Care Home Case Study – Uric Acid and Odour Control

Following on from last weeks case study, I thought this week I’d expand and discuss the best way and the appropriate products to help to control the odours associated with incontinence.

The urine odour that is associated with urinary incontinence is caused by the water products from the kidneys, including ammonia, urea and other compounds. These water products are encased by protein, which is made up of amino acids – amino acids are inherently sticky, so they stick to any surface that isn’t completely smooth. This characteristic means that uric acid sticks in between tiles, to grout and to the fibres that make up mattresses.

The thing about uric acid, the smell comes from the break down of urea into ammonia. In dementia patients dehydration is an important factor, as many patients forget to drink and become dehydrated. A state of dehydration results in the smell of the uric acid getting stronger.

In terms of how to manage this, the symptoms need to be managed. In terms of bed protection, we stock bed squares, which absorb the liquid, and draw it away from the skin. The bed squares have a protective barrier on the underside, which prevents the urine from making contact with the mattress. These are a great solution for young and old alike and can really preserve someone’s dignity.

We also recommend the use of Blu Away as it eradicates all organic staining and odour problems from all washroom surfaces; including walls and floors contaminated with urine. I would recommend the use of Blu Away around urinals in conjunction with Bio Blocks (which I’ll come back to!). When urine splashes onto the floor from either a urinal or a toilet, the uric acid gathers and begins to emit a smell. The smell becomes more powerful the more the uric acid is concentrated on the floor.

Blu Away is a highly effective biological washroom cleaner that works by degrading organic soiling to completely eradicate stains and odours. Use on porous washroom surfaces such as flooring materials and tile grouting and especially around urinals and toilets when soiling has been absorbed below the surface. Blu Away will remove calcium deposits and limescale on toilet bowls, sinks, showers, taps and fittings. Blu Away being a biological chemical formulation basically means it is full of enzymes, that when introduced to the floor through being directly sprayed and ultimately wiped or mopped away eat away at the smell itself by eradicated the uric acid.

The same technology is employed by Bio Blocks, which are to be put down the drains via the urinal – in any environment – particularly places where incontinence is prevalent but also in older buildings – which may apply to care homes. These urinal blocks contain special bacterial cultures that clean and deodorise urinal traps and pipes while enabling great savings of water to be made. Every time your urinal flushes, the enzymes within the block are flushed down the drain and stick to the proteins that are coating the inside of your pipes essentially. Therefore, these enzymes then begin to eat away at the proteins/uric acid/amino acids that are stuck to your pipes on the inside and it is these substances that are creating that smell of urine when you walk into the gents toilets.

Bio Blocks do not contain carcinogenic PDCB or other harmful or dangerous chemicals and are particularly suitable for use in public buildings such as hotels, pubs, clubs and restaurants as well as schools and institutions where care should be taken to protect people and the environment.

Bio Blocks; these urinal blocks contain special bacterial cultures that clean and deodorise urinal traps and pipes while enabling great savings of water to be made. Constant flushing of urinals means a big water bill. We recommend a typical urinal system need only be flushed about three times per day when using Bio Blocks which is a massive saving in terms of cost and in terms of water consumption. So rather than having your urinals flushing once an hour, you can turn them right down and save money on your water bill whilst getting rid of that urine smell. Now the results won’t be instant, but as long as you keep using the bio blocks they will be permanent.

Blu Away, and Bio Blocks are both biological products; are both environmentally friendly which is another big plus.

We’ve also found that a bactericidal odour neutraliser is really good with the disinfection and is great with odour control on wheel chairs. Because blue away is blue it’s not great with wheel chairs because it stains them, however the clear odour neutraliser is a great way to eradicate odours with out causing any staining at all. This odour neutraliser is BS EN 1276 (tested on a hard surface to kill bacteria up to 99.999%) so actually kills the bacteria that is causing the odour. This one kills on contact, so is a great dual purpose cleaner for sanitising the actual surfaces on the wheel chair but also gets rid of any malodours.

The final secret weapon in my arsenal to assist care homes with malodour is an absolute stonker! This one smells of bubble gum, and again is biocidal in nature so introduces enzymes into the environment. Reosan can be used in a multitude of ways from rubbish chutes, to bin deodoriser, but in a care home where incontinence is often a problem, we would recommend you use this product through a carpet extraction machine. Now you need to ensure you are diluting this appropriately, and do a test area in an inconspicuous patch of carpet, but this once introduced to your carpet, and then extracted out will not only begin working on the odour, but will also deodorise/disguise and leave your carpets smelling absolutely lovely! Reosan works a treat, take my word for it! Sidenote, also great for getting rid of the smell of dogs!

Thanks for reading!

Anna