According to a survey done by Statista Research Department, more than 40 million people in the United States used 6 or more air freshener spray cans in 2020.
People encounter many unpleasant odors in their bathrooms even after cleaning them regularly. Finding the main culprits behind these mysterious and odious smells can be a frustrating ordeal.
But with a little attention, you can easily reach the root of these annoying smells. In this brief guide, we help you track down all the possible sources of foul odors in your bathroom.
All Possible Causes Of Bathrooms Smell
Lenny Bruce has once said, “Bathrooms have no brain”.
When a freshener doesn’t help get rid of the nasty smell, you’re most likely facing a hidden enemy. You’ll need to check out all the areas in your bathroom thoroughly.
This includes sewer, basin, toilet, bathtub, pipelines, and shower. See if the foul smell gets stronger in any of those areas.
Smell From Drains And Pipelines
Clogged drains and pipelines of shower and sink are the main culprits behind sickening, unpleasant odors in the bathrooms.
Clogged Shower Drain
Biofilm or a defective P-trap can clog drains and make your bathroom smelly. Biofilm piles up in the vertical pipes of the bathrooms.
This substance can be formed from a range of resources including soaps, shampoos, hair conditioners, facial cleansers, shaving creams, and body oils that we wash down in the shower drains.
Clogged Sink Drain
Bits of hair, dirt or paper towel can easily clog drains and cause the water to unload unevenly and slowly. This not only paints a hideous picture of your bathroom but also makes the bathroom a real paradise for many odious smells.
Solutions
The simplest and the quickest solution is to buy a bottle of drain cleaner from your nearby supermarket or order from Amazon.
Slowly pour the bottle down the sink and shower drains to put an end to any accumulated sticky or messy substances that may have stored up in the pipelines and caused the bathroom to smell. The bad and unpleasant smell will, hopefully, fade away within 24 hours.
However, sometimes, it’s better to get help from a professional. Call the plumber if your bathroom still stinks even after two days.
Nasty Smells From The Toilet
Well, toilets are home to a variety of disgusting smells. Your toilet might be responsible for half of the nasty smells in your bathrooms.
A handful of reasons can cause your bathroom to smell like damp corpses and rotting flesh. A damaged toilet, waste residues under your toilet, poorly installed cut vent pipe, a caulk-less toilet, or a broken seal can cause the bathrooms to stink awfully.
A Broken Or Loose Seal
If everything is well with the drains and pipelines, but the bathroom is still smelly, a broken or loose seal may be the next possible cause.
Generally, toilets and drains are attached to each other through a variety of seals. If the attached seals get accidentally broken or eventually loose, they can allow trapped nasty sewage-like smells into the bathroom. A single toilet can harbor a range of unpleasant and annoying odors.
Therefore, if the smell is stronger near the toilets, thoroughly check the seals. A visible signal of damaged seals is that your toilet bowl won’t be able to fill up regularly.
Damaged seals can give birth to billions of colony-forming bacteria as well. The accumulated bacteria can create a funky smell in the bathroom as well.
Solutions
A good solution for this problem is to call a professional. Sometimes, it is better to take professional help as the fixing procedure can involve removing the toilet entirely.
If you are convinced that a fresh application of caulk would be enough to stop the bathroom from smelling, you can try to fix it yourself. Apply caulk both on seals of the toilets and bolt holes that secure that toilet to the ground.
Smell From Molds
Similar to clogged drains and broken toilet seals, molds also have a smell and rather a yucky one. Mold spores smell musty and dirtlike. It will form everywhere where water is present and trapped.
Therefore, it is next to impossible for mold spores not to form in the bathroom. Molds in the bathrooms can be a result of an unknown leak in the walls.
Solutions
Lucky for you, cleaning the molds in the bathroom is as easy as ABC. All you need is water, a small spray bottle, and baking soda or bleach.
Mix a tablespoon of baking soda or bleach and water into a small spray bottle and spray the solution directly onto the mold spores.
Next, let the solution sit for a couple of minutes.
Gently wash away the molds use a brush and water to get rid of any persisting musty smells.
Smell From Burning Electrical Equipments
Suppose you smell something fishy in your bathroom even after throwing the trash can and meticulously cleaning all the bathroom areas. In that case, you have a life-threatening problem – a burning or overheated electrical system.
A fishy smell in the bathroom can be an early warning that you need an electrician right away. Faulty switches, overloaded circuits, loose plugs in sockets, old worn wiring, or overheated electrical shields can emit rotten smells or an unpleasant fishy odor in the bathroom.
Generally speaking, all the wires in your house, including the bathroom, are coated with plastic (insulation). An unpleasant fish or urine-like smell is emitted from these wires when they heat up significantly.
Solutions To Fix This Problem
If you detect a fishy or urine-like smell in your bathroom coming from the outlets or circuits, immediately turn off and unplug everything that is connected with them. Get a hold of a nearby electrician and let him check your bathroom’s electrical system.
If the electrician finds something wrong with the system, consider yourself lucky, as experts say that most electrical fire’s warning signs are odorless.
It is advisable to get regular electrical inspection reports from a professional electrician to ensure the wirings and the overall electrical system in your house are functioning well.
Conclusion
Different factors can give birth to a range of rotten, unpleasant smells in the bathrooms. Therefore, make sure you adequately address every single scenario mentioned above in the article.
Lightening a candle in the bathroom may help. However, it won’t be enough to counteract the strong smells from damaged or loose toilet seals, clogged drains and pipelines, or the fishy smells coming from burning electrical components.
We encourage you to call a professional if you find it hard to deal with your smelly bathroom on your own.
