Bathroom scents – How to find the best fragrance
The bathroom is one of the most important rooms in a house, we all agree on this. A functional, aesthetically decorated and of course nicely smelling bathroom will make you feel reborn every time you visit your little sanctuary. Learn here what the best bathroom scents are and what air fresheners you should use to create a relaxing atmosphere in your washroom!
Why is it important to make your bathroom smell good
Would you believe that average people spend more than 1.5 years of their life in the bathroom? If we think about the fact that this is the place where we start and finish the day and also the one where we can enjoy privacy, it is easy to understand why the atmosphere of the bathroom is so important that besides decoration, mostly depends on the pleasant smells.
In the bathroom, odors build up easily, especially if it has a toilet too. Moreover, excessive moisture and bad air circulation also can make your bathroom smell musty, but a laundry box full of dirty clothes can also be responsible for the odors. A nicely smelling bathroom starts with regular and thorough cleaning, but it is definitely the strategical use of bathroom air fresheners that can make this room a private paradise where inspiration can strike (just think about your ideas that arose when having a shower) or where the daily stress goes away.
So, no matter you are dreaming of an always freshly smelling space or you want learn how to make your bathroom smell like a spa, you will certainly find great tips here.
What are the best bathroom scents?
The time is over where bathroom air freshener sprays were available only with pine, lemon or floral scents that instead of creating a welcoming ambience just masked the bad odors. Home scenting has come a long way and now we get a whole world of fragrances to create the atmosphere we like the most in our washroom.
To decide what is the best scent for the bathroom depends on a few factors like the person’s ages and personalities who use it, the decoration, the season, but usually the best is to use light scents here. Avoid too straight and spicy fragrances because in smaller rooms where the door is often closed heavy scents can get too intense causing headache.
The best bathroom fragrances are clean and airy like clean cotton or ocean breeze. Also, soft floral and citrus scents work great such as lemongrass, grapefruit or bergamot that give the space freshness. If you prefer warm, comforting scents, something with vanilla or coconut is also a good choice. Moreover, you can’t go wrong with lavender either especially if you are a person who loves taking relaxing baths since lavender scent promotes wellness and calmness.
Best air fresheners for bathroom
The continuously improving air freshening techniques giving us more and more options to combat odors, filling up our washroom with pleasant bathroom scents and being decorative at the same time. Here I share what my favorite bathroom fragrance products are!
Diffuser
Diffusing oils is most powerful way of enjoying a nicely smelling bathroom thanks to the highly concentrated ingredients that besides filling up the space with amazing aroma, also purify the air by eliminating bacteria.
The best essential oil for a bathroom diffuser is the one that smell as fresh and clean as possible while creating a calming ambience. It can be a single oil such as lavender, sweet orange, eucalyptus, grapefruit or lemon that are some of the most beneficial bathroom scents, but you can create your own diffuser blend too.
Should you want to choose the powerless option, choose a reed diffuser with natural essential oil mixture. Reed diffusers are not only decorative, but also practical and safe, as well as work great in small, enclosed rooms.
Scented candle
Even if your bathroom is small or has no spa-like features, you can still make it feel and smell like a little sanctuary, and the best way for this is placing some scented candles around.
Candles instantly make the room a little homier and filling it with amazing scents. Choose an inspiring citrus scent for the morning to brighten up your morning routine, and lit a scented candle with relaxing aroma such as lavender or vanilla in the evening that will help you to unwind and make the time spent in the bath a lot more calming and soothing.
If it comes to a not-often-used guest bathroom, the best is choosing a candle with an unisex fresh fragrance that will keep the musty odors away without being unpleasant for your visitors.
Automatic air freshener
One of the most convenient methods to create a pleasant aroma is using an automatic air freshener that releases a fresh scent regularly. It is safe to use since it works with batteries and there is no need to plug it in, compact, easily portable, can be used as a decoration item too and customizable according to the season thanks to the various refill choices.
Automatic air fresheners are very effective is small spaces like bathrooms and cost-effective since you can set up the interval time and also switch it off when not needed. Should you worry about the toxins, these air fresheners release only a small puff from time to time therefore actually are safer than normal spray aerosols. However, if you prefer to be on the natural side, essential oil product versions are also available like the Air Wick Essential Mist.
