Whether it is from a leaky diaper or little boys missing the toilet or a cat/dog wetting the carpet, urine odor can be very difficult to control and eliminate. The piece of the problem that is widely misunderstood is why urine odor is so hard to remove. It turns out that if you wipe and rinse the urine while it is still fresh and liquid, there is a very good chance that there will be absolutely no residual smell, but once it dries, it is a very different story. When the dried urine residue (urea salt) is re-hydrated with sweat or just humidity over 50%, the odor we recognize as urine comes back.

Common knowledge says that bacteria is causing the odor problem. And treating it with strong bleach, ammonia, detergents or enzyme products will eliminate the problem. Sorry, it simply is not true and in fact, treating urine odors (contamination) with house hold products generally makes the problem worse by spreading the contamination over a larger area.

The simply truth is; that as urine dries and decomposes, it goes through several transformations.

• In the first stage of decomposition of the uric acid (which is in all urine) it produces ammonia gas and urea salt (urea salt that has no odor when it is dry). Once all the water has evaporated, any living organisms die for lack of a hospitable environment in which to live

• In the second stage, further decomposition occurs when the urea salt is exposed to water (or water vapor or sweat) and materials containing hydrogen and sulfur, (dust mite bodies, dirt, etc.). This combination produces mercaptan gas (the same basic stuff they put in propane and natural gas to alert you to a gas leak) that smell really bad. The difference is that the version of mercaptan gas produced by urea salt is much worse smelling.

OdorXit Concentrate works on both stages to permanently block the production of the undesirable gasses provided that OdorXit comes in direct contact with the offending materials. Concentrate can be added to detergent, spray on cleaning product and even disinfectants to eliminate the odors as you clean your baby's toys, potty seat, clothes, bedding, play and sleeping areas.

OdorXit Magic, on the other hand, is very fast acting and has a very long residual action measured in days and weeks at which point, the contaminated area needs to be washed anyway, and more Magic applied.

To removing most odors from washable clothing, simply add several caps full of OdorXit Concentrate to the load of urine contaminated wash and the normal amount of detergent at the beginning of the wash cycle. Allow the first wash cycle to complete but delay the first spin cycle for 30 to 60 minutes (This can easily be accomplished with most top loading washers by leaving the door open). After the wash/soak time, close the lid and let the machine finish its normal cycles. In some cases if you use too much OdorXit Concentrate, it may be necessary to run the final rinse twice.

Dry the wash normally and regale in the fact that the urine odor is really gone.

Using OdorXit Products to remove malodors from a wide variety of materials are described elsewhere on this web site in great detail. Use the site map in the heading panel to access them.

Using Detergents and Bleach With OdorXit

OdorXit is not effected by detergent residue or even by mixing OdorXit with detergent or other non-oxydizing cleaning products. Chlorine and oxygen bleaches while in their liquid form will neutralize OdorXit and cause it to not eliminate urine odors. If you have used bleach before it will not effect OdorXit's action if the bleach has been rinsed out and allowed to dry completely before using OdorXit.

OdorXit's compatibility with detergent makes it very affective at neutralizing urine odor after other methods have been tried and failed on fabric and clothing, and bedding.

Call our toll free help line 1-877-odorxit (1-877-636-7948). We really can help you.

Treating Lightly Contaminated Mattresses

Treating lightly to moderately urine contaminated bedding is normally very easy and effective. One important point to remember is that the stain on the mattress cover is usually much smaller than the size of the stain in the padding under the cover. OdorXit must get to the entire stain to eliminate the odor.

We have found that getting rid of the stain is the easiest part of the task. Use plane water and a water tolarant vacuum cleaner. Pour the water on the stain and vacuum out the water and the stain will almost always come right out with out using detergent or other cleaning products. Hard to believe but true.

If the mattress is a pillow top unit, push down on the center of the stain and pour about 1 cup (8 ounces) of OdorXit Concentrate solution (1 part OdorXit 15 parts water) into the dent in the mattress. Slowly release the pressure applied to the mattress as the OdorXit soaks into the fabric.

If the mattress is of the standard design spray or pour or spray 8 ounces of solution on to the stained are plus the surrounding area (2-3 inches bigger than the stain.

If the mattress is the cotton or kapok filled pad type mattress, it may take up to 16 ounces of solution to eliminate the odor using the standard mattress method.

Treating Severe and Long Term Contamination of Mattresses

In cases where very deep penetration has occurred in a mattress over a long period time and repeated contamination, a more aggressive treatment (occasionally including replacement) is required. Mixing OdorXit with carpet cleaning products containing surfactants will accelerate OdorXit's penetration into the padding of the mattress. Because of the large amount of urine normally involved and the fact that the interior of most mattress is hollow (except for the springs) the padding on both the top and bottom can be contaminated. Both will very often need to be treated.

The key is that OdorXit Concentrate mixed with water must come in contact with all the urine residue in order to neutralize it.

Liquid urine has a low surface tension, which helps it soak into porous materials and cracks quickly and deeply. Mixing carpet cleaning products containing surfactants with OdorXit will accelerate its penetration significantly. Care needs to be taken when treating a mattress and box springs with surfactants because the boards may warp if too much liquid is applied too quickly.

Last updated January 2008