I have received this question a couple of times so I thought it was time I wrote a post about it.
Question: Our front bathroom is pretty much used by our 2 boys. My problem is that I cannot get rid of the “boy bathroom smell.” I scrubbed the bathroom last week, and have made a point to wipe things down and have them do it as well. I even replaced the toilet seats. It makes me want to go in there with a pressure washer full of bleach! Any suggestions on how to get rid of the smell?? I always worry guests can smell it too unless I turn the wax burner on.
How to get rid of that “boy bathroom smell” tutorial, here’s what you need:
-
- Baking Soda
- Lemon Juice {fresh is better}
- Cleaning vinegar (this is the one I use)
- Damp rag
Step 1: Mix a paste of baking soda and lemon juice. If you don’t have lemon juice you can use water but lemon juice is a great disinfectant and great for removing odors. The consistency of the paste should be about that of pancake mix.
Step 2: Spread the paste all along the bottom of the toilet {where it meets the floor}, the toilet seat, and any other area that gets a lot of over spray.
Let it set for about 10 minutes.
Step 3: When the timer expires spray the dried paste with white vinegar and let it fizzle. Once it is done fizzing (should only be about a minute), wipe it up with a damp cloth.
It’s very important that you don’t forget about the walls and/or cupboards on either side of the toilet. It’s easy to remember to wipe the floor and the toilet but the walls and cupboards will also get sprayed and they will need to be wiped down regularly too. Spray them down with vinegar, then wipe them down.
Cleaning the toilet, floor and walls at least once a week, with these steps, will keep the smell at bay and you won’t have to worry about what your guests think anymore!
Did you know this is one of my most popular posts!? To see more of the posts people love click on the titles below:
- How to Clean the Back Ledge of a Toilet
- How to Clean Glass Shower Doors the EASY Way
- How to Update an Ugly Bathtub
- How to Clean a Fiberglass Shower Stall
- How to Wash Windows (especially window tracks)
- How to Wash a Baseball Cap
- The BEST Moscow Mule
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We have three boys: we know that smell. Yuck! Aside from normal cleaning, I have found that Nature’s Miracle- which is a pet stain and ordor remover- works great. I put it in a spray bottle and hit all of the areas and let it air dry. Really does the trick.
Me too!! Love the stuff!
Where do you findo this product?
Hi, I’m Anna’s assistant, Bethany. Anna just uses vinegar, lemon juice, and baking soda, which you can find at Ace, Amazon, or your local grocery store. Hope this helps!
Natures Miracle is available at Amazon.com and also a lot of hardware stores and some farm supply stores will have it.
Have a question… I tried this and about 10 minutes after applying it the paste started turn a yellowish color. Figured it was doing it’s job. I put it on a little thick so left it on for about an hour (had run a last minute errand) when I came home it was bright yellow. I thought how amazing & disgusting but happy it was working. I wiped it up (paste wasn’t completely dried-but it had been over an hour by now) and this morning I have yellow caulking around my toilet. ? Any tips on removing it?
To get rid of the yellow use a bleach pen. It probably means your caulking is old so it might even be worth removing and re-caulking.
Tarin, I also have 3 boys and we had this same problem! That was years ago. I was scrubbing daily the wall the floor everything’s nd the next day it was back. After about a week I looked over and saw my shower curtain…. I was like no! Surely not!!! I picked it up and brought it to my nose… sure enough.. that boy pee smell! Lol, like I said this was years ago, like 12-13 years ago. Way before nature’s miracle was on the market. I made a rule, in my house you sit to pee. My boys ages 16, 13, and 11 still sit to pee. It helped a lot but I still have my husband to contend with! Natures miracle is awesome in the laundry and as carpet spot removal as well as carpet cleaner bc it’s enzymatic and doesn’t leave a soapy residue. I’m going to grab it now for my bathroom floor and walls!
Oh thank GOD. I have scrubbed and scrubbed and my powder room STILL smells like a Greyhound Bus terminal. I was on the verge of installing a urinal before I found this post. Can’t wait to try this! Nice to meet you at the Waffle House last night at Haven, Anna. Looking forward to more great tips! 🙂
Haha, well I’m glad I could help. 🙂 It was nice to meet you too!
Anna
this past weeekend I noticed that horrible smell in my bathroom and I am looking all over the floor thinking my 5 year old has some how missed the toilet and peed all over the floor. I cleaned it with my normal clorix mixture but it didn’t seem to do the trick, so I am super excited to go home and try this one tonight. Thanks for the great post.
Awesome, you’re welcome!
Anna 🙂
I know your post is from 2012, but I just came across this post, and I too had this revelation about my bathroom yesterday. I got a laugh because it was very sudden like yours seemed.