Aroma gel beads
An aroma gel beads air freshener is not only a great odor absorber but also a stylish decoration item that work the best is smaller rooms like closets or bathrooms.
Just buy a container of aroma gel (or learn how to make scented gel beads) and place it on the counter or anywhere in the washroom for an instant, 24/7 odor relief and enjoy the refreshing fragrance for up to 30 days. You can even extend their lifetime by adding some water to the container when the beads start to lose their scent.
And one of the best things about aroma gel beads that you can combine different beads with different scents to create a custom scent! Just mix them in a vase or decorative bowl until it smells perfect!
Toilet spray
If there is a toilet in your bathroom unpleasant odors can quickly destroy the comfort and relaxation. Some quality air fresheners cover up the odors pretty well without leaving any hint of bad smell behind, but the best solution is to use a before you poop toilet spray that actually traps the smell particles so they can float around the room.
The first and still most popular toilet spray brand is Poo-Pourri. Their toilet spray revolutionized the market and now besides the original citrus, Poo-Pourri is available with different aromas so everyone can choose according to her/his liking.
The way how Poo-Pourri toilet spray works is by creating a film on top of the toilet water that traps the odors, you just need to spritz the bowl before you go. Bathroom scenting was never so easy! Moreover, it is made of essential oils and natural compounds, toxic-free so safe to use even around kids.
Natural bathroom fresheners
Choosing natural solutions is always a good idea in order to reduce the amount of chemicals used in the household. Should you want to get some ideas how to keep your bathroom smelling fresh naturally, here are my top tips!
Essential oil
Essential oils can be used in various ways to give your bathroom a refreshing aroma and you don’t even need a diffuser. Just put a few drops on cotton balls and place them in a pretty bowl on the self or between the towels. An invisible, quick trick to instantly freshen the room is placing a few drops of oil on the inside of the cardboard toilet paper roll!
For an immediate hit of freshness, prepare an essential oil bathroom air freshener spay. The variations what oils you use is endless, but I like this simple a lot: add 8 drops of lemon, 5 drops of lavender, 8 drops pf eucalyptus and half cup of distilled water into a small bottle, shake well and voila, your natural bathroom spray is ready-to-use!
Activated charcoal
An effective fully natural bathroom scenting method is keeping the room fresh with activated bamboo charcoal. It creates a healthy atmosphere in your home without using any perfume and leaves the room fresh and pleasant.
The charcoal pieces contain millions of microscopic pores so they can absorb moisture, odors, allergens, pollutants, bacteria, chemicals and dehumidifies the air. It is safe for children and pets, and can be reused for up to two years. To rejuvenate the charcoal, you just need to place in the sun for a few hours like once a month. Afterwards it can be used in the garden as a fertilizer by adding it to the soil since the charcoal helps plants absorbing nutrients and moisture.
You can buy activated charcoal in bulk, so you need to pour the carbon into a pretty container and place it somewhere in the bathroom. The more decorative ready-to-use option is choosing activated bamboo charcoal bags.
Vinegar
Cleaning vinegar is another excellent, eco-friendly non-toxic product that will certainly help you to keep the bathroom naturally fresh and cleans almost every surface. It stops the bad smells as well as removes mildew, grime and dissolves soap. And since it is acidic, it works as a disinfectant as well.
To refresh and deodorize the bathroom quickly, wipe down the tiles, sink, toilet, shower doors and mirror with an equal parts vinegar and water combination. You can even pour vinegar into the toilet and flush it.
The possibilities and really endless and the best thing about vinegar that it is affordable and economical! If you haven’t tried it yet, make sure to do it asap, I’m sure you’ll love the result!
Baking soda
This is a jolly-joker that can be used everywhere as a safe and cheap home scenting product, moreover since it is a weak alkali it eliminates strong smells too by neutralizing the acids in odor molecules.
