Clothes washing and incontinence

[notaflyingmonkey]

Hi my elderly mum has been in hospital for a few weeks now, and since she has been in there has become incontinent. She wears a pad, but I still seem to be bringing home a wet nightie every night.

Does anyone have any tips on how to get the smell out?

Napisan if they're white or very light coloured. Zoflora if not.

Or and if stained with poo peg them out in the sun for a few days.

must be hard for you

Thanks for the responses. I knew my MN Zoflora would come in handy one day!

I bought a few cheapie nighties from Ebay and BonMarche, and started off binning them if too rank. But realised that perhaps I need to try and salvage them first. I've washed a few normally, but am convinced I can still smell it. So I might need to buy a few more so that I can have a few at a time soaking in a bucket.

Give the nighties a cold rinse before washing so the heat doesn't set in smells and stains. Dry outside wherever possible.

I would treat them like you would with reusable nappies.

So that would be normal wash and dried on the line or drier (but NOT radiator).
Napisan is great but I've never found it necessary iyswim.

Are you using bio powder?

I'd go for the reusable nappy wash too. 60 degrees cotton wash with a pre-wash, colour powder. You would probably need cotton nighties, and no reds, purples or pinks or they would run. I have done this for nappies and DC clothes for almost 5 years, occassionally whites have needed a second wash.

I would usually suggest clothes a size too big as cotton shrinks at 60 degrees, but this may not be necessary if the nighties are roomy.

yes to bio powder.
vinegar or dettol (the normal clear disinfectant) in the softener compartment also helps.
don't use softener, that locks in the smell. wash as warm as possible. dry outside if you can.

Yes to all the other suggestions but can i also add do a cold rinse cycle before any wash as that will rinse out the worst of it and stop smells and stains setting in

Zoflora, I use clean linen. Dripped it onto the washing tablet and softener

My v fussy mother didn't moan once, I was amazed.

and try to get a variety of pads. they all fit differently and other makes might suit her better

Thank you lovely people for taking the time to reply.

That's hard for both of you

When my mum had this we would do a cold rinse with some white/distilled vinegar in the fabric softener drawer first and then wash as normal. Try to hang outside if you can. Seemed to do the trick!

For my Nan's wet knickers/clothing I put a slug of zoflora (clean linen scent) in the drum of washing machine before putting clothes in and then another slug into detergent section in the drawer. This with a long wash, plenty of washing powder and lenor febreze scent tends to save most things.
I like you was having to throw a lot away due to lingering smell but this little combination seems to do the trick.