Bathrooms and kitchens are generally full of odors. Some pleasant, like freshly baked cookies or body wash lingering in the air after a shower. In contrast, some smells are less than pleasant and seem to linger for an undesirable amount of time. Fortunately, there are plenty of options to combat the unpleasantness and ensure a fresh smelling bathroom, or other rooms in a home.

1. Homemade toilet bowl cleaner

While there are plenty of harsh cleaners that use bleach or other cleaning methods, sometimes a simplistic home recipe can be just as helpful to accomplish a fresh-smelling bathroom. Simply add ½ cup of baking soda to ¼ cup of Castile soap and ¼ cup of vinegar. Note that 10 drops of essential oils can be added if desired. As well as, the option of scented Castile soap. Additionally, some scented oils like Eucalyptus, Rosemary, and orange or lemon have also been shown to have antibacterial properties. Meaning they not only smell great. They’ll also help supplement the assurance that your fresh-smelling bathroom is properly disinfected. Wish the ingredients together adding hot water to help dilute the mix, making the homemade cleaner go a little further For best results, it’s recommended to use a squeeze bottle but a spray bottle can also be used if there isn’t another option.

2. A Fresh Smelling Bathroom is Clean

Although there isn’t always time to deep clean, generally keeping things as clean as possible will increase the odds of having a fresh smelling bathroom.

3. Including Trash

Not only is cleaning necessary for a fresh smelling bathroom, but taking out the trash regularly also helps. This also applies to stubborn kitchen odors.

4. Prevent Damp Material for Fresh Smelling Bathroom

After showering or taking a bath, people dry off with a towel. No surprise there. However, many people fail to allow their towels to dry properly, causing mildew and other unpleasant odors. Therefore, it’s recommended to hang a towel up to dry. Preferably, it is not bunched up but spread out so airflow can reach all parts of the towel. Note, laundry can also be the culprit of unpleasant odors in a home so it’s recommended to dry laundry as quickly and efficiently as possible to prevent mildew. Applying to towels as well as other types of laundry, when the mildew smell shows up, it’s best to rewash the load on hot water. Some have even suggested adding a baking soda and vinegar mixture, further reducing odor-causing bacteria.

5. Ventilation for a Fresh Smelling Bathroom

This tip also applies to other areas of a home. By keeping windows cracked, if not fully open, the airflow will help circulate cleaner, fresher air. In turn, helping to remove unwanted odors.

6. Charcoal or Other Air Fresheners

Most people know of products like Febreze or Glade, which are popular air fresheners. However, they also contain chemicals that aren’t great for our lungs, skin, or pets. As a result, some people prefer a more natural or eco-friendly approach. In this case, an oil diffuser, scent pouch, or charcoal pack can help eliminate moisture and unwanted smells. A homemade scent pouch can be made using dried herbs or flowers and occasionally sprayed with essential oils to keep a bathroom fresh-smelling. Moreover, charcoal pouches can be found in most common stores ranging from the Dollar Store to Walmart to online retailers.

Read: ‘My toilet spews SEWAGE every time I flush it; my house is flooded with poo’

7. Take advantage of the Versatility of Herbs

Not only can dried herbs, fruits, or flowers be used in scent pouches. They can also be hung from the shower to “diffuse” a scent into the steam from a shower. Note this can also serve as a homeopathic treatment for congestion.

8. Scents in Toilets

There are products on the market that act as an air freshener for toilet bowls, but in most cases, they aren’t necessarily eco-friendly. In contrast, adding a few drops of essential oils, fabric softener, or even laundry detergent to the toilet tank or bowl can help ensure a fresh-smelling bathroom.

9. Homemade Air Freshener

While scent packs are great at removing odors, sprays can also do the same. Therefore, by adding a little water, alcohol, and essential oils together it’s easy to make your own personalized scents that are often better for the environment and our overall health. Note that this method of freshening may not last as long, requiring a touch-up more often, than fresheners that are packed with chemicals.

10. Use your favorite products for a Fresh Smelling Bathroom

This simple method is one of the easier ways to keep a fresh-smelling bathroom because we often use soaps, body wash, hairspray, perfumes, and so on in our daily hygiene routines. By selecting scents that bring us joy or peace, we can not only clean ourselves but also ensure a fresh scent is left behind when we’ve finished up.

A fresh-smelling bathroom, kitchen, or bedroom can easily be achieved in a way that is both cost-effective and kinder to the environment and our own bodies.