Make your bladder gladder—and your nose, too
Use bleach to break down organic compounds.
Replace a faulty toilet wax ring to prevent bacteria from breeding.
It costs less than $200 to replace a toilet flange.
If you find yourself slapping on a respirator every time you pass the bathroom door, it’s time for action. You probably know all too well that stubborn bathroom odors can linger, no matter how much you clean or how many warm vanilla candles you light. Thankfully, you just have to have the right strategies for disinfecting your bathroom and attacking those odors when your toilet smells like urine.
No, you’re not imagining it. Your bathroom may smell like urine from several potential culprits. It could be a lack of ventilation in your bathroom, which causes stagnant odors, or a hidden leak in your toilet. Maybe the grout surrounding the toilet is simply dirty—there are ways to get rid of the smell once you identify the issue.
Unless you’re using the right cleansers, you’re not going to succeed in sending the pee fumes packing. To get rid of urine odor, you’re going to need bleach to break down the organic compounds that make urine odors so stubborn and so stinky.
But it’s not going to be a slap-dash operation—you’re going to want to clean not just at the bullseye of the toilet, but all around, covering a far larger area and far more surfaces than you probably expect. This means cleaning more than the toilet: the floors, the walls, the cabinets, the toilet tank, under the toilet rim, etc.
Remember, as much as you might not like to think about it, those nasties can splash, and accumulate, pretty much anywhere and everywhere. So you’ll need to grab your bleach—pronto!
If you’ve given your bathroom a thorough bleaching, but you find those pesky urine odors still lingering, then it may mean you’ve got a problem with your toilet wax seal.
Wax seals are generally built to last, but they’re by no means foolproof. And if you get a crack or if the seal begins to pull away from your floor or your toilet base, then that’s the perfect place for urine to accumulate and breed bacteria.
If your toilet wax ring fails, then your only choice, really, is to replace it. If you’re handy and have the time, inclination, and muscle to remove and then reset your toilet, then you can probably replace the toilet wax ring yourself in a single afternoon.
Your toilet wax ring might not be the only issue, however. You might also have a cracked, broken, or otherwise failing toilet flange. And that could mean that urine is accumulating and reeking from the base of your toilet and that sewer gas fumes are rising and escaping through the flange. Yikes!
Just like with the wax ring, if your flange breaks or has started to fail, you’ll need to replace the toilet flange. Unless you have a lot of plumbing experience, though, you’ll probably want to leave it to the professionals. They’ll have the tools, training, and experience to get the job done fairly easily and at a relatively low cost, generally for less than $200.
Most importantly, a local plumber will be able to check for potential water damage in your subflooring. If your flange has leaked and caused water damage in the subfloor, repairing it immediately—while the toilet is disconnected—will prevent further damage and additional time and money spent on repairs down the road. Plus, you’ll get rid of those saturated, odor-producing boards that are keeping you from the fresh bathroom-slash-home-spa you’ve got your heart set on.
You have several options for keeping your bathroom smelling fresh, many of which involve little effort.
Clean often: You might not have time for deep cleaning every day, but you can keep your bathroom fresh by spot cleaning a little daily, such as simply wiping down the surfaces and around your toilet regularly.
Keep it ventilated: If you have a window in your bathroom, try opening it regularly each day, especially after showers. You can also keep your door open or your fan on to help with ventilation.
Try essential oils: You can use essential oils throughout the bathroom, in cleaners or a diffuser, to help reduce unpleasant smells.
Add an odor or moisture absorber: Purchase odor absorbers at the store or online and place them throughout your bathroom to help keep odors to a minimum.
Keep fresh towels around: Put damp towels in the laundry room instead of in your bathroom to help your bathroom stay fresh-smelling.
Terri Beth Miller contributed to this article.
