When most people think of bathrooms, they don’t often think of fragrant meadows or other sweet-smelling things. However, there comes a time when the odor wafting out of your toilet crosses a line—and a very smelly one at that.
If your bathroom is smelling a bit pungent, it can mean a number of different things. Identifying the problem is important, as you’ll then be able to go about resolving it.
Image by ErikaWittlieb
So what do you need to do?
Keep reading to learn about what you can do to get rid of even the peskiest forms of toilet odor.
What’s Causing the Odor?
As mentioned, the first thing that you’ll need to do is identify the problem that’s causing the odor. While it can be coming from the toilet bowl itself, that’s not always the culprit.
Let’s take a look at three common causes of a smelly toilet.
A Buildup of Bacteria
Most people know that toilets are filthy places. The average toilet contains around 34,000 units of bacteria, with the inner bowl being the dirtiest spot. While the bacteria that normally reside there shouldn’t cause a foul odor, buildups of bacteria can.
Bacteria spots should be easy to identify. While the entire surface of toilets is often dirty, stains and other spots often house excess amounts of bacteria.
Make sure to check around the whole outer part of the toilet to locate the bacteria buildups. Many people forget to check under the toilet seat and in other hard to see areas, but these spots may be the reason why your toilet smells the way it does.
A Problem in the Cistern
If you can’t find where the odor is coming from on the outside of your toilet, it might be coming from within. This often happens when the smell continues to linger even after your toilet bowl is sparkling clean.
Make a point to lift up the lid of the cistern to see if the smell is coming from there. If you notice that the odor becomes even sharper, then you know you’ve found the origin.
Problems With Vent Pipes
Another spot that might be hiding the medley of smells assaulting your nose is the vent pipes in your bathroom.
Although the vent pipes serve a variety of different functions, one of their most important tasks is to vent out bad odors while bringing in oxygen from outside. You can guess what happens when these pipes stop working.
Aside from creating a smelly bathroom, problems with vent pipes can also contribute to other problems with your sewage system. Make sure to get the pipes fixed by a company that does toliet repairs as soon as possible.
How to Fix Toilet Odor
So once you figure out what’s causing the smell, how do you go about fixing it? Will it cost you a lot of money?
You’ll be happy to know that, no, it won’t. Most of the time, the fix is something that you or a plumber can do without a problem.
Here are three common ways to make sure that you have a clean toilet.
Repair Your Toilet
If you find out that the problem does originate from your pipes or some other part of the toilet, don’t try to solve the issue yourself. You might end up making things worse, and you don’t want to mess around with objects that contain sewage water.
A plumber or toilet repair company will be able to come and fix the problem. Do your research to try and find a reputable business to work with. Read reviews, and if possible, see if you can get a referral.
Deep Clean Your Toilet
You can get away with cleaning a toilet on the surface level for a while, but eventually, you’ll need to pull out the big guns (or gloves) and get scrubbing.
Get a clean toilet brush and some cleaner, and get to work scrubbing every inch of the toilet bowl. Make sure that you lift up the lid to ensure that you don’t miss a spot.
After cleaning the bowl, move on to the exterior of the toilet. Use a spray bottle and douse everything with it. Then, take some paper towels and wipe the liquid off until it’s sparkling and dry.
If you suspect the problem is coming from inside of the cistern, drain the water out of there. Once it’s gone, take a brush and scrub around until it looks as good as the outside of the toilet.
Take a DIY Approach
If regular cleaning isn’t doing the trick, you can always take the DIY approach. Some of the ingredients and things you have lying around your house can do wonders for even the smelliest of toilets.
For example, you can use baking soda and lemon juice to make a paste. You can then use it to wipe down the different parts of your toilet.
Vinegar can also help get rid of different smells. Pour some into your toilet bowl and let it sit for a while. Odors can get caught into the walls of the toilet bowl, so make sure that you give the vinegar time to work.
Say Goodbye to Toilet Odor for Good
Toilets and bathrooms are gross enough—you don’t want to have to worry about odors on top of everything else. Make a point to first identify where the toilet odor is coming from, then, using the tips laid out in this guide, get to work resolving it.
Do you now have the knowledge you need to finally give your stinky bathroom the gust of fresh air that it needs? If you do, remember to check out some of our other posts for more guides and tips on how to keep your home clean and tidy.
