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Human liquid waste is undoubtedly one of the most noxious of odors that anyone can ever be forced to smell. When it comes to figuring out how to get rid of human urine smell, we have only to realize that it is really not that difficult if the right techniques are used properly
The particular smell of urine essentially comes from the naturally occurring uric acid crystals or crystallized urine residue as well as bacteria that is typically found in human urine. As a rule, what happens is that many such crystals usually and all too frequently get trapped in the highly porous and damp surfaces of objects such as fabric, clothes, mattresses, and carpets. Since the bacteria present in the liquid urine does not die immediately, it excretes ammonia while feeding on the urine. This strong odor of ammonia and uric acid combined gives human urine such a strong and overpoweringly obnoxious stench.
This is why it is absolutely imperative to do considerably more than simply wiping off or even blotting away any human urine stain. What happens is that even as the ‘visible stain’ may well disappear, the odor almost certainly will not do so, and thereby will effectively wrack havoc on your olfactory nerves.
Let us consider a number of techniques and methods that will help you to get rid of and otherwise eliminate this highly noxious and unwelcome human urine smell from your toilet, clothes, mattresses furniture, floors, etc.
Using an Enzyme Cleaner
Enzyme cleaners are a very effective way of get rid of urine smell in any place. One of the best enzyme urine remover cleaners is Xion Lab’s Bio-Enzymatic Stain & Odor Remover. It uses advanced molecular odor control to eliminate urine odor, and not just mask it with deodorant. Xion Lab’s enzyme cleaner works on Carpet, Floors, Furniture, Fabrics, and around toilet and urinal fixtures. CLICK HERE for more information on Xion Lab’s Bio-Enzymatic Urine Remover.
Cleaning clothes
When trying to learn how to get rid of human urine smell from your clothes, it is always best to keep the urine strained ones away from other dirty items off daily wear. It is also best to wash these clothes in a proper washing machine rather than by hand, to minimize exposure and thereby risk infections. Keep them separate till all stains and odors have been completely removed.
- Add a pound of baking soda
You should add a pound of baking soda to your regular detergent when washing your stained clothes because it is a good method when it comes to figuring out how to get rid of human urine smell from your wearable clothing items. You should set the machine to the regular setting and wash as usual. Alternatively, you can also simply consider increasing the amount of machine detergent you use when washing clothes by a quarter of your usual limit. This will help eliminate the ammonia excreting bacteria.
Air dry all such clothes whenever possible
However, this exercise should only be undertaken if the weather is nice, warm, and completely dry outside. The clothes should be left on the clothesline during daylight hours in an area where the sun can shine directly on them. It will help if it is suitably windy outside, as well. This is because both sunlight as well as a nice and light breeze can be highly effective at neutralizing and removing most bad odors including the smell of human urine. Sunlight can kill off any residual bacteria and the breeze can ensure that their nits are dislodged from the clothes.
Machine wash all over again if the smell is not neutralized
Should the smell prove to be too stubborn, you may repeat the process all over again, with the cravat that you add a powerful enzyme cleaning agent as well. Such cleaners are both biodegradable and non-toxic and absolutely safe for use on apparel. They are used primarily to eliminate urine odors (both human and animal) due to their ability to bind uric acid crystals and destroy them, while simultaneously eliminating the smell causing bacteria. Many such enzyme cleaning agents are easily available at most pet supply stores (to get rid of dog and cat urine odors and stains), home supply stores (to eliminate the same from mattresses and other furnishings) as well as popular supermarkets such as Walmart or even online from eBay and Amazon.
However, here, it is deemed prudent to point out that even after repeated washings and enzyme cleaning remedies, if the clothes still smell of stale human urine, then it is time to rethink your priorities because it means that even the most beloved of everyday apparel cannot and indeed should not be used least it leads to infections and therefore, you should consider discarding them, post haste.
Cleaning the washroom
Arguably the biggest repository of this foul smell is the washroom or toilet, for entirely understandable reasons. This holds especially true for a home where there are plenty of male kids. The informal toilet habits of many such kids can serve to ensure that even the cleanest of toilets can quickly end up smelling like an open sewer. However, all hope is not lost since it is easy to figure out how to get rid of human urine smell from your toilet provided you perform the following steps:
Scrubbing the washroom
This is the easiest way of ensuring that your washroom remains clean and odor free every morning you give it the thorough washing and scrubbing that it deserves. But sometimes, this may not be enough in which case you will need to perform a few more steps to achieve the desired results.
You should use a really powerful toilet bowl stain and odor remover and direct a stream of liquid on the inner side of the rim of your commode. Let it get to work dissolving the yellow stains and odor causing crystals and then simply scrub them with a toilet brush while simultaneously flushing the gunk away.
