwanted animals or dead animals, formaldehyde odors in buildings from building products or furnishings, plumbing drains, plastic or vinyl odors from building products, flue gases, oil tanks or oil spills, pesticides,
septic odors, sewer gases, and even abandoned chemicals at properties.
Removing Animal, Pet, or Human Urine Odors from Clothing or Soft Goods - Enzymes, Detergents & Odor Removers
Question:
I have just bought a house with a septic system (last year) and I don;t know much about them.
We have a special needs adult who lives with us (whom we care for), who wets himself daily. Because I can't use bleach in the washing machine his clothes always smell like urine even after they've been washed. Can you make any suggestions as to how I might remedy this? Is there a product I can use to cut down on the odour on his garments? -- K.M.
Answer:
Septic System Maintenance
Regarding use of bleach in homes served by a private onsite septic system, using normal amounts of household bleach is not a problem.
Also see Don't Flush things to avoid flushing into a septic system: a list of what's ok and what's not ok to put into septic tanks and building drains
If there's another reason for avoiding conventional bleach there are other similar result but chemically different products that might work
Where to Buy Products to Remove Urine Smell From Clothing, Diapers, Other Things That Can Be Laundered
People who have not had satisfactory urine-odor removal results from simple laundering of the clothing may want to try special laundry and cleaning products that combine a (friendly) bacterial odor remover and and enzyme with special enzymes. Enzymes have been used in laundry detergents to improve their performance for a long time. Some bacteria and enzymes are particularly effective at removing urine odors.
Enzyme-based laundry detergents - these are readily available in grocery stores, drugstores, and from online retailers
Dead Down Wind 32 oz. e1 ScentPrevent Laundry Detergent - used by hunters to remove "all human odors from clothing" - I'd try this one first.
http://www.deaddownwind.com/ (store locator or online sales)
Ultra Plus enzyme laundry detergent - sold only at Sears Roebuck stores
Seventh Generation - 2x Laundry Liquid Detergent Blue Eucalyptus & Lavender - combination of plant-based surfactants and enzymes
Biokleen Premium Plus Laundry Powder. Stain-lifting Enzyme Formula. GrapefruitSeed and Orange Peel Extract Cleaning Power. 3x more concentrated. Phosphatefree. Chlorine-free bleach. Tough on Dirt, Gentle on the Earth. HighEfficiency. http://www.truefoodsmarket.com/product_info.php/products_id/3928
Petastic™ Deodorizing Pet Laundry Detergent contains a unique formula specifically designed to clean and deodorize pet bedding, toys, clothes, and towels. Works on everyday laundry as well.
http://cgi.ebay.com/
Other Laundry deodorizers people use to deal with urine odors, including in infant diapers and clothing
Vinegar (1/2 cup white vinegar per washing machine load or experiment)
Pine Sol (1/2 cup per load ) http://www.pinesol.com/ (Strong, possibly irritating if not rinsed out - be sure to test first and to use extra rinse on laundry)
Mean Green (1/2 capful per washing machine load) C.R. Brands, Inc., www.crbrandsinc.com/
CR Brands, Inc. 9100 Centre Pointe Drive, Suite 200 West Chester, OH 45069 United States Tel: 513-860-5039
Sold at: http://doitbest.com/ - under $8. per gallon.
Boraxo - 20-Mule Team Borax (laundry aisle of most grocery
To Return to Mold/IAQ Action Guide: What to do about mold, mildew, and other indoor allergens
an environmental testing guidance website explaining what to do about mold, mildew, and other indoor allergens.
Critique, contributions wanted: Contact Us to suggest corrections or additions to articles at this website, and if you wish, to receive online listing and credit as a contributor. Particular thanks are due to the many experts and also consumers who read and critique technical articles at InspectAPedia.com.
Additional technical contributors & reference sources for this article are listed below.
Use links just below or at the left of each page to navigate this document or to view other topics at this website. Green links show where you are in our document or website.
Thanks to reader Cathye Bunthoff for suggestions regarding tracking pet urine odors to the backing of vinyl flooring and around furniture 04/6/2009.
Books & Articles on Building & Environmental Inspection, Testing, Diagnosis, & Repair
Our recommended books about building & mechanical systems design, inspection, problem diagnosis, and repair, and about indoor environment and IAQ testing, diagnosis, and cleanup are at the InspectAPedia Bookstore. Also see our Book Reviews - InspectAPedia.
Kansas State University, department of plant pathology, extension plant pathology web page on wheat rust fungus: see http://www.oznet.ksu.edu/path-ext/factSheets/Wheat/Wheat%20Leaf%20Rust.asp
"A Brief Guide to Mold, Moisture, and Your Home",
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency US EPA - includes basic advice for building owners, occupants, and mold cleanup operations. See http://www.epa.gov/mold/moldguide.htm
US EPA - Mold Remediation in Schools and Commercial Building [ copy on file as /sickhouse/EPA_Mold_Remediation_in_Schools.pdf ] - US EPA
US EPA - Una Breva Guia a Moho - Hongo [on file as /sickhouse/EPA_Moho_Guia_sp.pdf - - en Espanol
Allergies, Allergens, Allergy Testing in buildings - References & Products
Allergen Tests in buildings advice about how to test, what to look for, in evaluating the level of dog, cat, or other animal allergens in a building
"IgG Food Allergy Testing by ELISA/EIA, What do they really tell us?" Sheryl B. Miller, MT (ASCP), PhD, Clinical Laboratory Director, Bastyr University Natural Health Clinic - ELISA testing accuracy: Here is an example of Miller's critique of ELISA
http://www.betterhealthusa.com/public/282.cfm - Townsend Letter for Doctors and Patients
The critique included in that article raises compelling questions about IgG testing assays, which prompts our interest in actually screening for the presence of high levels of particles that could carry allergens - dog dander or cat dander in the case at hand.
http://www.tldp.com/issue/174/IgG%20Food%20Allergy.html contains similar criticism in another venue but interestingly by the same author, Sheryl Miller. Sheryl Miller, MT (ASCP), PhD, is an Immunologist and Associate Professor of Basic and Medical Sciences at Bastyr University in Bothell, Washington. She is also the Laboratory Director of the Bastyr Natural Health Clinic Laboratory.
Allergens: Testing for the level of exposure to animal allergens is discussed at http://www.animalhealthchannel.com/animalallergy/diagnosis.shtml (lab animal exposure study is interesting because it involves a higher exposure level in some cases
Allergens: WebMD discusses allergy tests for humans at webmd.com/allergies/allergy-tests
Animal Allergens: Dog, Cat, and Other Animal Dander - Cleanup & Prevention Information for Asthmatics and regarding Indoor Air Quality.
Recognizing Allergens: What various indoor allergens look like - identification photos to help identify pollen, dust mites, animal dander, toxic or allergenic mold - Common Mold and other Allergens, Irritants, Remedies & Advice
Rodent control issues, including dander, fecal, and urine contamination of buildings and Building insulation are discussed at our