Thank you so much for this, Anna! I help take care of my 90 year old father ( boy smells come back) and didn’t know what to do about our half bath/bus station bathroom. I saw this on Pinterest so I gave it a try. I used grapefruit juice. I was a bit worried that a) the consistency wasn’t right and b) it would smell like a pickle factory. But no, it really neutralized the odor. I’m going to try to do this every week to keep the smell in check. Thank you again!
Awesome! You are so welcome!!! 🙂
Anna
I liked this method but don’t have the time to do it once a week. From start to finish this time it was almost an hour. I think maybe once a month. Also, to help with clean up, I found a roll of toilet paper that no one in my house would use. I used those as ‘wipes’ to clean up the paste after the spray. I had about 5 flushes, but to me it was a lot easier than the cloth towel method, because that will be more than one or two towels. Thanks for posting this!!
OMG!!! I did this today and it was amazing. I have 2 young boys and a 39 yr. old “boy”, they have made my baths stink, but not after today! Baths smell amazing and the place sparkles. Thank you for sharing this.
AWESOME! I love hearing stuff like this! 🙂
Anna
I have hardwood floors in our powder room…do you think this mixture would be ok to use on the hardwoods around the toilet?
Thanks!
Yeah I think it’s okay to use on wood floors I just wouldn’t let it set for more than a minute. 🙂
Anna
Don’t use lemon juice on a hardwood floor. Instead, fill a bucket or large bowl with warm water, add a cup of vinegar, and, at the last minute, right before you’re ready to wipe down, add the baking soda. It will fizz up like a science experiment, so be sure to make the container large and deep. Use this method for wiping down, damp mopping, and such. This is also IDEAL for saturating your carpet after milk has spilled and soured (ever want to sell a car that smells like sour milk? we all have). Saturate your car carpet with this mixture, it will dry, and then vacuum up the powdery residue. The sour milk or urine smells will be gone.
P.S. You can add a teaspoon of vanilla extract, too. When dry you won’t smell vinegar, but if you want to scent the carpet or the bathroom floor, you can add the vanilla.
Baking soda plus vinegar (base + acid) creates a neutral, i.e. water. Yes, you get a volcano reaction (fun to experiment with the kids!), but the end product does not produce the disinfecting property of vinegar or the cleaning property of baking soda – when used by themselves!
Can you use this on wallpaper? I read the post about the hardwood floors so will just use briefly or omit the lemon juice, but what about the walls. Ok on painted walls too?
I use it on painted walls but I wouldn’t use it on wallpaper walls. For wallpaper I would suggest depending on a really good disinfectant wipe.
Anna
I used it on my wallpaper and it work great.
Oh my word! I just used this, and it worked! I have 4 little boys, and every one of them misses. A hole that big…. I don’t get it. Their bathroom is supposed to be the guest bathroom as well, but since it usually smells like an outhouse (especially in the summer) I have to redirect company to my bathroom. Which I hate having to do because my room is the last to get clean and there’s always a chance of embarrasing personal stuff being out. No more! 🙂
I tried this and everything else imaginable and still had the smell until I noticed that the shower curtain hanging (not very!) near the toilet was a peculiar shade of orange near the bottom. A trip through the washing machine and renewed toilet training has helped. I’m sure your trick will work wonders now that I know to also check the shower curtain.
That is SO gross! I’m glad you figured out the source of the smell though!
Anna 🙂
That orange build up comes from water, it just sits there with soap residue then gets all slimy and smelly from bacteria that keeps on feeding on it. It’s not toilet overspray 🙂 But the washing machine does the job.
Love this idea!
I found you on Pinterest today and I’m praying that this method really works. I only have 1 little boy who is currently potty training, which means he sprays pee like a sprinkler all over the bathroom. Yuck! I noticed the lovely odor of a gas station bathroom a few days after he started potty training. Hopefully your technique will get rid of it! I also love the fact that you don’t use any bleach or harsh chemicals!
Thanks Jenny, good luck!
I found that when potty training boys it helps to toss a few cheerios in the bowl. It gives them something to aim at and keeps their focus on the task at hand. My boys got excited about goin!
Great cleaning idea! Another thought though. Why not teach your gents that this is a toilet not a target and that they should sit down and relax while peeing? Let them know they aren’t less of a male for doing so.
Thanks again. 🙂
I’ve found with my little boy that sitting down actually increases the overspray as he tends to then be peeing *from* the toilet straight onto our floor. SO super gross. Standing strangely enough helps keep our bathroom cleaner.
I totally agree with you,Kristofer!!
It is a perfect thought,my Husband is also “relaxing” while peeing,after i explaind to him,that it is disgusting and also for my Boys,if they think they have too stand while peeing,well than they have to clean the toilet three times a Week 🙂 or depending how dirty it is,than more….and it works!!!!
