How to deal with a foul-smelling bathroom drain?

The foul smell coming from the drain in the bathroom is a sign that there is an issue with the water pipe, which could be due to mold or clogging. Finding the cause will help you come up with the appropriate solution, saving time, reducing inconvenience, fatigue, and the risk of illness when living with an unpleasant odor.

There are many ways to handle the foul smell from the bathroom drain depending on the cause and severity. (Photo: Gharpedia)

How to handle the foul smell from the bathroom drain

There are 3 main reasons for the foul smell coming from the bathroom drain:

– Lack of regular hygiene, not using cleaning agents to limit odors, long-term accumulation of dirt, causing bacteria to grow, secreting compounds with odors that make the bathroom drain smell musty and unpleasant.

– Clogging causing household waste and water not to flow into the septic tank but to accumulate and stagnate, creating a perfect environment for odor-causing bacteria to grow.

– A full septic tank can also cause the bathroom drain to emit a foul smell.

The bathroom drain can emit odors from mold, clogging, and waste water (Photo: Blocked Drain Plumbers)

Ways to handle the foul smell from the bathroom drain include:

– Clean the bathroom and drain daily. You can use a mixture of baking soda and white vinegar to eliminate odors: Pour a pot of boiling water down the drain to help flush away debris, then add ½ cup of baking soda and 1 cup of white vinegar to the drain and let it sit for 40 minutes. Finally, flush hot water down the drain. White vinegar alone is effective in cleaning odors.

– Fix clogging: The main cause of a smelly drain pipe is clogging, so you need to address this issue as soon as possible. The longer water stagnates in the drain pipe, the stronger the chance for odor-causing bacteria to grow.

You can research and use various methods to unclog pipes such as using pipe-cleaning powder, drain-clearing liquids, and drain-clearing tools. Using chemicals to unclog pipes is a quick method that achieves the highest effectiveness. When performing pipe-clearing, you need to be extremely careful and equip yourself with essential protective gear such as a mask and gloves.

– Use drain clearing and odor-eliminating services.

Tips to minimize odors from the bathroom drain

To prevent unpleasant smells from the bathroom drain, you should:

– Avoid throwing food waste into the drain in the bathroom.

– Use monthly cleaning solutions to remove reasonable build-up of debris in the drain.

– Pour boiling water and a mixture of white vinegar and baking soda down the drain regularly.

– Do not pour highly acidic solutions such as muriatic acid into the drain to prevent rust and corrosion.

– Clean the bathroom and the area around the drain regularly.

Source: VTC