I just put my throw rugs in the washer with hot water and Tide and Clorox II and put them down again. I don't have the hairballs (no cat) and the dog goes outside, so I don't have the problems with them that you guys do. Just the occasional misdirection! :)
One time my husband had a screw driver in his hand while trying to stick the wiring of the light fixture of the ceiling fan back in while the fan was running. Electrician - $90. Garbage disposal - he stuck something in it that created a hole. Plumber - $171.00. He got something in the bottom of the dishwasher that the repairman couldn't get to - New dishwasher $800.00. He did SOMETHING to the light switch in the bathroom, and when I told my daughters that it was no longer working and that I had called the electrician, the next morning it was working again, and I told the electrician, but he came out anyway just to check all the wiring and make certain everything was all right. Since he knows about my husband's AD, he didn't charge me anything. :) He was NEVER a Mr. Fix-it before AD!
As far as running water, my yard is greener than my neighbors and that is due to my husband watering the grass more than necessary. I've accepted my large water bill, as Fran's approach won't work on the sprinkler!
As Divvi says, we HAVE to maintain our sense of humor! This discussion was VERY funny! Thank you all!
My husband used to pick up the floor registers and pee in the heating/cooling vents...talk about a wonderful odor permeating the house....I guess I should have been grateful he didn't take a dump in them.....LOL!
How did you get the smell out? I've notice the odor around the toilet is strong, even after I've cleaned it thoroughly! I have tried Lysol, Oust, and Fabreeze, but nothing seems to work. I can't imagine getting the odor out of the vents!!!
Well, there is a product called Zero Odor that I always kept on hand because of our cats and I just sprayed that down the vents...eventually, I guess it just went away.....
you might try just plain old vinegar. I worked as a housekeeper for a while at a retreat camp and they were very green conscious. That's all they used on all their bathrooms. In fact, vinegar will take the yellow ring out of urinals and toilet bowls (or is that too much information?)
I'm really curious about that business with peeing on the cat. How did the cat react. Bet he was really mad!
This thread is so funny. I appreciate you guys more than you'll ever know!!
Divvi, I think I'm going to buy you a manneken pis and send it to you! It's the statue of the little kid peeing that lives in Brussels and gets dressed up. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manneken_Pis
Once I had a several-hour layover in Brussels on my way to Athens and decided to take the local train in specifically to see him - and to have some Belgian waffles. A Greek guy attached himself to me and came along for the waffles, which was fine - and so I said, let's go see the m.p. He'd no idea what he was getting into! I think he was rather shocked. Disappeared shortly thereafter. a GREEK guy yet!
Other recommendations for getting rid of unwanted "perfumes", especially on laundry, gleaned from other sites:
"I would highly recommend OdoBan added to laundry, used as a "freshener" (like Fabreeze) to spray carpet... like under the bed and places people won't walk over. I used to get it at Walmart, but they stopped selling the gallon concentrate and only sell the spray bottle that's already diluted. I found the concentrate gallons at Home Depot now. Also, you might try a detergent without a scent and try to stay away from fabric softeners since they tend to help fabric hold on to smells."
"As for the urine/feces smell in her clothes and bedding I use Oxyclean. It doesn't always get the smell out, but it does a pretty damn good job." (oooops, maybe I shouldn't have quoted that post verbatim ... it does a pretty dang good job)
A long post (obviously from a very experienced caregiver):
When you are going to be exposed to a LOT of bad smell(s), put a little Vick's VapoRub inside your nostrils. Not only will this help block the odor, but it will help keep you from getting the smell in your head (much harder to get it out of there!). Don't worry - you'll get to where you LIKE the smell of the Vick's... I actually look forward to it now!!
As for the laundry, soak soiled items in a bucket of clean warm water with a scoop of Oxyclean and Borax for a couple of hours. Put on gloves and move the wet soiled laundry to the washing machine. Dump the soak water into the toilet. Either spin to rid the laundry of the nasty water or put it through a rinse/spin cycle. Then do a heavy wash with CHARLIE'S SOAP http://www.charliesoap.com/ and OxyClean (and bleach whenever possible). If your washer allows for a second rinse, by all means, use it! If the items were real soiled, you may want to do a third rinse, especially if you have a HE washer. Add Downy with Fabreeze to the final rinse.
Don't use dryer sheets - they contain wax and will actually hold odors into the fibers of the fabric and make it harder for your detergent to get them out. <Wink> They also reduce the efficiency of your dryer by clogging the lint screen. Try this: remove your lint screen and spray some water on it. If the water doesn't pour straight through, your screen is clogged by the junk from the dryer sheets. Clean with dishwashing liquid and plenty of hot water, allow to dry and replace... and quit with the dryer sheets!
Drying items in the direct sun helps to deodorize them and a quick trip into the dryer will help to soften stiff air-dried items..
There is a deodorizing product called X-O that is EXCELLENT. Website where you can locate a local store: http://www.xocorp.com/index.asp or order online here: http://www.xospray.com/ I used it many years ago when I trained and showed dogs and it is an amazing product for erasing odors in the air, on surfaces, on fur and on SKIN. I have used literally dozens of deodorizers and NONE come close to X-O.
READ the pages about Charlie's Soap and X-O. They explain how each product works and I can personally attest to their effectiveness! I was extremely skeptical about the laundry detergent, but I learned!! I have a high efficiency washer, so if a product isn't working, it becomes very apparent very quickly!
Do NOT wash any other clothing or bedding or towels with her laundry!! Not ever!!
bluedaze--Oh, how funny! The cat was pissed off. I keep laughing about it so I had to go back up and find out who wrote it so I could say a "Hearty Thanks!" That quip was a lot more fun that learning how to deoderize launder (nothing personal, Sunshyne. That's good information. I've put it in my memory bank for a day I hope never comes.
Briegull, I loved Brussels, & remember the MP very well. I think Brussels has the absolutely best architecture in all the world. And the children speak so many languages. The pastries are also the best. I can remember my best meal ever in Brussels. But I really didn't like their "flea market" so many exotic birds for sale, and I don't think they were raised domestically. I miss traveling. My husband never took an interest in traveling, he just reads National Geographic. Every time he would bring up an article for me to read, I'd say, I've been there. He has promised to take me to San Francisco for 10 years, it hasn't happened yet. The one place he actually traveled to, aside from Miami. And the others listed below. We were married in the Bahamas, but he had been there already too. I wonder if someone could prove we were actually married since it happened outside the USA. I guess the IRS, with all the joint returns until last year. So, he's been to 5 places outside this city, Miami, Bahamas, San Francisco, Boston, New York. The only reason he went to Boston was because my son lived there & I paid for my husband's trips. Grrrr.
I was just going through the refrigerator to see what to put on the grocery list. What do I find in the vegetable bin? A nice stinky empty plastic bag of Bay scallops, my husband had taken out to defrost. Was it really too far to walk to the trash can, or did he just think it was a good place for keeping that bag fresh? I am wondering what I will find where next. Not like I can go to him & ask, do you realize you put the empty scallop bag in the vegetable bin? Bite my tongue! It would be, well just put it in the trash, or better yet..........YOU must have done it. I was upset about the fish plate, but until it gets serious, this is really interesting. (Not that it's not serious, but.....)
Wait until they start helping you put groceries in the fridge and freezer, and you find the frozen stuff hidden behind something in the fridge! Yuck! And what I was going to prepare for dinner was frozen solid!!!!! A call to Pizza Hut saved that evening's meal! <grin>
When I got home from work I had to go on a scavenger hunt in the kitchen before I could even start to cook. I'd get the screemin meemies (lets see you spellcheck that one)