Hi ladies:
My husband, well, he stinks up the bathroom. It lingers for 30 minutes or so. I have to cover my face with a towel to even use the bathroom. So, any ideas what to do, short of getting him his own 'outhouse port-a-pod' in the back yard? I heard the sulfur in matches work but I'm not keen about keeping matches around with two little ones. I could keep them in cupboard high up where DH could grab them on his way 'in'. I'm not much into sprays, like artificial chemical sprays. But if one really works, I will try it. I tried a few that 'mask' it and you can tell it smells like the floral spray over the ummm, other smell.
I am open to anything at this point. Thanks!
Update: We don't have a bathroom window. It's a small bath too. He actually has a pretty good diet (always has) and doesn't eat much junk at all. We rarely-rarely eat fast food. We could look into the gluten thing and check out a detox though but he has no allergies to our knowledge. He does drinks a lot of water and has 2 cups of coffee per day with some sugar and cream. He is not a big meat eater though and wouldn't survive a week on a low carb diet since he doesn't like red meat. He makes sure he gets plenty of fiber - no surprise there. His energy levels are good. He hasn't been tested for fungi and parasites; are those common? He doesn't eat processed snacks - a lot and when he does, we try to make them more healthy snacks like granola bars or sun chips. He isn't overweight either.
There is an unscented version of the Lysol Neutra-Air, which isnt aerosol either! It works great around my house, kitchen, bathroom, everything :) And he may want to drink more water, less sugar, the bacteria in the BM thrive on sugars and that what makes it so smelly...
Crack the window and light a match (we used to keep some in the medicine cabinet).
Oh, and if you see him heading to the bathroom with a magazine under his arm, go pee first so you don't have to go in there after him for a good long while :o)
Can you install an exhaust fan?
I love the idea that MegandOllie gave for a homemade room spray.
Angela S. also had some very good points. He is probably due for a detox!
teach him the concept of the courtesy flush!! I'm teaching it to my 4 yo now!! Also - Oust is the only spray that I've found actually gets the odor away. good luck!
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Mythbusters prooved that matches do not work. Has he tried the first flush second flush method. At our house we flush right when #2 starts then flush again right when we are done with #2. For us this helps with the smell a ton. Hubby and I both do this and we are teaching the kiddos as well.
Otherwise I would make hubby wait until you are finished in the bathroom or stop by the gas station on the way to and from work. :)
I hope this doesn't sound silly but I truly believe nature gives us really foul odors to let us know something is amiss. I'm not talking mildy unpleasant - I'm talking "blow you out of a room" scents.
Has your husband ever been tested for minute parasites and/or fungi in his digestive system? Is he eating food that he does not tolerate? Is he also very gassy? Does he struggle with low energy levels? These are all things I have seen at my house.
We have had much success with detox, digestive enzymes, and lately probiotics.
Just a thought . . . it might be a signal that he needs help.
PS: I'm not a health care provider of any sort - this is just my "mom" opinion.
If he is willing you might need to look into his diet. My husband used to stink up the bathroom, but then he decided to change his diet (wanted to lose a bit of weight) he is doing a low carb thing and since then he has not been stinking it up at all.. Talking to his doctor we have looked at his diet and it is suspected that he may be somewhat gluten sensitive and what happens is that the little fibrils (little thread like things in your digestive system) that help digest your food properly would decline in numbers and lead to stinky messy (sorry tmi) poops.. since my husband has taken away the most of the gluten foods he has been much better and he himself says that he feels much better.. Just an idea, like I said if he is willing to look into things..
lol I was about to suggest the charcoal. Yeah the chemical spays do nothing but cover it up and make you gag at two smells.
I do however like this natural spay that I have found to help my son's cloth diaper smell. It's called Myers. I found it in walmart of all places.
Another thing I do is I fill a waterbottle with water and put several drops of tea trea oil and lavender in it. Shake it and spray. It has helped with some of the nastiest smells and is a natural cleaner! Yay!
In addition to the other great suggestions you have so far (diet changes, and multiple flushes during the process in particular)... you might try getting a jar (actually it is a plastic container) of odor absorber. I like the Citrus ones. I think the brand we use is Citrus magic. I get it at home depot. It is a gel, nothing to spray, because it doesn't "cover" the odor, it absorbs it. Big difference. I have used it (waving it around a minute, not just sitting it on the counter) to get rid of fried bacon smells, fish smells, and yes... bathroom smells.
There's a citrus based natural air freshener that works like magic. It's very fresh sented and the citrus oils seem to grab the bad smells and they sink. I know this becuase my hsuband also leaves a green cloud of gas in the whole end of the house near the bathroom. It's not cheap - but you don't need much - jsut a few short spritzes. A few differnet companies make it - I know Target sells it in the car-care area (?) and stop & shop sells it by the other air fresheners. Good luck. I don't know why but men seem to just be rotten inside (haha) only kidding - I think ti's the food they're willing to eat. ;o)
tell him to do some 'courtesy flushes' where he flushes a few times during his time in the toiletroom. Plus open a window if weather permits. Or tell him to give you a heads up when he plans to head to the potty. You go pee first and avoid that area after he's done. Or do you have a second bathroom? Ask that he use the one farthest away from the living room area.
