Old men and using the toilet ….?

[jwoo23]

Hello! Looking for advice from any care home workers that can advise on the best cleaning solutions for the gallons of urine that gets deposited around every lavatory in the house when both my elderly father or FIL come to stay!!!!!

They are both from a generation that would balk at the idea of a sit-down wee. Plus they don’t seem to ever even quite make it to the toilet in the middle of the night either, so the trail of urine quite often starts somewhere near the bathroom door! Not helped either by the fact that they both love a few drinks on regular occasion which exacerbates the issue!

I know age will get all of us, so I don’t want to be insensitive, and also, even if I didn’t care about being insensitive, mentioning it to either of these ‘characters’ would be fruitless. They wouldn’t change their ways even if they were initially embarrassed.

They can’t be in the minority? In my mind, therefore, care homes must have copious amounts of urine on the bottom of slippers and trodden in to all carpets?

When they come to stay I feel like I am constantly inspecting and cleaning whole puddles of piss from the seat, under the seat, behind the seat and all over the floor before I can get in and on with my own business. And worse, before I can let the toddler in the bathroom who would be oblivious to putting her hands in it as she climbs onto the toilet trying to be so independent!

Any advice? I have disinfectant and special pee only cleaning cloths stashed in each loo trying to be discrete but would be grateful to know how anyone else or those who work in a care home deal with this. It honestly takes up so much of my time when they’re here!

Thank you!

I would have to call them up on it or stop their visits if I’m being honest.

Try odour neutralising products, you may find the ones in the pet aisle for urine may work well.

My late father used to do this. But not just with wee, with poo too. Not to scare you, but it can be a sign of prostate cancer which is the no. 1 killer in men. Have they been checked for this?

They almost certainly won’t be able to pass urine in a sitting position because of prostatic hypertrophy- benign or otherwise.

I would give them each their own 'pee' pail that they can use whilst sitting on the edge of the bed. It can be emptied in the morning. They used to be called 'slop jars ' in the olden days before indoor plumbing here in the US

Get them to clean it up. Why should you need to do it?!

Thanks for the comments so far. I honestly don’t think prostate issues are on the table - they are both under several different health professionals for various reasons. They are just OLD!!!! And getting them to clean up after themselves - impossible. My Dad can’t even bend over to tie up his own shoes! Old people don’t seem to see dirt and hygiene in the same way I do anyway. I’m pretty sure they never wash their hands either.

I like the idea of odour neutralisers. I think the bed pan idea (would go down like a pint of piss!!!) and we’d end up with even lazier men that would just end up weeing all over their sheets and carpet and give me even more work to do!

Aldi cheap disinfectant saved my carpets after a similar situation here. Not just a cursory spray and wipe though. Buy it by the bottle and pour it on until the offending area is absolutely sodden. And then leave it to dry or at a minimum for the contact time recommended on the back of the bottle (think its 15 mins for the Aldi one).
Failing that you can buy urine neutraliser in 5l bottles on Amazon. Read the instructions and again it has a contact time it has to be left undisturbed for before being cleaned up.
And get rid of the pee only cloths. Unless they are being washed on a 90 degree wash after every use they are going to harbour bacteria and potentially make things worse. Use kitchen roll instead.

Have a heart. They probably can't help it. Hope you remember this when you are older

Bleach is the answer, as strong as you can get away with without damaging flooring.

(UK Care Homes are banned from using bleach hence the pissy smell).

My father in law does this when he stays it’s repulsive and I try not to let it affect my opinion of him but alas it does. Because there is no way he doesnt know he is pissing himself as he walks to the toilet so he is fine with pissing all over the carpet his grandkids crawl on, then leaving a puddle of piss for everyone to stand in. It’s repulsive and your mum and you have made it so they just don’t care, someone else will clean it up

My stepdad did this, made my mum clear it up.

Couldn’t put up with that! Tactfully suggest pads, and sitting to pee. No more coming to stay either just short visits. The home will smell horrible very quickly

It would take hours to dry and the smell of urine and disinfectant would be vile

Use a steam mop and make sure vynal floors. I agree pet urine cleaners plus a drop of zoflora.

I'd look for kennel disinfectant. I got some from ebay in bulk and its great

Do they have to come and stay? Could you end the visits and go to see them (maybe stay in a hotel so you can avoid using their bathroom?)

It sounds revolting and not fair on your children. Or you, for that matter.

Or could they wear incontinence pants if they’re visiting you?

I watch a lot of cleaning videos on Facebook and they all recommend shaving foam for urine smell.

Pet cleaner! Also make sure you have double layer of mattress protection just in case (a thick all plastic one designed for very young/disabilities then a normal quilted one on top to disguise it)

Christ, I couldn’t wear that. They both need a firm word and a continence assessment. Have they got capacity? Their own houses must reek.

Vivactive products from Age UK work really well. For those saying it’s disgusting I understand where you are coming from but honestly it could happen to any of us in old age it sometimes just can’t be helped. I used to just glove up and crack on, there are worse things.

My mum used to use a dog neutraliser when my Dad got older and careless, 'Urine off' is a good one. Their house never smelt of pee at all. You have to stay on top of it though.

I couldn’t put up with constant spillages .They’d have to wear pads , surely better than peeing everywhere. It would be constant smelling of pee despite every measure to counteract it.,

a few of those u shaped bathroom floor mats might help limit the spread.

the basic towel style ratger than deep pile

They’d hold the smell, and need constant washing. Perhaps use puppy pads

Hmmmn I was a nurse at a care home until recently and it was very rarely that our elderly residents with full MC and mobility had this problem. I would suggest using a washable loo mat .