Get Rid Of Stubborn Bathroom Odors With The Help Of This All-Natural Product

Bathrooms beckon when nature calls, but using them is a nuisance if they smell putrid, forcing you to hold your breath. Poor ventilation, mold and mildew buildup, or organic debris are common culprits for phantom odors. They can often be dealt with by airing and deep cleaning your restroom, including overflow holes — the often overlooked part of your sink. But sometimes scrubbing proves insufficient for getting rid of the funky smells. Matters may come to a head if you're expecting guests and need a quick fix to rescue you. Thankfully, all you need to remedy the situation is bamboo charcoal, an all-natural, eco-friendly product.

Dating back to the Ming dynasty, bamboo charcoal has been used popularly as cooking fuel, a medicinal ingredient, a water purifier, and even in food (Burger King's Japanese menu). It's made out of mature bamboo by baking its waste branches and roots at extreme temperatures ranging between 1,112 and 2,192 degrees Fahrenheit without oxygen through a process otherwise known as pyrolysis. However, it also works as a deodorizer, completely neutralizing bad smells instead of merely masking them, such is the case with room sprays.

Luckily, bamboo charcoal can be used around your bathroom in plenty of ways without worrying about pets (and you) getting sick from chemical use. One budget-friendly way is to buy the activated charcoal powder or pellets and put them in a small fabric bag or an unused sock. These bags can then be placed in the smelliest areas, especially in and around trash cans holding disposed diapers or a week-old laundry basket. You can even hang a few in discrete areas.

Air-purifying bamboo charcoal bags are a more decorative option available to be made multiple sizes. Being porous, they don't hamper the airflow. Instead, their charcoal attracts polluting air particles, moisture, and rotten smells and nullifies them inside the bag. However, the bags lose their efficacy with time, depending on the intensity and conditions. So, sun the bags for at least one hour after a month or two of use. These bags can last you around a year. And if you can't be bothered with a bag, simply place whole pieces on a tray, treating them as showpieces.

The reason for bamboo charcoal's effectiveness in eliminating unpleasant odors is its porosity. A 2018 report by the London Journals Press states that bamboo contains several microscopic holes and cavities that lend to its splendid absorption capacity. The pores magnify in number by the time the bamboo is harvested after five years and exposed to high temperatures to produce the activated charcoal. This, consequently, increases the surface area available to attract horrid smells. Specifically, the presence of the C60 carbon molecule raises its surface area-to-weight ratio to a massive 600:1. This means a tiny amount suffices to clear out putrid odors.

A study by Biomass Conversion and Biorefinery reports bamboo charcoal's surface area exceeds a typical charcoal's range by 10x, lending it a 4x higher absorption capacity. It then uses its pores to soak up harmful particles like ammonia (present in urine), formaldehyde (found in paints and cosmetics), and carbon dioxide gas. It even traps moisture and humidity, making it particularly useful in poorly ventilated bathrooms.