Feb 3, 20235 min read

My 8 Favourite Bathroom Scent Profiles

Bathrooms are such an intimate, private place and one which invites all kinds of smells – both pleasant and… well….let's not go there.

Other than the first hit I get when walking into someone’s home, the bathroom is the one other place that instant scent drop hits me. And no, it's not all bad!

So, today I'm writing about my favourite scent profiles that I commonly find - or hope to find - in bathrooms:

My 8 Favourite Bathroom Scent Profiles:

1. The Bleached Bathroom:

Okay, so bleach may not be the best for the environment, your skin, clothes (which aren’t white), lungs, pets, children, or certain surfaces (stay with me, I'm going somewhere positive I promise) … but while I loathed the stuff as a kid, as an adult it makes me think *clean*.

To call the smell strong is, quite frankly, an understatement. It’s overpowering, irrespective of whatever ‘lavender’ ‘lemon’ or special notes the bottle says has been added in. Still, something about that smell brings me a sick sense of scent satisfaction.

Other than some toilet cleaner like Duck or Harpic, bleach is always one of those products I expect to see in a bathroom, as standard. That said, I don’t often expect to smell bleached bathrooms given some people’s aversion to it, or concerns because of children. So it’s always a welcome surprise.

2. The Dentist’s Room:

This is one of the more common bathroom scent profiles and usually one of the easiest. The smell is usually not the result of people using some form of mint as a cleaner (although I love doing this), but more so toothpaste and toothbrushes being left out. I found this common in those with small bathrooms, or multi-person households. Given in most cases (but not all) toothpaste lids aren’t left off, I did find the ability of the mint to penetrate through and seep into the air particles of the room remarkable.

We did note the minty smell was more apparent in smaller, tighter – dare we say, cramped – bathrooms, often with tiny or no windows, but also lacking in much cabinet space. Whatever the cause, we like it. It’s somewhat standard, but if you want to really ramp it right up like we do, then we recommend using cleaning products with mint in it. Our preferred style is a homemade cleaning spray, with a few drops of peppermint essential oil. Your bathroom will smell like it’s been taken over by giant mint leaves.

3. The heavy-on-the-toilet-cleaner bathroom:

I don’t mean this in a bad way at all. This refers to the bathroom that you walk into and before you reach the toilet, you know immediately that there’s:

A clip-on toilet cleaner in the bowl, that’s clearly new or working exceptionally well between flushes
An under-rim toilet cleaner or limescale remover that’s been recently applied
A drop-in-the-cistern cleaning block that seeps into the water and makes it smell fresh when you flush
A mix of the above

It’s one of the easiest ways to keep the bathroom smelling fresh, more so if you rely on A or B as you clip or chuck in and it does the rest for you. As there are so many different scents you can get, unlike with the bleach or mint versions above, this particular scent profile can be mixed and matched to keep you on your toes. Sometimes I walk into bursts of citrus, other times it’s classic pine fresh!

4. Antiseptic Aromatherapy:

This is in homage to the days of my childhood where Dettol Antiseptic, or TCP was used. A lot. Like, a lot, a lot. Not one I find as often, but this is for the bathroom owner who likes to use and store TCP, or clean with antiseptic solutions for that clean, sterile, almost clinical feel. While a more medical feeling could provide a less homely ambience, the smell easily dominates in points when it comes to invoking a feeling of cleanliness.

5. Old School Cleaning Basics (White Vinegar):

Pungent, nose cringing and not to everyone’s taste. It’s no surprise that as far as bathrooms even within my own circle (friends, family), I have never smelt white vinegar used. This doesn’t mean it isn’t used - as I don’t often catch people cleaning their bathrooms - but there is zero detection, even as far as it being stored, gathering dust in some corner. Still, I love it. It might not be the most inviting smell, but like with elbow grease, it’s just a simple, no-thrills cleaner.

I readily mix with bicarbonate of soda and occasionally some lemon juice for tackling odours. On a bare basics level, the smell isn’t amazing, no. However, as I associate it with its cleaning prowess and versatile ability, this scent equates to a positive one. As it’s also mentioned in my list for Eliminating Bathroom Odours I couldn’t not pop it on my list.

6. The Toiletries Aisle:

In other words, this is us embracing the love of bathrooms that smell of shower gels, deodorants, bubble baths, hair products etc. This is more unique and individual, and gives bathrooms that active, fresh, ‘just washed’ vibe. Bathrooms that smell like this usually owe it to some kind of active blast or ice blast shower gels (classic sporty shower gel smell). We were in two minds about adding this; in well-ventilated bathrooms, this is a welcoming, invigorating smell. In poorly ventilated bathrooms, the smell feels stuffy, claustrophobic and reminiscent of a teenage boy’s bedroom, where no amount of Lynx will mask the stank.

7. Classic As Soap:

Yes, this is classed as a toiletry product, but we felt it deserved its own category as it took us all back to childhood. Soap bars aren’t for everyone, but we feel that soap and the scents they exude are massively underrated.

The smell of fragranced soap can provide a classically clean, indulgent aroma. Given there are so many different types and some people see soap as soap (as opposed to needing to be defined by gender), there’s ways to liven it up. My favourites include Dove Original bars, African Black Soap and Wrights Coal Tar Traditional Soap.

8. Inspired By The Spa:

And last by no means least, walking into bathrooms which smell of warmth, peace and tranquillity. These are done in the form of fresh, warm towels, carefully selected diffusers / or incense and sage cleansing (although this may not be limited to the bathroom).

These types of bathroom profiles don’t have to be over the top. Subtle touches work well too as far as providing calming aromas. A diffuser here or there with the perfect scent to invoke feelings of relaxation and ease, is a very powerful, but simple way to bring character into your bathroom. Done right, this is one of my favourite scent profiles.