A vanilla candle. Keep a lighter up high in the cabinet. only needs to be lit for a few minutes. Open a window,
I did an Estate sale last month and felt we needed a spray since the home only had 1 potty.. "Oust" was suggested, when I explained I do not like "scents".. It really did work and was not a sickly odor.
Open the window with a fan for a few minutes.
Otherwise I just use a spray.
poo-pourri.... Seriously! it works!
Forget the 'bandaid' of masking the smell... I agree with the other posts. This has got to be a diet issue if it is THAT bad! Just seconding other opinions. Yogurt.. fruits.. veggies.. water.. fiber.
Ok, there's a product in Japan called "One Drop Only" or something like that. Basically, you drop in just one drop and it covers the surface of the water and IMMEDIATELY kills the smell. This stuff really works, I sh!t you not (pun intended). I used to buy it in Japan on every visit to bring back to the States. You can also find it in some of the grocery stores in Hawaii that cater to Japanese people. Then some guy here in the US "borrowed" the idea and created this:
If it's anything like the Japanese stuff, it WILL solve your problem.
I have the same problem with my DH. I buy Glade and have him spray it in the toilet after he flushes. I like the Powder Fresh scent best and a little goes a long way. Meaning that a 2-3 second spray should help a lot. If you have a window that opens that helps too. I don't use the match trick because I think it's too dangerous with kids.
We usually burn a couple of scented candles for about 15 minutes.
Ahhh...don't you love husbands! Mine does the same thing, but there is a very simple, too easy solution. Just light a match. I don't know what makes the smell go away, but after lighting a match, it's gone that instant! Works every time!
I mounted a shelf/towel bar on the wall above the potty. We keep a Yankee candle there w/ matches. It's high enough so that the matches & candle are well out of reach.
It's not expensive to purchase an exhaust fan in place of the light fixture, but you need to be sortof handy.
Install a bathroom fan.
If you pour a little bleach into the toilet bowl (or have him do it) before he exits it will work wonders. vinegar might work too, not sure, never tried that. I do know the bleach makes the gassy smell disipate pretty fast tho. You could have him light a candle while hes in there and blow it out when he's finished, that would work too.
We like to use a citrus no-aerosol spray called Pure Citrus. It is just the natural oils of citrus and smells wonderful, like someone just squeezed an orange. Target used to carry it, but not anymore. Now I get it at Walmart. They may have it at other places, not sure.
Tell him to flush like every couple of sec or min. Try some plug ins they usually work for me.
Keep a book of matches in the bathroom and light a match afterward; not sure why it works, but it does help neutralize the odor.
My fiance is the same. He just makes sure we get a chance to do our business if he knows he's going to stink it up, then he leaves the fan running or a window open for a while afterward.
Have your hubby open the window and spray air freshner periodically while he's using the bathroom. Also he can flush a few times in the process. Taking laxative once a month cleans out your system, maybe that may help reduce the funk! Lol. Good luck! :)
have him give you the option of going in before he does, you know 'ladies first'
K. -
I feel you on this one, however, if you don't think your husband is ill in any way, and keeps a good diet, truly, what can you do? Everyone has their own particular "brand" of bathroom smell. One of the odor eliminating sprays might help, but it's best just to use some other bathroom (if that's a possibility) until the air clears. Don't make him feel bad about it. It's not a rose garden, it's a toilet!
Keep matches up high and light one when you enter the bathroom
Open the window in there if you have one.
If there's a fan hooked up to a switch, turn it on for a few mins before you have to go in there.
No fan, buy a teeny summer fan (and I mean teeny) that will fit behind the toilet. They sell these teeny ones now that summer is approaching in a few months. Try Wal-Mart or Walgreens.
Maybe have him try probiotics. There may be an imbalance of flora in his intestines. Or, you can try a Scentsy wickless candle. You can get ones that plug into on outlet.
I know that you have already had lots of answers, but I would just like to chime in. I can honestly relate to you. This was such a huge problem in my marriage for a long time until we realized that my husband is lactose intolorant. Once he got on lactaid and was really careful with other dairy, that really helped. Good luck!
We light a match in the bathroom when someone makes a stink. Works great! We always take some when we travel too. Don't let the match burn too long, you want some smoke to come off the match.
You might try a small container with some activated charcoal in it. It might take some time to work, but it is designed to absorb odors.
Here is a link you might want to check out: http://www.buyactivatedcharcoal.com/all_gone
I haven't read all the responses so this might be a repeat. I have a very sensitive nose and what I've found works best are: candles and Renuzit Renew Super Odor Neutralizer (it's a non-aerosol spray). The mini room sprays from Bath and Body Works are also very powerful but more of a cover up scent.
We have a candle on the counter and matches on top of our medicine cabinet. It is really the only thing we use and it works great!
