Follow
Share

I've been the sole caregiver 24/7 for my 80-year-old mother, for the past 10 years. She has many significant health problems and dementia. My question is this: I empty her commode bucket 1-2 times a day (both urine and poo) and take out her wastebasket of used Depends, but the smell when I'm doing this is making me absolutely sick to my stomach. I am at the end of my rope and have been for a long time. Does anyone have any ideas for the smell while I'm cleaning up? I always add a little bleach to the new water.

This question has been closed for answers. Ask a New Question.
Find Care & Housing

117 Answers

Most
Helpful Newest
First Oldest
First
1 2 3 4
It seems to me that whatever I put in the potty chair to hide the smell I soon learn to associate with the foul smell and can’t stand the scent anymore. I still use them though. I’ve found pine sol in the bucket helps some.
As far as the house reeking I have cans with lids for All used diapers and poopy packages go right out to the garbage immediately.
The strongest smelling urine of the day is first thing in the morning. If she gets up by herself it’s my mission first thing to get her wet bed pads in the can and take her soiled gown straightaway to the laundry.
I keep potty pads on the furniture that I change as soon as they are soiled and I don’t let her argue with me about whether her clothes got wet. I just tell her that I can smell it and she needs to change. Again: that’s when I assert my authority, THATS MY JOB! I COULD BE ARRESTED!
Helpful Answer (9)
Report
Can we report people for being tiresome?
Helpful Answer (7)
Report
I highly recommend commode liners. I have used them with clients and they are great. They fit onto commode, when clean up time comes you lift it out and tie it up ready to dispose. Also each liner has a baking soda packet to minimize the odor.
Helpful Answer (8)
Report
I use horse liniment under/up my nose and around my mouth cause I gag from the smells...I immediately put depends/pads in febreeze scented bag and tie up and put in outdoor trash...put liquid bleach or Lysol in commode and mop floor with bleach...one big thing I found that helps tremendously is disposable heavy bed pads 36x36 pricey but they hold urine and I very seldom have a wet bed to change and I also found rubber pants..like u used to use over cloth baby diapers that have been a lifesaver over the depend/diaper and they have something that I actually carry in my purse called Poopouri that you spray in commode before u go that is excellent
Helpful Answer (2)
Report
Oil of clove on a mask in nose area outside of it. We use this truck in surgery for bowel cases or " code brown" baking soda helps, vinegar, also if there is a cabinet near potty, poop an pee could be getting on it. It needs good rub down with baking soda. Pinesol everywhere else. Make sure an get under potty riser if ontop of original potty seat an esp around base of potty. Sometimes for Dad I put something on t.p. an leave in trash can to smell up room like Pinesol or Febreze or something that ladt long. Trash can can become dirty with pee an poop hitting it to.
Helpful Answer (1)
Report
A disinfectant spray like Lysol spray kills the odor-causing bacteria...lightly spray the receptacle holding the urine. Also As many of you mention, immediately removing the trash receptacle that has a diaper in it is also important.
Helpful Answer (1)
Report
didnt the commode come with a lid ??? so you can put some water in it like a toliet to .
keep the smell diluted that is why your commode does to or toliet just fill about 1/4 of the way can get some plug ins to help to ..good luck
Helpful Answer (0)
Report
I didn’t read all the pages of answers, but I have the same issues with hubby. When I put his urine soaked sheets in the washer and turn it in, the smell of ammonia makes me gag. Once I added bleach and had to go outside because I literally couldn’t breathe. I had created chlorine gas!

Anything I use to clean him (which I do while wearing gloves) is wrapped up immediately in a plastic grocery bag, tied up and put outside in the trash can. I’ve also been tempted to wear a mask.