Just think about that Ladies 😉
Hard to believe that all these ppl have “bus station” bathrooms and you’re the first person to suggest or think of this. I have 3 boys, a husband, and even occasional long term male guests, and strictly for sanitary reasons all are expected to sit. A toilet is not a urinal (or a tree), and as such is not designed for use as either. I know everyone will think I’m some sort of bathroom nazi, but I even close the toilet when flushing, as I find all forms of indoor urine splashing really, pretty gross.
Sounds good to me! I also flush the toilet before flushing and have trained my middle (ASD) son to do the same. (Of course, I have to remind him of all the steps after pottying …) Now if I could just train the other 2 boys, and especially DH!
Oh thank you for this comment! I just came over here from Pinterest and M SHOCKED about the suggestions. Your walls and cupboards get sprayed? I don’t know of any families with who let their boys, however old, pee while standing. It’s natural everybody sits and after that clean-up is not a problem.
Ditto! The men and boys all sit here and we enjoy smell-free bathrooms!
I move into a house where there was a little boy that used the toliet and now there is a yellow
Crust that I can’ t seen to remove.
Any ideas ?
My friend had a similar problem with her toilet and she used Bar Keepers Friend to get it off. She said it still took a little scrubbing but it came completely off. You can purchase it at Lowes for just a few dollars. 🙂
Great idea with the baking soda and lemon! Thanks
I work at a preschool so having over 40 kids in one day using the bathroom over 4 times that boy smell is ALWAYS there! Can’t wait to try this out during nap time! 🙂 Thank you!
Awesome! Glad I could help! 🙂
I recently had enough of this smell myself and decided since my 62 yr old ‘boy’ was the only one here that was spraying the bathroom, that it was now HIS responsibility to clean the toilet. He doesn’t know that I go over it later but at least now, I can go over it more thoroughly this way. Thanks so much for the info
That’s awesome, I love it. 🙂
Do you know if Arm & Hammer Washing soda would work as well? I always have a big box of that around, but don’t usually have a huge stock of baking soda (Just not used to buying it in big containers yet, I guess).
Thanks for the great tip!
It’s worth a try! I’m sure the washing soda has a good amount of baking soda in it. Let me know if it works! 🙂
Washing soda and baking soda are completely different things, so washing soda will have NO baking soda at all in it. You can make washing soda by heating baking soda in the oven, but after that process it is chemically no longer baking soda at all.
Curly-T … Arm & Hammer Washing soda will work wonders in this too.
I desperately would like to try this but I cannot see the instructions. The cutoff midway. Please help!!
Thank you 🙂
Jaimie
That’s weird. I’ll email you the full post.
Thank you so much, I just tried it and hope it keeps the “boy” smell out. Been looking for a solution for a while. I just used an damp enviro cloth to wipe, took a few rinse and wipes, but I think I went overboard with the mixture. I wonder to, I made more than I needed, I poured it into a squeeze bottle, should it keep at room temp, or should I discard the rest.
I only get half of your site????
Can’t read all that’s posted
Are you reading it on your phone? I am working on getting that fixed, I’m sorry. Would you like me to email you this post in a text file or Word file?
Hi Anna:
Could you tell me what is the best way to clean baseboards?
Here’s a post I wrote about that: https://askannamoseley.com/2011/01/how-to-clean-baseboards/
I found this site by accident because I too have bathroom smells. This is a great site. I will visit often.
Thanks Mary, welcome!
As as mom to 6 boys – THANK YOU for posting this information!!! I’ve even tried straight bleach to no avail!!! Thanks!!!
6 boys!!! I admire you! 🙂
My husband told our son 26 years ago that nobody says guys have to stand up to pee. So, they both sit at home and only stand to pee when they’re in a public restroom at a urinal (mainly because they won’t sit on the seat in a public men’s room-thank goodness!) I’ve been forever grateful for this advice from father to son. Someday, as the word gets passed down, maybe us girls will have less work to do in the bathrooms due to “over-spray.” Yuck.
That is awesome. I wish my husband had been taught that by his dad!
That is such a smart idea!! I’m going to have to try & talk my fiancé into trying to teach that to our son…if we ever have a boy of course. Luckily, he already saves me at least a little bit of grief & will sometimes sit down to pee…especially when it comes to sleepy, middle-of-the-night trips to the bathroom.
Oh my goodness, I am going to have to try this!!! Due to financial reasons, my fiance and I are living with family and I have to share a bathroom with he and his father. Let me tell ya, it doesn’t smell too good in there…especially after drunken or still-half-asleep middle of the night trips with those two! How does a man miss a hole that big?! lol
An even more effective way of doing this would be to make the boys do it…will definitely cut down on the smell.
