13 Easy Ways To Freshen Up Your Smelly Bathroom

As moms, we all know that there are sometimes bathroom smells you just can’t seem to get rid of. Until now! Use these genius tips to freshen up your smelly bathroom – easily.

Have you noticed that your bathroom just doesn’t smell as fresh as it used to? I’ve struggled with that problem since my son was potty trained a few years ago!

Parents, you know what I’m talking about.

But, you don’t have to scrub and scour only to make your home smell like a bunch of chemicals instead of those other icky smells.

Here are 13 easy ways to get rid of bathroom smells, most of them using natural ingredients!

How To Deodorize A Smelly Bathroom

Terrible bathroom smells can make your bathroom seem like a toxic wasteland. Keep your bathroom deodorized and fresh with these clever hacks.

1. Essential Oils To The Rescue!

Add a couple drops of essential oil inside the toilet paper roll to release a fresh scent every time someone uses the TP.

You’ll be surprised at how much fresher your bathroom is with this quick trick.

deoderize bathroom with toilet paper and essential oils trick

We have even more stinky room solutions in our post about using essential oils in your home.

2. Deep Clean Your Bathroom.

You may not even realize it but over time, untreated mold in your bathroom grout can contribute to a musty bathroom smell. And on the floor, grout can absorb spilled urine and other fluids, adding up over time to the stink. Deep clean and fix any grout cracks and moldy spots and you will see your bathroom freshen.

Solutions for stinky bathrooms: Clean the grout and sink trap

3. Empty Your Sink Trap

What you think might be a stinky poo smell might actually be your drain all gunked up and rotting. Twice a year, remove the sink drain trap. It is EASY to do, you don’t need to hire a plumber. Just unscrew it, remove the junk that fills it up, rinse it out and replace. This will help keep bathroom odors to a minimum

4. DIY Toilet Bombs

Speaking of essential oils, you can pair them with baking soda, water, and citric acid to make your own DIY toilet bombs to get rid of toilet odor.

The baking soda helps absorb and eliminate odors, the citric acid is a great antimicrobial, and of course, the essential oils add a pleasant scent to the family restroom.

They take several days to make, so be sure to double the recipe. At least at our house, we go through a bunch of them.

5. Create Your Own Poo-Pourri Toilet Spray

Have you heard of Poo-Pourri? It’s a spray that you use before you use the bathroom to help eliminate odors while you’re going #2. But, you can make your own copycat poo-pourri at home to save some money.

6. Keep That Toilet Brush Clean- The Easy Way

It’s no surprise that your toilet brush may be harboring some germs and odors. Fill your toilet brush holder with your favorite cleaner), and let your brush soak in that between uses.

7. Baking Soda As a Bathroom Deodorizer

Get a small jar and fill it with baking soda. This will help you eliminate odors. Baking soda is a natural scent absorber. AND the ph balance of the baking soda will also kill bacteria, so it serves a double purpose.

8. Get an Easy-to-Remove Toilet Seat

Terrible, awful, no good bathroom smells can hide in those tiny crevices that you don’t clean that often, particularly if you have boys in your home. Sorry, fellas, but it’s true.

Every now and then, remove the toilet seat to clean around those fittings. Seriously, this one trick makes a huge difference! You’ll be amazed.

9. TOWELS!! Get Rid of Stinky Towels

If your bathroom has a musty odor, it very well could be that your towels are the culprits. Cotton is TERRIFIC at absorbing water and drying us off, but unless towels are able to dry completely, they become breeding grounds for bacteria and mold. The solution? Wash them in hot water and add a cup of vinegar with a second rinse cycle. Vinegar will help kill the stink culprits and leave your towels soft and smelling fresh.

10. Matches Get Rid of Bathroom Odors

I first learned this hack from my mom. Whenever there was a doozy in the bathroom my mom would tell me to “light a match” and now that our older kids are teens, that is becoming a bathroom “battle cry” against the odors. “Did you light a match?”

Matches work. The striking of the match burns up the methane gasses in the room, helping the bathroom go back to fresh faster.

11. DIY Trashcan Deodorizer – Use Baking Soda

I’ve never met a trash can that couldn’t use a little freshening up. We use baking soda in the back of the fridge, in the kitchen pantry, and in the bathroom! Sprinkle some in the bottom of your trash can. Goodbye smelly bathroom (trash)!

12. Vinegar In The Toilet Tank Hack

Have you tried vinegar in the water tank? Pour in one cup, flush it a few times, and your toilet will smell fresh again. Do not allow the vinegar to sit in your tank for long periods, though.

13. Mop Out The Smell

Pair witch hazel with essential oils and purified water into your mop for a smelly odor knockout combination that doesn’t overpower your senses.

And finally, my friend swears that she could never get rid of that “boy smell” in her bathroom until she got a Steam Mop. It’s worth a try, right?

Just make sure that the oils you are using are safe for steaming. Our favorite is blending tea tree and lemon! Smells SO GOOD.

Easy Ways to Deodorize Your Smelly Bathroom: Final Thoughts

I hope you found some tips on here that help you make your bathrooms go from smelling awful to smelling fresh and clean!

Let’s face it, even if you have time to clean your bathrooms as a busy mom, kids can make them smell terrible in no at all.

Use these tips to keep those bathrooms smelling great – with practically no effort on your part!