Try catching it each time Mom goes,even just a few drops, and wash everything out. It helps a lot if you catch it right away.
Helpful Answer (2)
Report
You need to empty every time she uses it, as the smell is not healthy for her. I buy cheap 4 gal. bags from the dollar store to line her garbage can and empty each use. ALL paper products go in. Toilet paper is only used if she poops, other than that she uses baby wipes. Dry poop really doesn't smell I do not add water to her commode. I have a spray bottle of bleach handy to sanitize after each empty.
Helpful Answer (0)
Report
Use a garbage bag to collect urine or poop. Gather up drawstrings and throw out rather than clean the bucket. Light candle during poops. Surgical masks and Vicks good also.
Helpful Answer (3)
Report
I spritz cologne spray into the water.
Helpful Answer (2)
Report
Just a reminder, maybe, that you should always have water in the commode bucket. In the hospital, they didn't do that - I was kind of shocked. 
If you have about 2 quarts of water in there, the smell shouldn't be too bad. Especially if it is covered. 
I used to rinse it out, put a little Clorox in and then rinse it out again. Then I wiped it out with Clorox wipes. Sometimes you might need a toilet brush too. Sometimes I put a little Clorox in the new water. 
I always had 2 buckets and put the new one in the commode right away in case there was a need when I was dumping the old one.  
I used the Clorox wipes for spills, my hands, etc. Love Clorox wipes. 
Helpful Answer (3)
Report
I'm not sure if you ever resolve this problem, but first have another bedside commode handy and take the dirty one aside and dump it. Then, take it outside and fill it with a very strong solution of bleach water and leave it sit for several hours before dumping and rinsing. I just don't trust vinegar for nothing else but removing coffee stains from cups or clearing mucus from your throat. Other than that, I just don't trust vinegar for nothing more than maybe a little bit in the laundry but I gravitate more toward bleach. Therefore, no guarantee the commode will really sanitary, I just don't trust vinegar near as much as I do bleach. For those of you who claim to be allergic to it, all you have to do is just ask someone who's not allergic to bleach to deal with it for you
Helpful Answer (2)
Report
I use cleaning vineagar. I pour it in commode and use is as a rinse when i wash urine smelling clothes. Good for cleaning and orders. Just plain white vinegar works too.
Helpful Answer (0)
Report
Robertacapecod ;this was posted 5 years ago? Well anyway ,buy medical masks ,use Vicks vapor rub or Carmex under your nose .it makes me GAG TOO YUCK !!! I USE CLOROX TOILET BOWL CLEANER!! TO clean the bowl with grrrrrr I hate it when they poop in it.....sorry !
Helpful Answer (1)
Report
For the smell of faeces, you need both the pet anti-urine spray and something stronger that you can spray around the door lintels of any door where visitors might walk in. If you can, try to keep a room or corridor very well-aired and sprayed up, and don't allow your visitors to stray. Beeswax polish on genuine wood furniture also provides quite a pleasant but powerful distracting smell. The best distractor of all is two or three tiger lilies in full bloom. Sadly, some people cannot (or say they cannot) endure the perfume of lilies but I have learned to love it.
Helpful Answer (1)
Report
There's quite a simple answer. Go to any pet shop and get one of their citronella sprays for eliminating urine odours. People with old cats and dogs are only too familiar with this problem (one of my dogs is intermittently incontinent now). Although human urine has a different smell, the powerful citronella sprays also contain odour-suppressants and do not contain vinegar or bleach that could damage flooring or clothes.
Helpful Answer (3)
Report
Kudos to everyone for trying to deal with the odor. In my grandfather's final years, the smell of feces seemed to be a constant presence in his room; he had "professional" caregivers but I suspect they weren't trained and most weren't motivated to do anything. Wasn't pleasant for him or anyone who visited.
Helpful Answer (1)
Report
I will answer this question with adequate experience of dealing with this issue with my mom for over 12 yrs. I finally did some research and found commode liners to fit the commode chair bucket, and they came with a sanitizer powder inside the liner and I would put a litter cat litter in the middle to help absorb the urine and smell, and then when she urinated or defecated in it, there was no need for water as the bucket would do what it was meant to do, and make it easier on the user and especially on the caregiver. Then I would take the liner every night and tie the handles and put it in a small wastebasket lined with a scented trash bag to fit the can and cover it with the lid nightly until trash day, and then I would put a scented softener sheet inside the big bag before tying it and taking it to the road for trash pickup.. thereby making the whole situation more pleasant for everyone involved...it took a while for me to figure it all out and improvise, and due to mobility issues myself, the not having to take the full bucket of water/urine/etc. to empty in her commode in the other end of the house...took a load off of me literally... Try it, it is the best thing I every did for her or me while she was at home. She is now in nursing home with 24 hr. care due to broken hip and vascular dementia. But I did my very best for her while I could keep her in her home for as long as was humanly possible. Hope things get better, and you will get thru it all and my mom is 84 now and very well taken care of and loves her environment and is not missing my dad so much since he died in 2007. She was grieving herself to death at home, and we went thru a lot before I had to make the decision that was best for her well-being. Hang in there.....things can and should get better.....
Helpful Answer (7)
Report
You are doing great to only have to empty 1-2 times a day. I empty each and every time and spray commode bucket with disinfectant when I empty it. There is only one Depend when I empty it. The smells are not good for your mother as well.