Opps! I missed reading how long to let it sit on. Will get it right the next time.
How much lemon juice, vinegar and baking soda do I use. Did not see any measurements. Thank you much.
Helen
Just use as much as you need. I’d start with 1/4 cup baking soda and add water/lemon juice until it creates a pancake batter consistency. After you’ve wiped it on spray it with the vinegar, using only as much as you need. I’d say at least a few squirts. 🙂
Cant even read ur blog for the big sudebar just covers it!
Are you reading it on a phone? We are working on a mobile version but it’s not done yet. I’d be happy to email the post to you, if you’d like. 🙂
I pray this is the solution to my boy bathroom problem? Thanks!
This worked awesome!! Thank you!
Awesome! I love hearing that! 🙂
Hi Anna, I’m so glad I found your website!!! 😀 I’m going to pass along this to the teachers at school because the toilets are just dreadful. The janitors do clean them and do an excellent job, but that boy smell comes back , and its just horribly overwhelming. Thanks so much again.
Hello Anna,
I have two boys and when we moved into our house 3 years ago I have new heating baseboards replaces in all the rooms. But somehow the boys urinated on the heating baseboard and now it is all rusty, I have tried so many cleaning solutions and it still smells awful and I only have that one bathroom so when I go in there I want to be sick. What can I do to get rid of the rusty stinky pee smell on my basebaords?
Here are a couple solutions I found for you online: http://homeguides.sfgate.com/rust-off-baseboard-heaters-31606.html, http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080930011409AA4wi9k. Good luck!
Anna I tried all I could to clean it and paint it and it is right back to the nasty smell and rust, so I have decided to take it completely and put a clear acrylic along the bottom of the wall. It will be easier to clean and can be taken down and replaced as needed. Thank you for your help.
So I just used this method to clean my son’s bathroom….it DID take out the “boy bathroom smell”…but it was a pain to clean up all the sandy residue from the Baking Soda afterwards….a pain! Yes, the bathroom is order less now, it sparkles and glistens but now that the smell is gone, I’m gonna use a cat urine smell remover from now on…I believe the first comment on this thread mentioned Nature’s Miracle. Going that route from now on.
i would like to know if you have any tips for a bathroom with a very strong sour smell. it smells like cat urine in my boyfriends bathroom and he wants me to move in, but its so bad even when the bathroom door is left open durig the day afterwork the whole house smells of cat urine. the kicker is he doesnt and never has owned a cat! doesnt even like them. he says he cant smell it but i think hes in denial or used to it. please help i need to figure out where its coming from. could it be mold in the walls?
If it smells like that throughout the whole house I’m not sure what to tell you. The only thing I can think of would be to repaint the house and use a good primer under the paint. Sorry I can’t be more help. :/
i was debating on putting an outhouse for my boys to pee in!! the smell was overwheling!! nothing worked! 8ugh! just tried this method! will see! thank somuch!!
Very glad to stumble across your website. I am living on the eastcoasr of South Africa and think your advice to get rid of the toilet smells is super.!! Thank you. Wilma
I’m gonna try this at the beach house!
At my home, my guys sit down. It was my husband’s initiative. He’s always said that even the best aim still splashes. And sitting – at home – was part of my son’s potty training. He’s 16 and completely gets that he sits in people’s homes and can stand everywhere else.
Have been wanting to get rid of this smell forever! I was convinced there was something wrong with our toilet, “glad” to see I’m not the only one with this dilemma and that there may be a solution. I tried this out and it seemed to work…until my daughter decided to have an accident all over the nice clean floor not even 5 minutes after I finished. Sooooo, I had to do it again. I even steam mopped the floor afterward and that seemed to help tone down and neutralize the vinegar scent.
OMG.. I will be trying this tomorrow. My bathroom… the only bathroom we have by the way ..that sits between my room and the guest room smells like a mens urinal thanks to my boyfriend that insists that he
doesnt pee on the floor. Ewwww. I just spent over an hour today cleaning the bathroom with bleach and other products just to go in a few hours later to have that same “scent” still linger. Thanks for the idea.
I had the same smell in the bathroom my husband used. I have 3 daughters & my only son was born 3 yrs ago and now the smell is worse. I have some of the Nature’s Miracle on hand so that will be my quick fix. I will try this when I have time to be thorough. I just wanted to mention that when it came time to potty train my only boy, it only took 2 times of him shooting straight out onto his clothes before I switched to having him straddle the toilet facing the back. It gave him plenty of room to go without trouble aiming and prepared him for standing to pee.. There were very few mishaps.