However, if that is not enough, then you have to probe further to find out the causative factors of the smell.
Sometimes, urine droplets may have seeped in the lining in between the tiles and you will have to clean them with a mixture of baking soda and vinegar as well as a powerful cleaning agent to ensure that the bacteria is dead and there are no crystalline uric acid deposits on which it can feed and thrive. Other than that, you may also consider removing the hinges of the toilet seat cover and thoroughly brushing them after liberally squirting it with a powerful cleaning agent or enzyme cleaner.
Getting at the linings and decorative borders
Apart from that, you may also consider the decorative lining and borders of the tiles as another place where urine droplets may become the breeding ground of bacteria and thereby create a really bad smell due to which you will have to try and find out how to get rid of human urine smell.
There are many other reasons that are responsible for the foul stench in your washroom. These may include the areas that are not easily detectable and may be found directly beneath the cistern where your brush may not be able to get to them. Other hard to reach areas include the wall space behind the cistern as well as the upper reaches of the walls themselves.
All such areas should be liberally coated with any big brand anti-uric acid cleaners and then subsequently washed and scrubbed. Afterwards, the enzyme cleaner that you may have purchased for the purpose should be used so as to make sure that the leftover uric acid crystalline deposits and their accompanying bacteria colonies that live off such deposits and in fact thrive on them, have been completely removed so that there is no chance of them breeding again, and producing their trademark foul-smelling ammonia odor.
The “trouble areas” and how to clean them
Another often neglected area due to which it is difficult to figure out how to get rid of human urine smell is the area directly behind the cistern or the flush tank. Since many male children are not able to direct their urine streams inside the commode, the droplets end up being deposited behind the flush tank where they are almost impossible to get rid of. In fact, not being able to clean that part ensures that it becomes a complete haven for the myriad different types of bacteria that give off an obnoxious smell when they eat and/or excrete.
In fact, most people try to literally wash away the problem of how to get rid of human urine smell, simply by pour some old-fashioned cleaner on and around this trouble area and then proceed to spray the same enzyme cleaner in hopes of a solution the problem of how to get rid of human urine smell.
The “Spray and pray” method
As a matter of fact, many people simply believe in the ubiquitous ‘spray and prey’ technique. As per this method, they spray the area directly behind the commode with different types of bubble sprays and enzyme cleaners and then believe that this is all that is required when it comes to understanding how to get rid of human urine smell.
Unfortunately, this is not the right approach since most types of cleanings that are required for answering the question of how to get rid of human urine smell also requires an element of what is often colloquially referred to as “elbow grease”. Or plenty of old-fashioned hard work that involves effectively disassembling your entire commode and cistern (or flush tank, as the case may be) setup and cleaning all those hard to reach places that have not been cleaned and scrubbed since the time your commode was installed.
If you only leave a mere ‘scrubbing bubbles cleaner’ to do the job for your, it will not be very successful because, it does require a lot of scrubbing to be able to get deep inside the seams and layers of the walls and tiles and thereby ensure that there is no element of uric acid crystals left that can lead to such an obnoxious odor.
Sometimes, even simple scrubbing may not be enough and you might need to rely on other means such as plastic knives and hard steel wire brushes or even strong steel wool to scrub away the layers upon layers of uric acid deposits that may have been sticking to the area directly behind the flush tank itself. However, until and unless that area is not comprehensively and completely cleaned so that it is as good as new, it will not be possible to understand how to get rid of human urine smell, at least in the washroom.
Safety first!
When using pointy tools such as steel wool, steel wire brushes and even plastic knives, always make sure that your hands are properly protected with the right kind of gloves so as to ensure that you do not accidentally perforate your skin. A rusty spike from a steel brush can easily lead to a Tetanus infection. And, tetanus is nearly 100% fatal, so beware!
How to get rid of human urine smell from furnishings?
Bed sheets, curtains, sofas, and carpets are often the main culprits when it comes to the smell of human urine. This holds even truer if you live in a house with plenty of young children or even elderly individuals who may be suffering from incontinence.
The best way to deal with this problem is to use an effusion of white vinegar and baking powder mixed in a spray bottle to liberally spray the affected furnishings. Once you have done that, it is easy to cart the item away onto the terrace and leave it to try under the sun. Or, if that is not possible, then you can simply leave it in a suitably dry and airy room with the fans on so that it will dry by its own accord. You can also use enzyme-based cleaners to get the job done properly.
Conclusion
Ultimately figuring out how to get rid of human urine smell from your home is not really all that difficult, provided you are willing to work hard and have the right tools and chemicals for the job at hand.