Helpful Answer (0)
Report
I get depressed reading all of these complaints about the old FIL, Grandpa, mother, father. It scares the heck out of me now that I am getting old. I do not want my kids to complain. My mother refused to allow us to take care of her. Fortunately, for her, she left us before she got really bad. I am not looking forward to getting old with all the complaining I hear on here. If you do not wish to help this relative, then don't. But, pray when you are old that someone with a heart is there to help you. Your husband should be helping with her own parent. No doubt about it.
Helpful Answer (5)
Report
Once you clean the Commode, put hot water and liquid soap in the water. Just a little bit of water by the way. Then when you clean the potty chair, it will not smell so bad. Getting old is not a very nice thing is it? I read these remarks and PRAY I will not have to rely on my kids for my care.
Helpful Answer (3)
Report
I can clean the worst baby's diaper and not blink an eye. Changing my FIL made me gag so badly.....and he basically ate nothing but Ensure, so it wasn't like he was eating--it was how I felt about him that got me going (too lazy to use the toilet, so he'd just wait and explode whenever, wherever.) Did Hubby ever step in ONCE? Nope. Sat in the car gagging once when dad erupted at a restaurant. I stayed to help the staff clean up--(they assured me this happened from time to time and weren't very flustered--they had some chemical cleaners that schools use (sawdust mixed with something super absorbent and powerful) I say I helped, and I did, but these people were amazing. I tipped all 3 $20 and felt like I should have given them more.
My hubby's response when FIL would do this : "I'll throw up if I have to clean the toilet" to which I'd respond "How convenient! It's right there!!".
AND Bleach the heck out of the bathroom. Fecal matter flies all over. Wash the handles on the sink, the shower curtain, the door & floors. OPEN THE WINDOWS!!!
Helpful Answer (7)
Report
God bless you!I see myself in head to toe protectuve gear and a gas mask, or I would be gagging too! Some people might be more immune...not the sensitive ones...REmember the times before toilets.. the chamber pot...awesomely awful..and then I remember all the kids and diapers, throw up,etc. Since the kkids were ours from own own bodies we seemed to be better at it I will be thinking about how to help you!
Helpful Answer (0)
Report
At our house we swear by Lysol spray, open windows, and vinegar to deal with odors. I would caution against leaving bleach in the commode water, even a small amount. we did that once and my mother developed an irritation in her private area, probably due to bleach water splashing up onto her.
Helpful Answer (2)
Report
P.S. Also, opening windows, for me, is one of the most important things that can be done for any odor situation. I do it at home because I like my place to stay aired out. The elderly keep their places locked down tight and tend to not open any windows. But, I've found that airing a place out is a must to keep it smelling fresh. Friends and family will not want to visit if the place isn't odor-free. I open at least one window in every room for 15-30 minutes, every day, for my clients....even in the winter. In winter, do one room at a time. That will help tremendously. Oh...and bleach isn't nearly as effective as Lysol spray, in my opinion. When spraying Lysol, I try to keep the spraying limited to short bursts, which helps with the strong odor of the Lysol.
Helpful Answer (2)
Report
Just my 2 cents - as a homecare worker, one thing that I know helps tremendously with odors is Lysol spray. It is different from "air fresheners" because it actually tackles the bacteria that can contribute to odors. The only thing about it is: both Lysol and room air fresheners shouldn't be breathed by us humans (or pets). I would always spray the Lysol and keep people out of the area while giving it time to diffuse. Maybe when you leave to go to the doctor or run errands, you could spray the Lysol. When you return, most if not all of the Lysol odor will be gone. My experience with room air fresheners is they are practically useless....all they do is mask the odor. Lysol, as I mentioned, attacks the odor causing bacteria. When I start working with a client who has some urinary challenges, one of the first things I do is buy them a trusty can of Lysol. When cleaning the portable commode, I also add 1 inch of water in the bottom of the portable commode and spray Lysol inside the commode, and voila! it's ready to be used. Every little bit helps to combat urine odors. We really must stay on top of it. Hope this info helps in some way. Hugs!
Helpful Answer (2)
Report
They make masks for paint fumes. I use one. Cant smell nothing. Bleach can hurt the sinuses so that isn't a good thing to do. Try an RV mixture. That works awesome. You're lucky she can poop!
Helpful Answer (0)
Report
Poo-pourri works, period! It some how "eats" or eliminates bm odors. Also, keep a bit of water & chlorox bowl cleaner in the bucket before & after it is used. It works wonders! Even during the bm. It cuts the odor way down.
Helpful Answer (0)
Report
New posters should be informed that the relative of the original poster has died, so this should now be regarded as a general information-sharing thread.

I notice few people are addressing the problem of feeling sick while emptying and cleaning the commode. In mediaeval Europe, hygiene was almost non-existent. People used facemasks, nose masks and nosegays (heavily scented small flower bouquets) and pomanders to plunge their noses into to escape evil smells. Why not buy ordinary facemasks from chemist or DIY shop, spray on non-toxic flowery perfume or even just a mist of cider vinegar, and wear that while cleaning out. For the rest of the house, look at all the other posts for good tips! I have an incontinent old dog whose pee and poo on the kitchen floor also need the same attention as your commode!!
Helpful Answer (1)
Report
1 2 3 4
This question has been closed for answers. Ask a New Question.

Recent Questions


Popular Questions


Related Questions

Ask a Question
Subscribe to
Our Newsletter