Oh my goodness, I will try this right now. Thank you Anna. I have only just found these tips and I think I will have my whole household problems solved just by reading on. I have a house full of boys and the toilet area has always been a challenge. I have used bicarbonate of soda and vinegar on the grouting and it works really well, as it absorbs the dirt instead of just bleaching it as some cleaners do, but I never thought to use a like solution on smells and stains..
Awesome! Glad I could help!! Let me know if you have any other questions! 🙂
OMG- why didn’t anyone tell me to add the lemon to the baking soda and not the other way around… I had had an enormous science experiment on my counter… I juiced a whole lemon into a cereal bowl then dumped in a bunch of baking soda and IT OVERFLOWED THE BOWL!!! Fizzy foamy lemony goodness all over… LOL… I don’t blame you… and thank-you for the post, I have the remainder of the concoction sitting around my toilet now. Here’s hoping there’s enough fizz left in it when I spray on the vinegar!! 🙂
So glad I am not the only one who made that mistake! It was very entertaining. 🙂
Thank you, Anna! I have two boys, and am very familiar with the “urinal” smell. Thank GOD, I saved this post on Pinterest. My parents are coming over for Easter, and after scrubbing the bathroom last night I could still smell “that smell”. Didn’t want to use a cover-up spray or candle, and decided to give your solution a try. It worked! Phew! Now I can relax and enjoy dinner with my family. Thanks!
OMG this is very helpful! Thank you!!!!
This worked fantastic! I first pulled up all the disgusting silicone around the base of the toilet. Hadn’t been done in a long time and was quite nasty. Then scrubbed the whole floor with bleach. Then did your method and replaced the silicone. Smells sooo much better! Thank you!
Oh my lord! I am so relieved that I found this! I don’t have any kids but my husband might as well be one. The bathroom absolutely reeks and he can’t smell it! When I was pregnant, I couldn’t even stand to be in the house to the point of whenever I had to use the bathroom, I would walk a block to the Taco Bell and use theirs! I can’t wait to try this!
thank you so much for this tip, I was starting to think I would have to dig a hole for an outhouse for my grandson who has very poor eyesight (hence aim!)
hi Anna! I saw your website on pinterest and loved the tip about cleaning around the toilet I am trying this today! my question to you is do you have any solutions on how to stop a kitten from popping in the same spot(behind the toilet)? I have tried some of everything …Plz help.thanks
I wish I did! I used to have the same problem with one of our cats!
Hey everyone, the answer is soooooo easy, my husband and his mom taught me that it’s ok for a man to sit down, just like we do!
I have raised six children, three boys, twenty grandchildren, twelve of which are boys, and fifteen great grandchildren so I know of
what I speak! You will need the help of Dad because little ones need to be big and do it like Daddy! Just think how happy their
wives will be some day. Until then you are the one to receive all the benefits.
God bless you and good luck!
oh you are a life saver there are 6 people in my house and i am the only female my 3 teenage Grandsons my oldest son and of course my hubby so you can guess how bad my bathroom smells and we have no window in the bathroom to boot so first thing in the morning i am tackling the bathroom…….
You are an amazing woman, that’s all there is to say… 🙂
This is such a great idea! And this is the exact time I need this as my kid squirting his stuff all over the bathroom everyday..thanks!
I have done this a couple times in the bathroom, but I am amazed at just HOW MUCH baking soda and lemon juice it takes to cover all the smelly surfaces. It is also pretty time consuming for busy parents. I am doing this right now because I have people coming over this weekend, but honestly, I am looking for something that is effective and not time consuming for regular cleaning.
I have found the solution. Slide the toilet seat off completely, and you will be amazed how much urine you will find. Soak the seat and then scrub the area.
You might also swipe under the tank, for run down etc. And don’t forget, if you have one of the cleaning brushes that sits in a container…dump and sanitize the container periodically, stuff collects in there as well.
wow, just used it in the cat pan and it took the smell completely away!!! Love this tip
I too have two boys that make our bathroom STINK!!!! I have always used natural cleaners and they’ve never fully got that stink out. Finally out of desperation, I bought a bottle of bleach, diluted it with water, filled a spray bottle and sprayed every inch of the toilet and surrounding floor then I wiped it clean. I do this twice per week and I’ve never had the smell return!!! Sometimes natural solutions just don’t work. $.89 for a bottle of bleach and I couldn’t be happier! I think the key is to get all around the bottom of the toilet and the floor where their pee sprays!
Great tip! Thank you, Anna 🙂 My “boy” is 54 years old! Chock it up to midnight potty visits, I guess 😉
Thank you so much for this post! This is a huge problem in my home. Store bought cleaners never seem to do the trick. I love cleaning with Baking Soda and Vinegar, inexpensive and non-toxic. Thanks again!
