How to Make Your Bathroom Smell Fresh Like A Hotel Toilet

August 13, 2025
by Brodie Cook

Imagine that you've just come home from a long day, wanting to relax, then you walk into the bathroom. And you are greeted by an aroma that's not very pleasant. Whereas, the bathroom should be the cleanest and freshest place in the house, right?

The problem is, keeping the bathroom smelling fresh isn’t as easy as it sounds. Even if you clean it regularly, damp odours, leftover water, or even clogged drains can cause unpleasant smells to persist. And worse, ordinary air fresheners often just mask the smell temporarily, not eliminate the source.

But don’t worry, there’s a solution to each problem in this world. Here, we’ll discuss practical and simple ways you can keep your bathroom smelling fresh, clean, and comfortable every day. We'll adopt how the hotel housekeeper makes the hotel toilets clean and fresh. Let’s get started!

7 Ways to Make Your Bathroom Smells Good Like in the Hotels

How many times have you visited and stayed in the hotel? What makes you feel comfortable staying at a hotel? The room is organised well and pleasant. Then, the bathroom is the best part; it stays clean, and the smell is fresh. In some hotels, they even have their own fragrance to make the bathroom smell good and relaxing.

Are you curious about how the hotel housekeeper makes the bathroom smell good based on their hotel operational standards? These step-by-step instructions will show you how to do it in your beloved home.

1. Prepare All Tools & Natural Ingredients

We'll be focusing on bathroom cleaning by using natural ingredients that you can find in your kitchen. Here are the list of the equipment and natural ingredients that you need to clean your bathroom.

The Equipment Needed

Strong-bristled toilet brush
Rubber gloves (optional, but recommended)
Clean microfibre cloth / Sponge
Empty spray bottle.
Bowl or plastic container.
Measuring spoon.

The Natural Ingredients

White vinegar. It contains acetic acid that can kill bacteria and mould)
Baking soda (sodium bicarbonate, removes stains and absorbs odours)
Toilet Cleaner (Lucent Globe Toilet Cleaning Sheet)
Essential oils (lavender, tea tree, eucalyptus, or lemon)
Hot water (needed to dissolve and clean residual dirt and grime)

2. Pre-Cleaning The Toilet Area

Don't directly pour the toilet cleaner that is mixed with the water and then start scrubbing it. Instead, do the pre-cleaning steps to make the bathroom cleaning easier. Here are the steps you can apply to your bathroom.

Remove carpets and trash bins from the area around the toilet.
Ensure the toilet is not used during the cleaning process.
Open the window or turn on the exhaust fan for ventilation.
Wear gloves to protect your skin from dirt and mould.

The most important pre-cleaning step is to improve air circulation. Once the air circulation is good, the bad smells will leave from your bathroom.

Bathrooms with bad air circulation can become smelly and cause a musty odour, so ensure proper air circulation.

3. Cleaning the Inside of the Toilet Bowl

According to this study from the Journal of Environmental Health, toilet bowl water can remain contaminated for many flushes after use, with bacteria such as E. coli, Salmonella, and Clostridium difficile persisting on surfaces and being released into the air and surrounding areas through flushing.

Smelly odours from the bathroom typically originate from the toilet bowl. It is coming from the area below the rim and the drain, which are often overlooked when scrubbing. So, if you want to make your toilet smell fresh, clean the main source first.

You can make the toilet cleaner with natural ingredients, here are what you need to do:

Sprinkle 2–3 tablespoons of baking soda into the inside of the toilet bowl. Focus on the inner walls of the bowl and under the rim of the drain.
Slowly pour 100–150 ml of white vinegar directly onto the baking soda. A foaming reaction will occur. This indicates the natural cleaning process is underway.
Let it sit for 15–20 minutes to allow the compounds to dissolve the buildup and remove yellow stains.
Add 5–10 drops of lemon or tea tree essential oil to the vinegar before pouring. This will enhance the antibacterial effect while providing a fresh scent.

Use a toilet brush to scrub the entire interior, especially:

Below the rim of the bowl (where the water flows out)
Drain (bottom hole)
Inner bowl walls

After finishing, flush as usual.

4. Cleaning the Toilet's Exterior Surface

Cleaning the outer surfaces of the toilet, especially the seat, lid, tank, toilet legs, and flush button, is crucial. Why? Because these areas are among the ‘high-touch surfaces,’ meaning they are frequently touched by hands. Hands are the primary means of spreading germs from one place to another.

We're going to clean this exterior surface with natural ingredients. Here is what you need to do:

Mix in a spray bottle:

water
Multi purpose cleaner, this bundle includes the spray.

Spray those solutions onto:

Toilet seat (top and bottom)
Toilet lid
Toilet water tank
Outer part of the bowl and toilet legs
Flush button (the most frequently touched area)

Wipe with a microfibre cloth or sponge. Use a different cloth from the one used inside the toilet.

Bad smells often come from the drain, not just the toilet bowl. Hair, soap and dirty water build up inside the pipes and start to rot. This rotting creates gases like hydrogen sulphide (rotten eggs), ammonia (sharp smell), and sometimes methane if the drain is blocked. These gases rise up and make the bathroom smell, even when everything looks clean.

You don’t need to remove the toilet bowl to fix this. The trick is to pour the cleaning mix down the bowl or the floor drain so it reaches the pipes where the smell comes from.

Here’s how to do it:

Pour ½ cup of baking soda down the toilet or floor drain.
Add 1 cup of hot white vinegar.
Leave it overnight so it works in the pipes.
Flush with warm water the next morning.

6. Maintain Freshness with Natural Air Fresheners

Once your bathroom is cleaned and all the steps are done to eliminate odours. Let's think about the way to keep the bathroom fresh. You can use commercial air fresheners to freshen your bathroom. If you're curious to make your DIY, here are the DIY of air fresheners with natural ingredients.

Natural solutions you can try:

Baking soda + essential oil in an open container
Place in a corner of the room, replace every 7 days.

DIY room spray you can create by mixing 200 ml of water, 1 tablespoon of vinegar, and 10 drops of essential oil. Spray into the air, not onto surfaces.

To make it fresher, create a natural air freshener pouch. Here are the steps:

Fill a small cloth with coffee grounds, dried orange peel, or lavender flowers.
Hang behind the door or on the tissue rack.

You can use a diffuser with your favourite essential oil or fragrance to make the bathroom fresh and clean, and even smell nice.

7. Schedule Regular Cleaning

Clean toilets regularly. At home, you can create the following schedule:

Light cleaning (wipe the seat, spray air freshener) for daily use
Thorough cleaning (bowl & all surfaces) for twice a week
Drain cleaning & natural air freshener in once a week
Use a checklist or reminder on your phone to maintain the routine.

Lucent Globe Toilet Cleaning Sheet for Your Fresher Bathroom

If you want a clean, fragrant toilet that is free of harsh chemicals without the hassle, Lucent Globe Toilet Cleaning Sheets could be the ideal solution.

This product is a water-soluble toilet cleaning sheet made from harmless substances such as bleach or ammonia. Simply take one sheet, drop it into the toilet bowl, wait a few seconds for it to dissolve, then scrub as usual.

What makes it special?