Should you wish to use it for cleaning, it removes the stain from the toilet, the soap residue, toothpaste and shaving gel from the sink, bathtub and shower doors. To stop odors, just fill a nice bowl with baking soda and put it on your toilet tank or countertop and enjoy its air-freshening benefits for up to 1 month! For the best experience, you can mix it with scented bath salt too!
Tip: check out more tips on cleaning the bathroom with vinegar and baking soda!
Plants
Probably the most natural air purifying method is having plants in the house. It is common to place them in the kitchen, living room, or bedroom, but most people don’t put them in the bathroom since most species usually don’t withstand the constant humidity and fluctuating temperatures.
Bathroom plants remove smells, improve the air quality as well their greenery add that spa feeling too, so why wouldn’t you give up having some in your bathroom environment? Choose species that can thrive in humid, warm environment too such as ferns, philodendrons, bamboo or even orchid.
Tips to keep your bathroom smelling fresh
The bathroom is the place that all family members visit several times a day, so no matter how thoroughly you cleaned it last time and what bathroom fragrance you use, it can get dirty and stinky quickly. Of course, there is no time to clean the bathroom professionally after each use, but if you follow some of these tips you can easily keep your bathroom smelling nicely all the time.
Clean as often as possible
Well, a bathroom is the nicest when it’s freshly cleaned. Of course, it is impossible to wipe everything every day, but you do some basic cleaning on a daily basis (or every other day) like rinsing the sink and wiping it around with a disinfectant wipe or mopping the floor.
These don’t take more than a few minutes but help a lot to prevent offending odors and bacteria build-up, so your bathroom will be more hygienic and smell fresher.
Ventilate often
Bathroom odors often develop due to not ideal air circulation. Adding a venting system is the most effective way to solve this problem, but it is costly and not always possible. If there is a window in your washroom, make sure to open it regularly and let fresh air coming in.
If there is no window, get a bathroom air purifier. This inexpensive device helps a lot to improve the air quality in small, closed rooms by adding some circulation, absorbing odors and making the air fresh.
Use a dehumidifier
When natural ventilation is not enough, you can consider setting up a dehumidifier too. These smart devices are very useful especially in wintertime or at high-humidity places like in houses near the ocean. The damp environment might cause not only unpleasant smells but also health hazards such as mildew and mold.
There is no need to get an expensive, bulky and electricity consuming device. Since we are talking about a smaller room, a small bathroom dehumidifier will do the job of creating a comfortable and healthy environment while being quiet and energy efficient.
Deodorize the drains
Drains are another potentially smelly spots so you need to pay extra attention to them when it comes bathroom scenting. Cleaning them regularly is the first step: use a hair catcher to prevent hair and other particles from entering and getting stuck in the pipes, them deodorize them in order to avoid the bathroom to smell like a sewer backup.
If it is already clogged, you should use drain clog opener that dissolves hair, soap and grease then clean it thoroughly, but if the issue is only the bad smell, try to beat it with a natural deodorizer first. Flushing through a combination of baking soda and water is effective way of removing small buildups within the pipes.
If this doesn’t cut back the odors, then the problem is probably more serious, so the best is to learn how to get rid of smelly bathroom sink drains and what is the best shower drain odor remedy.
Refresh your towels, bathroom mats and shower curtains
So you have cleaned and scented your bathroom, but something still stinks? Then you should check your towels, bat mats and the shower curtain!
Detergent and fabric softener residue build up in the towels over time (because towels are extremely absorbent) attracting mildew, and instead of soft and freshly smelling towels you get non-absorbent smelly ones.
But I have good news, you don’t need to run to the shop to buy a new set of towels, these problems are easy to fix. There are several methods how to get smells out of towels, but my favorite is the eco-friendly way that uses only two ingredients that were already mentioned above, vinegar and baking soda.
Besides towels, shower curtains, bathroom mats and rugs can also be responsible for odors. Mold quickly starts growing on them in the moist and humid environment that besides bad smells can cause harm to your health too.
So make sure to regularly wash your bath mats and clean your shower curtains to prevent such issues. Also, consider using mildew-resistant bath mats on the floor of the shower or at the bottom of the bathtub, and get a shower curtain that doesn’t mold!
Latest Tips for Bathroom