Thanks for the tip! hydrogen peroxide for pet pee, and lemon juice and vinegar for boy pee! I plan to get print this out and hand it to the offenders so they can clean up after themselves with no expensive and dangerous chemicals! This. is my first visit to your site, and I’ll be back!,
I can’t wait to try this today! I seriously thought I was the only one with this problem and that there was something wrong with me! LOL…My husband is removing the toilet and replacing the wax ring. I am going to clean the bathroom like it’s never been cleaned before using this stuff and then have him reinstall the scrubbed down toilet and re caulk. I hope and pray this works! I won’t even go in my kids’ bathroom and I won’t have people over because it is so embarrassing!
Replacing the wax ring will help a lot, especially if it’s an old one.
I tried this today. I was tired of my bathroom smelling like a bus station bathroom. My husband has a problem of missing the BIG hole in the toilet, in the middle of the night, I guess turning a light on is too hard and it’s easier to just pee everywhere! but anyhoo, this worked really well. I didn’t have the lemon juice on hand, so I used plain water, but next time I am definitely using the lemon juice. I also wiped down all the surrounding walls with the same concoction. An added bonus is, my floor grout looks like new! this stuff works wonders on tile and tile grout! It shines and my bathroom smells fresh! Happy wife, happy life!
Thanks for the good laugh, I love getting comments like this. 🙂
Hi anna,
I wanted to try this what is the ratio for the how much baking soda and lemon juice
thanks
I’m sorry, I am horrible when it comes to measurements. Honestly I’d just sprinkle a small amount of baking soda around the toilet/floor and then spray it with the lemon juice/vinegar until it gets foamy.
I love cleaning and caring for my family looking forward Anna getting help ideas from you have a Bless Merry Chirstmas Kaye
I make hubby clean the bathrooms most days, because i ain’t the one stinkin’ it up, and one day I came home and that smell was gone! I was shocked! I said what on earth did you use in the bathroom?! He said, “I mopped the floor with toilet bowl cleaner.” Amazeballs! I’ve used it ever since. Tile and now vinyl flooring. Works great.
My husband is 6 ft 3 in, and his mother taught him to sit down. When you think about it, the thought of spraying a nasty liquid from on high to down below is repugnant. No one’s aim is perfect and neither is the cleanliness of the yellow liquid! I taught my boys to sit down, and it saves a world of work! Glad I did, too, as they inherited his height!
My hubs is also 6’3″ and when I brought up the subject of sitting, you’d have thought I’d suggested neutering him at the vets! Claimed I was trying to make a girl out of him… grrrr! And while I’m on the subject of icky toilets, WHY can a woman barf and keep everything in the bowl, but when hubs (and I’ve had 2!) barfs, it goes all over the place… down the sides of the bowl, hits the side of the vanity, the side of the tub, the bath mat drying on the tub, the floor and this time even a dress I had drip drying from the shower rod?!?! I need a hazmat suit to clean up after these guys!!
This is great, do you have a resolution for mildew in front end loader washing machines ?
Here’s a post about that: https://askannamoseley.com/2012/07/remove-high-efficiency-washing-machine-odor/.
Hi, is this safe for wood floors?
It’s safe, just don’t let it sit on the wood floors for very long because you don’t want the vinegar to seep through the cracks. I would wipe it up after about 30 seconds.
Another way to get rid of the smell is spray Hydrogen Peroxide on floor toilet walls. Let it sit. And repeat if needed.
Great tip Wendy!
Another easy way to eliminate that odor is to request that they SIT to do their “necessaries” instead of standing! I’ve asked my husband to do this and he has no problem with it. When he doesn’t feel like sitting down, he’ll kneel on the floor and raise the seat up. Problem solved! 🙂
I know the smell, I just cleaned my bathroom today. Next time I will use this mixture.
Hi Ann,
I have a small kid that keeps missing the toilet bowl, smells bad cause some gather on the floor and the below the tank, its hard to clean that part. Anyway great tips right there, but we use Hydrogen Peroxide to get rid of the smell, it works fine, ill try your way too..
That’s a great idea! I haven’t ever tried hydrogen peroxide.
First of all, I’m fortunate my husband’s mother (who had 5 children, each 2 years apart) taught him to sit down to pee! He comes home, grabs a magazine and sits to relax – kind of weird how guys do this to relax. However, there are still smells, especially when potty training a child. I mix 1/2 water with 1/2 vinegar in a spray bottle and spray everything down, walls, floor, toilet and clean off well with paper towels. I run Q-tips around the toilet, between the toilet and floor – you’ll be amazed how nasty that is. I then scrub the toilet bowl out with some Comet/Ajax powder and then use the Scrubbing Bubbles Toilet Cleaning Gel wand and gel discs. Easy, simple and does the trick every time. Also a great tip, when someone goes #2 and does not shut the toilet lid BEFORE flushing; poo particles travel up to 6 feet and can land on toothbrushes! This was proven in a study using a black light. Ewww! Close the lid! If someone in your house has been sick, dip your toothbrushes in hydrogen peroxide to kill germs.
