How to Identify and Eliminate Bathroom Odors

Whether at home or in the workplace, we do our best to eliminate lingering bathroom odors. Providing a comfortable place to relieve oneself is essential for both good hygiene and high morale. But when restrooms have a persistent smell of urine, mildew, or sewage, it becomes a real problem. Employees are uncomfortable using the restrooms, which can end up affecting productivity. Not to mention odors can indicate a more significant issue that carries potential health risks, such as black mold.

Fortunately, proper janitorial cleaning and maintenance should free workplace bathrooms from any lingering odors. Unlike other areas, there are many working parts in a bathroom, meaning more opportunity for something to break or malfunction. Even if you are conducting surface cleaning on a regular basis, without an inspection and maintenance schedule, things like leaky faucets and malfunctioning vents can cause a lot of damage quickly.

Bathroom odors should be taken very seriously. First, your professional cleaning company should conduct surface-level cleaning. Next, they should conduct a deep clean, targeting areas where persistent odors are present. If cleaners only focus on surface levels, they are only providing temporary relief from odors. By deep cleaning, they can locate the source of the lingering odor and determine whether something more serious is going on.

So, what is causing the unpleasant smell in your workplace bathroom? Read on for common reasons of persistent bathroom odors and how your commercial cleaning service (or a plumber!) can resolve them.

Bacteria

Bacteria is the leading cause of bathroom odors. Unfortunately, the unavoidable culprits of this bacteria are most likely urine and fecal matter. These substances contain a variety of foul smelling bacteria that, even in the cleanest bathrooms, can spread to other surfaces and result in unpleasant odors.

Your professional cleaning company can prevent these odors from lingering with everyday cleaning and disinfecting. Start by pre-cleaning surfaces whether they look dirty or not. By pre-cleaning, you eliminate dirt, dust, etc., from the surface before disinfecting. Removing contaminants allows you to do a thorough job of disinfecting. Now your surface is ready to disinfect, which will kill remaining germs.

Find a product that has been approved by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The CDC provides a list of disinfectants for use against COVID-19, which can be found here.

Fungal Growth

Just as bacteria is common in bathrooms, so is fungal growth. This is another cause of lingering bathroom odors. Unfortunately, many bathrooms are exposed to water spillage/pooling, moisture, improper drainage, and poor air circulation. These all make for an ideal breeding ground for mold, mildew, and other varieties of fungus.

Again, having a professional cleaning company perform daily cleaning and disinfecting of your bathrooms can help prevent fungal growth. If you do experience mold, mildew, or fungal growth in your bathroom, your cleaning service should have the proper cleaning solutions and equipment to get rid of it.

There is one problem with fungal growth, however. Sometimes it is out of sight and in hard to access areas. In this case, you may need to do some further investigation to find the source of the problem to resolve it.

Sewage Fumes

We all have walked into a bathroom that has smelled like a sewer and walked right back out, right? This is a lingering smell no one wants to experience.

Bathroom pipes are designed to send water and waste down into the sewer system, but they cannot control where the fumes go. If there is nothing to block the fumes, they can travel back up the pipes and into the bathroom. Therefore, pipes are equipped with p-traps and water seals, which block the fumes from going back into the bathroom. If these seals are compromised, it is time to call a plumber and have them repaired! This will take care of that nasty sewage smell and get your bathrooms usable again.

Experienced Professionals Can Help Prevent Bathroom Disasters

Professional commercial cleaners know what to look for when cleaning and maintaining a bathroom. We see an empty stall, paper products, mirror, and sink – they see the broken tile in the corner that wasn’t there last week. Or the small puddle of water behind the toilet … how did that get there?

This team of professionals will have intimate knowledge of a bathroom, as they regularly clean this area. They will know the source of any odors and the proper action to take to resolve the issue.

Many people turn to air fresheners to mask the smell of lingering bathroom odors. This is not a solution. Air fresheners do not eliminate bathroom odors, which means they will not improve. In fact, they could get worse. Your commercial cleaning company can help identify issues and work with professionals to eliminate the source of odors, leaving you with pleasant-smelling restrooms!

Cleantec aims to offer helpful information to our clients and friends. We currently serve all of New York, including the Syracuse, Ithaca, Manhattan, Rochester, Utica, and Buffalo regions. We also have operations in Palo Alto, CA; Denver, CO; Muscle Shoals, AL; Tampa, FL; and Sanford, NC. Give our sales professionals a call at (877) 469-0543 for a free consultation and quote regarding janitorial services. Learn how we can help your business achieve your cleaning needs.

Cleantec ensures all staff members are thoroughly vetted conducting background checks and drug testing. In addition to providing professional cleaning services, we are also a supplier of specialized cleaning products and green chemicals. Please call (315) 463-5353 to place an order.