I’ve tried getting rid of very strong urine smell out of the bathroom. We did the Baking soda, Lemon juice and white vinegar. It helped but not really. Do you have any other ideas that might work better?
Spraying it with hydrogen peroxide might work too. It will kill any bacteria, which causes some of the odors.
What a God send this post has been! Any tips on how to clean under the tank on the back ledge of the bowl, ya know that little space straight in front of a 4 year old’s aim?
Tamara,
Boys can be messy can’t they?! If we understand what spot your thinking about, we suggest using a vinegar and water mixture and using a cloth wrapped around a butterknife to get in the crevice of the back ledge of the bowl. You might be able to use the same baking soda mixture as mentioned in the post but be sure to thoroughly clean it out. We hope this helps! Good luck with the aim!
Wow, good idea! Will try that, however, I still think MEN who seem to have AIM or SPRAY issues should be kind and just sit down to pee. I mean, the sad part is normally where the toilet is, your sink is near by and so is the TOOTHBURSHES that you put in your mouth, your hair brush and other bathroom supplies. If that “over spray” is getting that far up and away from the toilet… then it is getting (at times) on other important stuff. YUCK!!!! I still think men should sit to pee!!! Sorry guys, but when your getting that stuff on my toothbrush, shower curtain and other stuff in the area… you need to be sitting your behind down.
Will that mixture work on carpets and accidents?
Hello Sue!
That mixture should be effective on carpets and accidents. I have many posts about cleaning with lemon juice, baking soda, and other “green cleaning” tips, more specifically geared towards carpet cleaning. Feel free to check some out!
https://askannamoseley.com/category/green-cleaning/cleaning-with-baking-soda/
How do you get rid of yellow stains in bathroom on tile
Are you referring to the tile itself, or the grout?
I have to start Spring cleaning , your tip will help me a lot thank you.
I have one more place for you to consider with boys in the house. I about got sick from the urine odor coming from the bathroom. I was a very clean person, and after scrubbing my bathroom, I still had the odor. I got down on my hands and knees and sniffed everywhere til I got close to the shower. After questioning him, my son finally confessed to peeing in the shower !!! Once he had to scrub the shower the peeing stopped.
I don’t have kids, but if I did I think I would pull the toilet off the floor, clean underneath, then caulk around the front and sides of the toilet to prevent urine from getting under there. Leave the back open in case you have a toilet leak, so you will know before it damages the floor or the walls in the room below.
Hi , can you tell me how can I clean my oven top ….it is white and I get black dark marks on it .
Hey Noureen,
Check out this post that Anna wrote on that exact question! Enjoy!
https://askannamoseley.com/2012/01/day-10-cleaning-the-oven/
i love you ideas, I need a good one to organize my sewwing room.have a great day.
Send some pics to askannamoseley {at} hotmail {dot} com and you might be chosen to be featured on Ask Anna!
i always say that our bathroom smells like a gas station after a football game.. disgusting! Has anyone actually tried this?
How can you clean your wall if the wall is covert with paper?
Anja,
This is Monique, Anna’s assistant. If you are referring to your wall being covered in wall paper then you can definitely still use the vinegar and lemon juice mixture but we suggest not letting it set for a long time. You can still spray everything down to clean the surrounding area. Hope this helps!
Why don’t they just sit and pee to avoid overspay or bad aim? All men should or they can clean the bathrooms. Haha
It could possibly be the shower curtain…..add vinegar with laundry soap.
This sounds like a good remedy for this problem ! Thanks for sharing!
Is the white vinegar diluted or is it sprayed straight from a bottle at full strength?
Full strength.
How to clean marble in apartment?
Hey Kazem,
Anna has written a post about what she uses to clean marble. You can find it here: https://askannamoseley.com/2012/07/how-to-clean-marble/
There are also some comments below the post that are really helpful too! Hope this helps!
-Monique (Ask Anna Assistant)
I use peroxide in a spray bottle, spray the toilet, walls and floor. I then wash the mirrors, sink, tub and dust. I then clean the bowl with a brush and wipe the toilet, walls and floor down with a paper towel. The bathroom smells good and is disinfected. And a large bottle of peroxide only cost 97 cents.
That is good except there is a problem with some toilets like mine that don’t have glazing on the inside of the upper rim, it’s just the bare ceramic and it cannot easily be sprayed because the turned down edge that IS glazed is so close to the ceramic side that you cannot get to it even with a small brush. My solution to scrubbing it is to take some thin guage sheet metal, galvanized, preferably and use tacky spray glue to glue a green brillo pad to it, Then load up my cleaning paste or solution onto the scrubber to reach that thin spot on the inside of the bowl that nothing can get to. It is important not to rub metal inside your white porcelain for it will leave grey marks like a pencil .
I bought a bottle brush scrubber and bent it in half. This allows me to scrub under the rim 🙂 Although its a tight fit, it works!
Don’t forget to wash the shower curtain if it hangs next to the toilet. In my experience men splatter. Boys splatter and it tends to dry on the corner of the shower curtain nearest the toilet.
The answer is simple people. Teach your boys to sit to pee when they are not using a urinal or peeing outside. My man sits and voila, never have a smelly bathroom.
First of all, did anyone ever think as to why boys are taught to stand up when they pee? Why? Useful if they are outside but inside they should be sitting. The splash factor for one does not help with bathroom cleanliness and standing is unnecessary.
If you have carpet in your bathroom? Get rid of it. Why on earth do people have carpeting in their bathroom? How disgusting do you think that becomes from splash factor, missing aiming, etc. it is basic common sense folks.
How do you clean the carpet that smells in a boys bathroom.
Hey Carrie,
This is Monique, Anna’s assistant. Since there is carpet in the bathroom, you might want to think about getting it professionally cleaned to remove the smell. If you just have a couple of trouble spots you can try putting baking soda over them and let them set for 10 minutes and then vaccuum it up. It is a great neutralizer. If you have a persistent spot, you can go ahead and refer to this post the Anna wrote about keeping your carpets looking brand new! Hope this helps!
https://askannamoseley.com/2012/01/a-trick-for-cleaning-carpet/
When we wanted to strip our old wallpaper off, I called a local paint store. They said to spray vinergar on the walls as the vinegar will eat the glue off the wallpaper. I would say be careful using this on wallpaper….
My bathroom had that smell until I found where they peed. They peed in the waste basket. Don’t forget to clean that too.
Great tip thanks for sharing, Here in the Uk Baking Soda is commonly called Bicarb of Soda or Sodium Bicarbonate, found in the cleaning Isle of supermarkets not the baking Isle lol x
I had the same problem and worked and worked at this with no change. Then I discovered the toilet brush holder that had been ‘sprayed’! It reeked, I never thought to clean it! Now no problem
I tried this and it did NOT work 🙁 I made the paste of baking soda and lemon juice, which fizzed – alot. Put it on the toilet floor, waited 15 minutes, then sprayed it with vinegar. No Fizz. sprayed it more, still no fizz. Wiped it up then mopped with normal floor cleaner. Toilet now stinks of white vinegar and floor cleaner, and boy smell. 🙁 And yes, I followed the instructions properly
How to get rid of fruit bugs in my kitchen
Hello, Lisa! I’m Anna’s assistant, Bethany. Anna does not yet have a post about fruit flies, but it is a great one to keep on the docket for future posts. As for now, I did a quick search on Google and found some great DIY remedies for fruit flies, including one using vinegar! Here is a post about a variety of ways to get rid them: http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/home/cleaning/tips/a25042/how-to-kill-fruit-flies/. Good luck!
I had this problem. Cleaning the floor around bottom of commode did not remove the order. I decided to clean under the rim of the commode and that solved the problem.
I did this in my bathroom and it ruined the marble tile. Do NOT recommend on that surface.
How much of each ingredient to mix together?
Hello! We don’t have measurements because it’s best to just eyeball it depending on how large the area is that you need to cover. When mixing the lemon juice and baking soda, you just want it to be the consistency of pancake mix. Hope that helps!
A good way to train the little boys, is to put a butterfly or ladybirds sticker and place it in the bowl. To get them to aim better, ? Haha give it a try,
another good tip is; after you clean under the base of the toilet and it dries. put down a silicone caulking or something to keep moister from getting under the toilet. because if that smell reaches the plywood there is no getting it out.
Thanks ,Anna…
Check the heat vent in that bathroom. The former resident of our home had a small son, whom it appears, would get a kick out of relieving himself down the heat vent. It took us a year to figure it out, but we are glad we did. We removed the ductwork, hosed it out with good hot soapy water. What a difference!
Nooo!!! That’s terrible! I’m so glad you finally figured out what the problem was though. 🙂
Hi , How do you get the yellow stains from around the outside of your toilet bowl to turn back white again? Thanks
Hi, Dee! I’m Anna’s assistant, Bethany. Anna’s friend had a similar problem with her toilet and she used Bar Keepers Friend to get it off. She said it still took a little scrubbing but it came completely off. You can purchase it at Lowes for just a few dollars. Hope this helps!
And around the outside of the toilet bowl on the floor? Thanks